West Somerville Dental

Kimberly Lund

I’ve been going to West Somerville Dental for over three years now, but I won’t be any longer. The dental care I received was passable, but I dealt with so many miscommunications, billing issues, and unexpected occurrences at nearly every visit I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with it anymore. To give you a snapshot: 1. Invisalign - Was initially told my Invisalign treatment would be for my bottom teeth only, which is the only thing I wanted. When I received the trays, they told me I had to wear trays on the top and bottom (this is not true. I have since met several individuals who have had bottom row Invisalign only). I was told I had to wear the trays for nine months maximum, but it took over a year.

Upon completion, my once perfectly straight top teeth were visibly misaligned. 2. Hygienists - they hired a new hygienist who made my cleanings more painful and bloody than anyone should ever have to endure. I’ve seen many hygienists over the years, I brush and floss very diligently, and this is the only person who has left me, a full grown woman, in tears from the pain. I requested to not have that hygienist again, and they continued to schedule me with this person even after assuring me they could accommodate that request. I won’t even get into the dental assistant who has very noticeable body odor. 3.

Random billing issues - every time I go there seems to be some leftover balance they never informed me of from a prior appointment. One time, knowing that my insurance only covers cleanings every 6 months, they scheduled me for 5 months and 29 days out, leaving me with a huge out of pocket balance. The nail in the coffin was scheduling me for an appointment, me providing the front desk with my new insurance, them being unable to locate my insurance coverage, and then trying to charge me for cancelling my appointment day of due to their own incompetence. I really do think Dr. Alvi is a good dentist. But the people in her office are killing her business.

April 29, 2025

Mowh Shaba

I had a fantastic first visit at West Somerville Dental! The entire team—from the receptionist to the dental assistant, hygienist, and doctor—was amazing. They provided excellent care, explained everything clearly, and made me feel completely at ease. Highly recommend!

March 23, 2025

Rhedise Bass

Soon as you walk in the door you are greeted with a smile. This is my very first visit and it has been a great experience. My X-rays and cleaning were done by gentle hands. They took their time, expressed any concerns and plans to move forward. I highly recommend choosing West Somerville Dental!

April 5, 2025

Lillian Hanson

I first visited WSD for an emergency appointment for wisdom tooth pain in January after not having been to a dentist for a few years due to a cross country move, my old practice closing, and general healthcare anxiety after Covid. The Dr I had took radiographs and with very little explanation told me I needed my wisdom teeth removed. I appreciated her seeing me so quickly. When checking out with my insurance, the front desk agent told me my insurance wasn’t going through and that I should consider purchasing their discount package for the future so I did since I was panicking and confused about why my insurance didn’t work. I returned the following week for a cleaning and was ridiculed and shamed by one of their dental assistants, who told me of the “sorry state of [my] mouth for being [my] age. ” I had quite a few cavities that needed filled. I was mortified and ashamed and scared. I decided to get my wisdom tooth removal done at home at my mom’s practice instead due to fear that I wouldn’t be well taken care of by a team with a dental assistant that rude. Once recovered from my wisdom tooth surgery, I returned to WSD hoping I could at least get my dental fillings done without much of an issue. Mind you, my insurance immediately went through at my mom’s dentist back home with no issues… I had 4 separate appointments for these fillings.

On the second appointment I told the dentist that it felt like my fillings were extending to or even touching my other teeth in a way where I couldn’t floss through the tooth space and the dentist waved me off and said my teeth were a new shape and I’d have to get used to it since she placed spacers between my teeth during filling and it wasn’t possible for what I described to be the case in my mouth. I explained my bite felt too tall on the right side and on the left none of my teeth connected when my right ones did. She told me that also wasn’t possible since she tested my bite during the previous filling appointment with marking paper. She then numbed my mouth and while waiting for the anesthetic to kick in, two nurses came into the room discussing another patient and pulled his records up in front of me. They then told me to get out of the dental chair and wait in the lobby because they needed to use the XRay machine in the room. I sat in the waiting room for twenty minutes with half my face sagging in front of other patients before they brought my back for my fillings. Two weeks after my final filling appointment, one of my fillings popped out of my tooth when I was flossing, as the floss got stuck under a part I had previously been concerned about and told her about overlapping my tooth gap. She got me in for an emergency filling appt which I had to take a sick day for along with the other appointments I’d had (6 total) since January’s first incident. Though they didn’t charge me for the appointment, the doctor told me she “could see why this happened” because it looked like the side my filling fell out of was “shallowly” filled. She was the same doctor who did ALL my fillings.

Furthermore, the dental assistant working on my second and fifth appointments for my fillings unpackaged the sterile tools with her bare hands after typing on the computer. This past weekend, a different filling popped out while flossing. I still have significant pain while flossing between some of my filled teeth, and my bite is definitely off and I look different smiling in pictures. I understand it’s impossible for my teeth to be exactly the same size and shape post filling, but I got fillings as a kid and never had this issue. I’m transferring my care to another dentist that has already been so much more reassuring and gentle with me and my teeth. I don’t feel scared walking into this new practice, and didn’t have any dental specific anxiety before WSD but now do. Please tell your dental assistants to not use fear to educate clients, and maybe try listening to your clients a bit more/at least acting like you’re aware of our concerns before we end up back in the same place needing repairs.

June 5, 2025