Icon Dental — Local services in Denver

I typically don't take time to write reviews, but, the experience with this dental provider has motivated me to tell of my experience. In short, beyond having some extremely rude employees, this provider pushes questionably necessary procedures and will not consult with the patient for the treatment plan to take. In fact, they won't even ask your permission before doing procedures such as taking X-rays (a first of any provider I have ever seen).

A little over a year ago while visiting this dental provider I was told based on X-Rays that I should see a specialist due to what appeared to be nerve damage in one tooth. The thought of a root canal did not sound like fun, so, I asked Dr. Tarjan what would happen if I did nothing. Without a hint of humor she responded, "it could become infected and you could die". Like wow, it's not every day I get a life and death prognosis from my dentist. I laughed it off, but, this was the first time I got the feeling that they absolutely wanted me to go see a specialist (they recommended) and no other option should be considered.

A year later during a scheduled cleaning they performed a gum examination. I have had gum issues my entire adult life so I have been quite familiar with process. The dental assistant refused to do a cleaning because, in her opinion, I needed a "deep cleaning" which, of course, costs more money and requires I come back to the office again. I was very confused as to why my gums would have deteriorated so severely since when I had seen them 6 months earlier. Dr. Tarjan then came for the examination. After looking at my mouth she just wanted to talk about root canals again. After talking about this again for a bit, she said, "i will leave you to get your cleaning". Oops.. I guess Dr. Tarjan didn't get the memo that I was being upsold a "deep cleaning". Feeling that something was fishing, when the assistant came back I questioned why the deep cleaning was necessary and at this point the assistant became extremely rude and refused any option for service other than a deep cleaning. Dr. Tarjan came back and parroted this assessment this time around. I found it telling that she did not do any further examination of my mouth. I left and told them I would get a second opinion to confirm my intuition that they were being overzealous in their treatment plan.

So, I have just returned from a different dental provider (with better reviews than Icon Dental) and without any prompting from the backstory I was told after the exam, "your gums look great, let's clean your teeth and get you out of here". The other thing I noticed at this other provider is that they actually asked me if they could do an X-Ray. I told them no since my insurance just paid Icon for this and asked if i could just email them the images from a month earlier. That was beyond fine. Also, this other provider was more strict than Icon Dental in terms of Covid precaution and procedure. We were asked to wait outside and first taken to an area of the office for Covid screening and cleaning hands. The number of people I interacted with was less overall. And, of course, I was not asked to come back for another questionably necessary appointment which would have doubled risk of virus exposure.

• Edit Adding a response based on the owners inaccurate response. At no time was I offered a refund. No service was performed other than an X-Ray. I even asked not to be charged when I left. I have 2 long exchanges in email (which I'm happy to share here) where no refund was offered. Interestingly, 10 minutes after this review was posted I received a message from Icon Dental about a credit on my account. I called and asked about this and they said it was from different issue done last summer. Now tell me this, how is it that I am only now being given the refund of services from insurance that occurred nearly 8 months ago and only in response to a bad review? Maybe this should have been mentioned when I was at the office a month ago?

This response from the owner only proves a dishonest...

DO NOT USE ICON DENTAL! THEIR NEGLIGENCE RESULTED IN A TRIPLE ROOT CANAL AND $3,800 OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES.

I first went to Icon Dental for an exam in July of 2017. I returned for a cleaning and three fillings in November. After that, my life was a painful nightmare for three straight months. I incurred over $3,800 in out of pocket expenses which Icon refused to reimburse any of. I missed over 16 hours of work for various follow up appointments where Icon’s staff could not diagnose the problem THEY caused. I spent 12 weeks on pain medication including 800 mg Ibuprofen multiple times daily, Hydrocodone and 2 rounds of the antibiotic, Amoxicillin. During that time I could barely sleep, eat or concentrate at work because the pain was agonizing and constant.

It all started with a simple filling! Icon did 3 fillings and 2 crowns in November and after that I experienced pain so intense my right eye involuntarily teared and I developed severe canker sores in multiple locations in my mouth. I’ve never experienced canker sores after a dental visit in my 36 year long life. I subsequently returned to Icon Dental THREE MORE TIMES in less than a month, where the dentist ground my teeth down and tried a laser sensitivity treatment. Never ONCE did they evaluate for an infection. I finally gave up and sought a second opinion. The second dentist was competent and immediately diagnosed a severe infection, placing me on antibiotics and recommending I see an Endodontist. It took two rounds of antibiotics to cure the raging infection that Icon’s doctors failed to diagnose in my three subsequent visits. I spent the holidays in agony. In the new year, I saw the Endodontist who also confirmed I had an infection and recommended an immediate root canal.

The cause? Icon placed a filling too deep and right on my nerve which caused it to become inflamed, then infected. The infection spread to the teeth I just had crowned, which the Endodonist also had to root canal. As soon as I recovered from the root canals, the pain was gone.

I contacted Icon multiple times with a detailed description of my visits, symptoms, failed treatments, out of pocket costs and the second opinions of two different dental experts. They refused to refund any of my out of pocket expenses, even though I only asked for the $1,700 I paid to remediate their negligence. Each time I contacted them, I had to make multiple attempts to get a response. I’ve consulted a malpractice lawyer who explained the complex and expensive process of filing a lawsuit. On his advice, I’ve chosen to post my experience here, as well as on doctor forums, and lodge a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and with DORA (Dept. of Regulatory Agencies).

Please do yourself a favor and get the care you deserve! Choose anyone BUT...

Icon dental has been a horrible experience. I got a crown done earlier this year and recently, it chipped due to the material they use. They replace it free of charge since it has not been a year. Day of the replacement, I’m also getting a cleaning because they scheduled me the week before when my insurance would not cover it. However they claim they always scheduled 6 months and a day, but yet that is not true or I wouldn’t have been rescheduled. I get numbed and then get taken to the replace the crown. The tech and dentist ask me if I’m feeling numb, I tell them I don’t think so, they assure me it is just a weird spot and I should be numb. They begin drilling and yanking and finally after enough pain, I yelled out and the dentist said, “what’s the problem?” I convey I am feeling it and it is painful. She gives me another numbing shot, waits 30 seconds and begins drilling and yanking so incredibly hard. I continue being in incredible amounts of pain but do not feel I can say anything after she’s rudely asked “what’s the problem?” They finish and are making the new crown, return to put it in and are being so rough, pushing so hard that I begin to cry from the pain. When checking to ensure the bite is even, Dr. N asks if my left side feels closed, I tell her since I’m so numb at this point, I can’t totally tell. She begins to rudely ask me, “you can’t tell if it’s normal? You don’t know what the left side of your mouth feels like?” After such rude questioning, I just oblige and am fighting back tears. We finish and I leave, in tears. This procedure was the most painful experience I’ve had and it’s all their fault due to faulty crown material. I believe the dentist was so rough and rude because she wasn’t getting paid for it. In previous experiences, she’s been somewhat kinder. Fast forward to multiple days later, I’m still in so much pain, I can’t hardly eat anything I need to chew, I’m taking medication around the clock to manage pain. I finally go to urgent care and they inform me that my TMJ joint is inflamed and essentially sprained due to the force from Dr. N. It is unacceptable for a dentist to use such force. I’ve never had TMJ issues despite various other dental procedures, it has only happened due to the unnecessary force by Dr. N. I’ve had a horrible experience here and will never go back. They only care about money and are not compassionate. The dentist always pressures me to get more dental work done and not recognizing the financial burden, as their office does not offer payment plans. Asking someone to pay multiple thousands of dollars but not offering a payment plan is absurd. I truly hope they change because this place has been inhumane in...