Lawrenceville Highway Dental at 2785 Lawrenceville Highway # 103, Decatur, Georgia.

I have had a huge number of problems with this dentist (I can't for the life of me figure out why I kept going back).

First, at least half of the appointments I have had some kind of problem with. Twice I was called the day of because no dentist was going to be there. Once they left me sitting in a chair for 45 minutes completely ignoring me, because a new patient came in who needed more work than they expected (they put a lot of pressure on you to get a lot of work during your first visit). Another time I waited well over an hour in the waiting room and finally had to leave to go get my kids.

Finally, after all of this, once I miss an appointment, and they charge me a $60 missed visit fee--and after two weeks, the balance went up to $85! When I called to complain about those ridiculous charges (especially considering how many times they have canceled on me, they said they couldn't do anything about it (it was all up to their corporate office, a practice located in Florida that owns a bunch of dental offices).

Among the other billing problems: The will not arrange payment plans if you need a lot of work; they will push you to get a CareCredit card instead. These cards, a product of GMAC, are frequently offered by veterinarians, doctors and dentists who don't want to have to turn people down who can't pay, but don't want to bother with payment plans. Unfortunately, they're a rip-off. Yes, you have a deferred interest period, but if you don't pay the ENTIRE amount at the end of that time, you owe the entire huge interest you would have from the beginning. The rate varies, and I forget the one on the card offered by Lawrenceville Highway, but the CareCredit I got when a cat needed surgery it had a 27% APR, which is about what you'll get.

This just annoys me; I think good dentists, especially, will try a little harder to work with patients instead of shoving them into awful credit card arrangements.

I also think they recommend more work than is necessary.

There have GOT to be some better dentists out there...