O'Niel Family Dentistry, PLLC

Julie Doescher

Horrible experience and he never actually worked on my teeth. Cancelled 20 minutes before my appointment. . I had already taken a half day of work to come in. No apology; I would've understood if he had an emergency, but they never mentioned one thing about having an emergency.

Just that "he had to cancel". Second time I made my appointment I called them saying I was going to be five minutes late (10 minutes at the most), traffic was horrible but I was getting off on the exit. After talking to the doctor, overhearing them LAUGH at me, the receptionist said he couldn't see me and I would have to reschedule. I asked them if there was any way I could come in, because again, I had taken off work. She replied, "we run on a schedule".

I run on a schedule too and calling 20 minutes before I'm already on my way to your office doesn't seem very professional, with no explanation as to why he had to cancel, such as a "family or patient emergency". Told them I was going to go somewhere else and they said, "good luck" and hung up. What ever happened to a 10 minute grace period?

July 1, 2014

Natalie Licht

I've contemplated sharing my experience with O'Neil Dental for some time. Although I really enjoy Dr. Ellen as an adult dentist and a person, and have had positive experiences with her myself, our experience with her on our 3 year old was extremely disappointing. I cannot recommend Dr. Ellen as a dentist for toddlers. Our daughter had cavities along her gum line that needed to be filled because they had progressed over time. We asked Dr. Ellen to fill them as our family dentist and she advised she believed she could by using SDF or Silver Diammine Fluoride. The SDF was supposed to stop the growth of the cavity over a 2 week period, then Dr. Ellen claimed the next step in the process would be to scrape it off and fill it in with a tooth colored filling. I believed this was standard practice for filling a tooth cavity on a toddler, and trusted Dr. Ellen's recommendations without doing research of my own.

When we returned to have the SDF removed and filled, Dr. Ellen was unable to fully scrape off the SDF and the filling gel was not going to completely cover the dark stain on the tooth. Although toddlers have a hard time sitting still in the chair, the SDF would have never fully scraped off. We were referred to a pediatric dentist for remediation. After seeing two Pediatric Dentists and getting two second opinions, both specialists advised that SDF was not a method of standard care for the type of cavities our daughter had, and that it should have never been placed on a front tooth as it PERMANENTLY stains the tooth and was never going to scrape off. It can never be fully remediated and she will have these stains on her teeth until they fall out. SDF penetrates the tooth deeply and can never be removed, which is something that was never explained to me. Dr. Ellen never took X-rays before or afterwards so there is also no way to determine if the bacteria growth was stopped by the SDF. Our new pediatric dentist was able to drill the SDF out as much as possible and place a filling on top. The filling does not completely cover the SDF and there will always be discoloration. SDF can be a great alternative for children who have cavities on their back teeth and aren't ready to get them filled yet.

However, this is not a method a pediatric dentist would use on a front tooth as a filling is needed anyway. I wish Dr. Ellen would have referred us to a pediatric dentist from the start, instead of experimenting with something that is 100% permanent on our daughter. I am mostly upset that the outcome of the SDF was not fully explained to me until I visited the specialists. Dr. Ellen is a kind person who remembers details about your family's lives, which I really appreciate. However, I cannot ignore my experience with my daughter as it caused many tears for all of us. Our family will not be returning. Photo of the black SDF applied by Dr. Ellen versus the end result remediated by a pediatric dentist. (you will see some leftover stain).

October 5, 2022

Forde Sanders

My family has been going to Dr. O'Niel for about seven years and we are very pleased with the service we get. He has never cancelled one of our appointments. His staff is nice and friendly. I have seen five our more dentists in my life and he is by far the most pain free. My younger son knocked out my older sons teeth on our backyard rink and Dr.

O'Niel did an excellent job of fixing his teeth that where broke in half and saved them both. My son needed a root canal and said it did not hurt at all. Last, Dr. O'Niel never pressures you to do work, especially work you don't need and he is up to date on the latest technology. I highly recommend him.

October 23, 2014

Kristina P.

Had a lovely first experience with the hygienist Linda. Really appreciated her walking me through my first cleaning. Dr.Ellen was so kind and professional. I didn't feel judged at all for the lack of care I had been giving my teeth up to this point. (better to start late than never I guess)

January 27, 2024