Dr. Hitesh K Patel, DDS

I was fooled by Dr Patel's billing practice! They charged $75 nonrefundable for initial consultation, during which the Office "very warmly" offered me the service of insurance evaluation. My insurance was pretty good -- Aetna Choise Plus PPO. The office told me that because the fact that in the Naperville and nearby area there is a scarce expertise of Dr Hitesh Patel's TMJ skills and services, my insurance has a very high chance of classifying it as in-network service as long as I could explain the fact to my insurance. The office said the worst case was that this would be classfied as out-of-the-network service in which case our co-insurance would be 40%. In fact, they even gave me a printed green insurance evaluation sheet and they marked with a marker on the 40% as they explained. I believed them. Sadly all these turned out false when I later called Aetna after the treatment ! It is very deceptive that they keep feeding me the false hope of getting partial insurance coverage.… I called Aetna many times and were told that "Durable Medical Equipment" code the office sent was excluded from ANY coverage and that Aetna denies ALL TMJ Durable Medical Equipment coverage categorically. Why did I say they knew it? Dr Patel has been treating almost all TMJ patients with this same small piece of dental guard( so called "Durable Medical Equipment"). The doctor has been in TMJ practice for DECADES. Is it possible that he did not know whether this small piece of equipment would be covered or not by insurance? If he wanted all my $5500 plus dollar to come out of my own pocket, he should lay out the deal upfront. They should not play the games.

This Dr is just money seeking, they want all money at front to start treatment they promise insurance will cover it bout ones they get their money they don’t care if you end up with a big balance .

I spent several thousands of dollars out of pocket. My TMJ was only temporarily corrected for 3 months. I would not recommend Dr. Patel .

Do not under any circumstances have this doctor treat you for TMJ. I am in way more pain and discomfort then I was prior to seeing him. I have never met a doctor and staff (Desiree) that was so resistant to patient feedback who was reacting negatively to the treatment they were receiving. I even spoke to several lawyers regarding a potential mal practice lawsuit but unfortunately none of them saw enough money in it for them. Before starting treatment I was told it would only last 4 months, over a year later I had only gotten worse by his treatment. Every time I tried discussing this with him he and his staff would basically bully me. It got to the point where my office visits became such a source of anxiety for me it became hard for me to make my appointments. All I wanted from him was to listen to me and at least acknowledge my pain but instead he made excuses and blamed it on everything other then the treatment. His assistant Desiree even called me a liar and told me… my story keeps changing during a meeting (which I have recorded) and I had to excuse here from the room. When I asked her to give me examples how my story kept changing she told me “I don’t have to discuss this with you”. When she came into the room I could already tell she was looking for an argument. I have never in my life been treated with such disrespect by a medical professional as I did by that woman. She would give me ridiculous excuses like “Many times when you start treatment you are in more discomfort when you don’t wear the appliance then you were before you started”. Are you kidding me?! That’s like saying here is your open heart surgery but just so you know you will be at higher risk for a heart attack then you were before the surgery. I would mention stuff to her that she would totally dismiss, saying that’s not possible without even consulting the doctor, but when I mentioned it to him he would tell me it was possible. One time I broke my appliance. And instead of charging for materials, labor, and even a small profit he made me pay the full price (a couple thousand dollars) for a whole new treatment. He is a sales man not a doctor and only cares about lining his pockets. I eventually asked him for a refund which he refused despite the fact that Desiree offered me one in the past, which at the time I refused because I was interested in getting better and not the money. Eventually he got tired of treating me and dismissed me from the practice leaving me high and dry. As a result of his treatment I am in far worse pain and discomfort then I have ever been. Do not go see this doctor.