Overland Park Dentistry Charles R Kimes DDS

Avoid at ALL costs!!! Let me start by saying that I used to work at a dental office so I'm very aware of how things typically happen. This office was horrible on all accounts. The front desk was awful and completely unorganized. I was barely greeted when I walked in the door but that's not the deal breaker. Their record keeping was horrendous but is too detailed for me to explain here. My hygienist was the worst I've ever experienced. It felt like she took a chainsaw to my mouth just to purposefully cause it bleed so that she could give me a flossing lecture (Again, I used to work at a dental office!! THIS was an extreme experience and does NOT happen at a reputable office!!). I had ZERO periodontal disease and yet my gums where swollen, shredded up, and raw for over 2 weeks! I really felt like I had some minor infections from the process. Finally, the dentist told me I had 2 cavities which I should have never trusted as I had been to a different dentist less than a year prior (I came to Dr. Kimes office because I moved) and no such cavities were found. Well I guess I was feeling gullible that day and agreed to have him fix them. Worst mistake!!! I had to make THREE additional visits to the office AFTER my fillings appointment to have my fillings "adjusted." Not only was my bite completely ruined by this experience (my teeth are now permanently shifted causing an unnatural bite and jaw issues that I never had before) but I still have extreme sensitivity 2 years later and cannot properly eat on that site of my mouth. The dentist tried to make every excuse in the book for why this might be the case and said he would replace them if it kept happening. Needless to say, I had already taken time off from work 5 times to visit this place and I didn't want more of my teeth to be chiseled out so that he could fix them because he didn't do it correctly the first time. Let's not mention the fact that they attempted to charge me for the adjustment visits and I had to complain in order for those to be removed (adjustments are no fault of the patient, by the way, so it makes absolutely no sense that a patient would be charged for this!!). Any and all trust that I had in this office was completely out the window and I decided that I was done with this place. I've been to a different dentist since then who I had a great experience with, who adjusted the bite AGAIN because it was STILL wrong, and he said that the only complete solution to my filling issues was to have them redone (oh and now the insurance won't pay for them because they've already been "fixed" so this would be completely out of pocket... cha ching!!). In other words, after 5 visits to Dr. Kimes office, I had a ridiculously painful teeth cleaning (truly not what a cleaning should be) and 2 "MINOR" fillings which completely ruined my mouth forever. Lastly, what prompted me to write this review today was that although my original appointment was 2 YEARS AGO, I JUST RECEIVED A BILL IN THE MAIL FROM THEM YESTERDAY. What a joke!!! Not only did they ruin my teeth, not only did I ALREADY PAY THEM 2 YEARS AGO (I have the proof!!!), but even IF they believed that they didn't get my payment, they have the nerve to not contact me and then send me a bill 2 years later!??! Let me say this again: any reputable place would be embarrassed to operate like this and to send a bill after 2 years of no contact. An upstanding business would write it off (it's $70!!!). Not them though. They are clearly hurting for the money (not surprised) and this further demonstrates just how horrible their record keeping is (ya know, considering they were PAID for this already 2 years ago....). This place is a joke.

I will start by saying that the actual service performed, including the staff providing the service, was excellent. I felt very comfortable with them and was excited to be looking forward to coming back to the office (the office itself was very clean and inviting.) Unfortunately, my entire experience wasn't as pleasant.



Where I ran into problems with them was with the billing. I had just recently changed insurances - I used them once prior and continued service with them under my new insurance. My first question after walking through the door again was, "do you guys accept my new insurance?" The receptionist replied with a yes, where we then proceeded to schedule my appointment, and ultimately, the service.



Fast forward about a month or so, I received a bill for ~$500 ... for a filling! Obviously upset about the bill, I called up there and spoke to the receptionist and expressed my concern. After pulling my my information, she notified me that they did not, in fact, accept my insurance. I told her that I would not have received the service if I had known that. I asked if we could figure out a middle ground of some sort. She told me that I would need to speak with the dentist directly, which he was not currently available, and that she would have him call me back (she sounded frustrated that I didn't jump for joy at the fact that I was billed the full, uninsured amount under false pretenses.) This was the last time I heard from them verbally - the following contact from them was through a collection agency.



Look. They provided a service for me. They have every right to be compensated for their service, I do not dispute that one bit. I recently paid more than that for a root canal done through another office - paying what is owed is not, nor has it been, an issue for me. My issue is that rather than admitting the mistake (and I fully agree that it was a simple mistake/misunderstanding) and working to find a solution, they chalked me up as just some bum who was trying to skip out on the bill. This could have been avoided with a simple call back - hell, there's a good possibility that I would have paid a large portion and praised their understanding and continued using them.



The moral here is to make sure the provider physically looks up your insurance before accepting service.



**UPDATE**



I am happy to say that this matter was resolved. I am even more pleased to update my review from the initial one star to a five star review.



Dr. Kimes reached out to me personally to get the issue resolved. After speaking with him, it was clear that this was not a matter of intentionally not responding to my issue, but rather a loss of communication somewhere down the road. I would say that his solution was more than fair for me. I will also reiterate that the service was never in question.



Thank you again for taking care of this.





Sincerely,

Jimmie Walker