To be fair, I have never met Dr. Russell. You have to get through his gatekeeper and office manager, Sheila, first. Our family is new to Texas and we, like many self-employed, do not carry dental insurance. I am interviewing doctors, dentists and orthodontists to make informed decisions about care and expenses. Dr. Russell will not meet prospective clients, because he has Sheila. I was asking Sheila about cost of services and cash discounts. I never did get an answer about the cost of Dr. Russell s services; apparently people don t ask such ridiculous questions. I did, however, find out from Sheila that Dr. Russell does not offer cash discounts. It is not office policy. Okay, but why? It s just not office policy. When I told Sheila I guess I could ask Dr. Russell if I made an appointment (my son is getting a tooth extracted for his braces he just had put on by our OPEN and FORTHCOMING orthodontist.), she advised me that wouldn’t be good for the relationship. Relationship? What relationship? And why wouldn t it be good ? Because Dr. Russell would feel like you were putting his back up against the wall. Are you KIDDING? So, the moral of the story is: go see Dr. Russell as long as you don t have any questions he or Sheila might not want to answer about the costs of and payments for his services. On a side note, since Dr. Russell s office is just a couple doors down from our orthodontist, and one of the gals at the orthodontist had already walked our paperwork down to the office, I was going to have my son s tooth extracted there and then continue my dental search. When I went to make the appointment, Sheila informed me that she had talked to Dr. Russell and they decided this was not a RELATIONSHIP they wanted to pursue and so I would have to find someone else to extract our son s tooth. Don t worry, I did. In an office nearby where they gave me the costs of their services, up front. No cash discount but significantly less prices, as I have now come to find out through more research!
Imagine that: Full disclosure!
out of 5 stars
