Latrobe Dental Arts, LLC

WARNING: make sure you ask for a pre-treatment estimate!! We recently went on a search for a new dentist. We heard great things about Latrobe Dental Arts so we inquired about bringing our kids there. I work full time so my mom took my son to his first check up. After his checkup the dentist said m…

WARNING: make sure you ask for a pre-treatment estimate!! We recently went on a search for a new dentist. We heard great things about Latrobe Dental Arts so we inquired about bringing our kids there. I work full time so my mom took my son to his first check up. After his checkup the dentist said my son had a small cavity. My mom went out front and scheduled his appointment. At this point they had our insurance for a while. Although there website states that they have an "insurance benefit coordinator" nothing was ever given to our insurance to inquire about a "pre-treatment estimate" Our insurance was never contacted by said coordinator. Instead they had my son come in and get treated. After his appointment I paid $161 for a copay which I thought was a bit expensive in the first place. Then yesterday my husband received a check from our insurance. Today I get a call while I am at work from the dental office. It is a grumpy lady who didn't even wait for me to call her back but went out of her way to call my mom. I called her back right away and she explained to me that I still owed them $733. I said how on earth is that possible. She said well your insurance is "out of network" they only covered 40% of the treatment. If you pay what the insurance sent you you'll still owe us another $273. I was very upset and went to discuss this matter in person and pay the check from the insurance. The lady at the front desk with curly hair was extremely rude and unprofessional, she spent the whole time I talked to her sucking her teeth and rolling her eyes. I simply asked why I was never told they didn't accept our insurance. I don't know of any medical or dental places that don't express up front if they do or do not accept your insurance I said "do you agree or not agree with the fact that it was unprofessional to not inform us that we would be paying out of pocket a ton of money for one small cavity. She said "yeah I agree now are you gonna pay your bill or not and laughed in my face. She told me I owed the entire amount up front or it would be turned over to collections. I told her I didn't have all of it now but could pay what the insurance sent us. She was extremely unkind and rolled her eyes some more as she told me "fine then just pay that!" I said it was not life or death I could have searched for another dentist who DID in fact accept our dental insurance. My husband has a federal job and has good insurance. We have never had one other issue the entire 6 years we've been married. Although I will say one good thing... the male dentist who came out at the end was very kind and genuinely seemed to understand why I was upset and my struggle to pay this kind of money out of pocket for something as small as a tiny cavity. Overall, I do not recommend this dentists office the staff is rude and unprofessional. There is plenty of dentists in the area whose staff will do their jobs properly and be kind and understanding when a problem arises. Get your dental care somewhere ... literally anywhere else!!