I’m a very private person and don’t like to talk much about my life. But the positive dental experience I had with Dr. Vinograd deserves to be mentioned. I’ve never heard a good story about a dentist, so I’m telling my story so there will be at least be one!
The very first time I visited the office, Dr. V stuck his head around into the room while I was still filling out my paperwork and told me who he was. I immediately saw a big smile and could sense the warm and welcoming personality that I would learn more about later. That was a great way to start since I was nervous. Breaking the ice was really helpful.
When I got to the exam room, Dr. V was the first person to come in — not a nurse or tech or someone else. He started out by asking a lot of questions, learning about me and what I had experienced in the past. That was all before he put his hands in my mouth.
After he examined me, he told me that I had three cavities. I was astounded — not because I had some cavities but because my previous dentist had told me I had 10 cavities! I thought I was only there for a second opinion before I had my 10 cavities filled, but I immediately knew he was much different from my other dentist. I has thought 10 cavities was a lot, and that’s why I wanted a second opinion. I really do brush my teeth, so I thought the other dentist must be exaggerating to get more money or something. For some reason, the other guy just didn’t seem trustworthy to me — and it turned out he wasn’t.
Dr. V told me that I could go ahead and have them filled right away even though I was six months pregnant. He said that since these wouldn’t require drugs or painkillers, it would be okay. My first thought was HELL NO! Fillings without numbing? Not gonna happen for me.
But he explained that he uses a different kind of drill that runs at a very low RPM that generates very little heat and no pain. I didn’t really believe him, if I’m honest, but I needed the fillings and didn’t want to wait three or four months before the baby was born.
To my surprise, it didn’t really hurt at all. Twice it was slightly uncomfortable, but I put up my hand like he told me to do and he stopped, let me recover a bit and then continued when I was ready. In about 40 minutes, it was all done, I wasn’t numb so I could eat right away and everything was fine. And the other seven teeth didn’t need fillings yet, so he’s just going to watch those over the coming months and years — and I know which areas to pay special attention to when cleaning my teeth.
And the prices were better than the other place too. Since I don’t have insurance, that’s important to me.
When I went back for a cleaning, everything went smoothly and I even got a discount since I didn’t need much done. I was shocked at the discount and very surprised how gently and careful they were around me since I was still pregnant.
Maybe this review is too long, but people never say nice things about dentists. But Dr. Vinograd is great. He’s a good guy, a good dentist and I’ll keep going to him as long as he’ll have me.