Charming Smile Dental — Attraction in Jersey City

I was a patient at Charming Smile Dental for over four years. Dr Singal lacks fundamental dentistry knowledge and is dishonest. She is the dentist that other dentists warn you about because she cares more about making a profit than her patient’s well-being.

Dr. Singal cares more about making a profit than the health of your teeth so she proposes procedures that are unnecessary. All dentists will choose to preserve your natural tooth structure as much as possible. Therefore, they will wait until the decay is very serious before proposing a new filling. At every bi-annual appointment for three years, I would leave would at least 3 new fillings. I thought that I was very cavity prone during this time period. At every cleaning, she was very pushy about me opting for a deep cleaning. I felt like her proposal sounded like a sales pitch so I always declined. No such recommendation was ever made at my other consultations at other offices. When I finally made the switch to a new dentist, I also realized just how low quality Dr. Singal’s materials are even though she bills at the same rates.

Example 1: Night guards should be made of a very hard material and last at least 3 years; indestructible even against the most offensive teeth grinders. The night guard that Dr. Singal produces are very flimsy and too malleable. It was already showing wear and tear after 6 months.

Example 2: Fillings should feel as smooth as a natural tooth. Dr. Singal’s fillings use a cheap gritty material. When Tend replaced one of the fillings that Dr. Singal did because she had FORGOTTEN to polish the filling after installation, it felt drastically different. The replacement was smooth and felt like my original tooth. The dentist at Tend even took the extra time to carve my molar, restoring the tooth’s original line. When I brought this mistake up to Dr. Singal at my final visit she brushed it off, did not accept fault, and did not provide any ways of rectifying her error.

Example 3: There was one tooth that Dr. Singal had recommended for a crown replacement. After insurance, I paid close to $500 for a single crown. The issue is that insurance will only subsidize replacements once every 5/6 years so once you get one, you are stuck with it for that period of time unless you want to pay the full $2000+.

A good crown should last at least 12 years and feel like your own tooth. Dr. Singal’s crown was improperly measured but was lazily installed anyway. As soon as the procedure was done, I noticed a very noticeable gap between my gum and top of the crown because it was too short. The gap was very obvious. I could not stop touching the gap with my tongue. One week later, I came back in for a consultation to raise my concerns. At that app she violently tried to rip the crown off from my tooth with so much force that I cried out. This is not the right way to remove a crown; it should be fractured and split. She shrugged the condition off as normal and told me simply to stop prodding the gap.

One year later, I was desperate for a second consultation. The dentists at Tend recommended that I return to Dr. Singal’s for a replacement crown (due to the insurance) because the remaining molar was not sealed risking cavities. I had gone back to Charming Smile Dental with my findings but all Dr. Singal did was put a filling between my gums and crown. She even told me that the filling will fall out quickly since it was partially affixed to skin.

After another year, the crown was unusable. I was unable to chew on my left side because the crown had loosened, the filling was irritating my gums, and there was sensitivity which was later to be originating from a cavity under the crown. I finally had my crown reinstalled at Tend and wow, it feels like a crown should. It feels so natural that I forget that it’s there!

Post procedure, I contacted the office to get back to me with my entire dental history at the office so that I could write this review but my request was blatantly ignored. All I would like is to be refunded for the crowns as a...

Unprofessional Dentist office. I needed the dentist to sign a Dental Examination Form in order to register my son for Kindergarten. They kept me on hold for an unacceptable amount of time and then told me they would call me back to let me know when I could come in because they were unable to email me anything or fax anything to the school and all parents bring the form in to be signed. They never called me back so I called again. They told me the dentist was unable to sign any form because it has been over a year since my son has been there. I said that was untrue that I brought him in over the summer. They placed me on hold again for a long time. They then changed their story a third time saying that the dentist can only sign the form if it has been three months since the last appointment. In order for them to sign a simple form that says my son is under their care with their address I have to make an appointment and have my 4 year old son examined. WHO TAKES THEIR FOUR YEAR OLD TO THE DENTIST EVERY 3 THREE MONTHS?????? And why are other parents able to come in and get their form signed? I will gladly make an appointment with a ANOTHER DENTIST at ANOTHER PRACTICE to get this form signed! There are plenty of great pediatric dentists in Jersey City to choose from. This dentist is just looking for ways to make more money and force patients to make unnecessary appointments. I would question any work they say you need done on your teeth. I'm sure they are just looking for ways to get more...

I’ve been going here for several years (although not as often as I should). Everytime I’ve been pushed a deep cleaning and every time I’ve said no (I’ve never had a cavity and my gums don’t bleed regularly). Not to say it’s not possible I need one…this time though the hygienist and dentist both looked in my mouth for a combined 5 seconds before insisting I needed the $250 deep cleaning and pressured me into not even getting a regular one that day. FYI for a deep cleaning to be necessary there should be pockets 4mm or more formed in the gums and bone loss shown on your X-rays. I did get X-rays but no one referred to them or had looked at them yet. If I’m going to pay 250 on the spot at least prove to me I need it. 6 months from now I will go back to the dentist to see if I actually need to spend the money on a deep cleaning but it won’t be this place.

The hygienist was very nice and good with the cleaning she did. The dentist never even came back to look over it or ask if I had any other questions or problems.

Update: spoke with a dentist hygienist in my family- they should never recommend a deep cleaning without taking measurements of the pockets. They are scamming you otherwise. A deep cleaning is not necessary for the...