Sunrise Dental of Issaquah — Attraction in Issaquah

Update: In response to this post I was contacted by a representative of the Sunrise Dental group. He was very apologetic and understanding and reported to me that this has been an issue with a couple of other folks and that their group had taken action to ensure that everyone who receives the scan is appropriately informed. He worked with me to remedy the situation and I am satisfied with the outcome.

Beware of CBCT Scan.

The short version: I was charged $360 for an unnecessary scan performed within 5 minutes of sitting down without any consent, medical indication, and before speaking with any dental professional.

The long version: I chipped my tooth while grinding in my sleep, set up an appointment and was able to get right in the next day.

I arrived at the office, sat down and filled out the intake form. Within 5 minutes of finishing the form I was called back to take what I assumed to be a normal X-ray, something I have never been billed for beyond insurance coverage before or since. The scan took about a minute and I was lead back out to the waiting room where I sat for the next 20 minutes or so before being taken back to an available chair.

I waited there for another 10-15 mins or so before speaking to a dentist for the first time, immediately asking them if they offer nitrous gas for procedures. They do not, and I immediately informed the dentist that I would be happy to have a teeth cleaning, but would seek care elsewhere as I would rather enjoy my time in the chair than dread it.

Shortly after, the billing specialist came back and presented me with a bill for $360 for the scan that was performed without any mention of cost, informed consent, or medical indication of need. I asked, "Shouldn't this be covered by my insurance?" To which the billing specialist replied, "We'll try to bill them, but it never is..."

IF YOU KNOW THAT A $360 PROCEDURE IS NEVER COVERED BY INSURANCE, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE YOUR PATIENT AWARE OF THAT FACT AND ACQUIRE THEIR INFORMED CONSENT. FULL STOP.

I wanted to get up and leave at that point. I went to the front desk after my cleaning. The quality of the cleaning and the consultation regarding my oral health, I had no qualms with and am certain they are very good at their jobs. I protested paying the charge briefly, but it is not a habit of mine to NOT pay what I owe, nor to make a scene. So I grudgingly paid the bill and left.

It sat very wrong with me for the rest of the day and I resolved to call the next day and request a refund. It was Friday and the office was closed, so I thought to dispute the claim with my credit card company in hopes of preventing it from being processed.

The credit card company immediately credited my account pending response from Sunrise Dental. They responded, disputing my claim, which I based on never giving informed consent. At that point I decided to let my CC company and Sunrise sort it out and if I did not get a refund to simply, accurately detail my...

I had a dental emergency during Memorial Weekend. One of my teeth chipped. This was the only dental office available to see me in my area, so I scheduled an appointment via EDS.

During my first visit, the lady at the front desk informed me that my dental insurance was "in maintenance status" during the weekend and wasn't working. Consequently, she said I had to pay out of pocket for every procedure and later contact my insurance for reimbursement. She was very clear that the reimbursement could take from one to two months. That was not a possibility for me and I asked if there was anything else I could do, and the response was no. Trusting this information, I scheduled a second visit.

After contacting my insurance, I discovered they were never out of service; only their webpage was under maintenance. This was a blatant miscommunication on the dental office's part. My insurance said they could just have called to continue the process by phone.

During this first visit, I witnessed a heated altercation between a patient and the front desk staff. The patient was extremely loud and clearly frustrated with the service. This was my first red flag.

On my second visit, I again witnessed another patient arguing with the front desk staff. This was extremely uncomfortable and deeply concerning and was my second red flag.

When it was finally my turn, before I was even seen by any medical professional, I overheard a dental technician referring to me as “the crown patient,” despite no one having examined my teeth. This was highly unprofessional and disrespectful, marking the third red flag.

The first doctor who saw me insisted on performing a Cone Beam CT Scan ($360), which my insurance didn’t cover, claiming it was the only way to properly diagnose me and address my problem. When I refused, another treatment option suddenly appeared and was offered to me. After an X-ray and panoramic film, the doctor seeing me abruptly left due to a "family emergency," insisting that a crown was necessary. This was the fourth red flag.

I was left in the exam room for 25 minutes. Another doctor came in, introduced himself, and stated he would be taking over. He proposed a filling but immediately cast doubt on his ability to perform the procedure, repeatedly insisting that a crown was the best option for the repair, so my teeth would be aligned again perfectly. His negativity, his body language and insistence made me uncomfortable and doubtful of his competence.

I decided to leave and sought a second opinion. To my surprise, I didn’t need a crown, and my issue...

Worst dentist practice ever. Read all the one-star reviews before you come in. I would have never used this shady office if it hadn’t been for the emergency wisdom tooth pain I had on a Sunday. They made you do a CT scan that insurance won’t cover so you would have to pay almost $400 out of pocket. Then X-rays were sufficient and in fact the only thing put up on the screen during the treatment! So first off they scammed you to have the CT scan just to milk your wallet. Then total of over $2,000 out of pocket cost for a single wisdom tooth extraction after they ran the costs through Aetna Costco - you know, probably the best insurance out there. How is that possible? They never made a claim with Aetna and was happy that I already paid them more than 2 grants until I asked them to 45 days later. Then it has been 2 months they can’t just submit the claims properly. It now has been 2 weeks since I told them that they needed to send Aetna written descriptions on some of the procedures. And I have made 5 calls in 2 weeks. Today, the descriptions are still missing. Another thing: they “deep-cleaned” only half of my teeth on the impacted side to prep for the wisdom tooth extraction. Their hygienist basically went in for 2 minutes and she was rough let me tell you. How am I supposed to have 2 quadrants of my teeth deep cleaned in 2 minutes? After that was done, the areas where the cleaning was done felt rough and the areas where no cleaning was done felt smoother?! I went to a different dentist and was shown the new X rays on the cleaned areas. Let me tell you, they looked exactly the same before they were cleaned with all the tartar build up. So no, nothing was cleaned. Shame on you. To have these two quadrants properly redone, it would take me a full 2-hour appointment, not 2 minutes.

Updated 11/14/22: I’ve been requesting for the refund I’m entitled to after the insurance coverage. It’s been 2 months and a half and Sunrise still hasn’t processed. They attempted to offer $133 for me to take down this review and was going to go through the whole Docusign to make sure I do it. Laugh on you. $133 doesn’t even compensate for the 2-minute “deep-cleaning” they already got paid out from my insurance. Called in again and again and was bounced back and forth from the staff to the front desk and was told refund was still under management...