Dr. Laura Elaine Wittenauer, DDS

We were referred to Dr. Wittenauer by my daughter's special needs dentist because he thought she might need a root canal. Kate handles the special needs clients. I explained to Kate that I had a bad experience with our family dentist with overcharging us and upselling and was looking for a new dentist for the whole family. She promised me that they were different and would never do this. I scheduled an appointment for myself as well. I saw Dr. Wittenauer and she did a very comprehensive exam. Now I have a great fear of the dentist so I try to take very good care of my teeth and pay extra to get more frequent cleanings to avoid having to have work done on my teeth. After Dr. Wittenauer did the exam she started scheduling me appointments to have molds taken of my teeth. I asked her why and if it was covered by my insurance. She said no, it was only around $200, and that she needs mold so that she could either fit me for braces or veneers! She didn't even discuss this with me or ask… me if I wanted to do this! I am a very busy person and do not have the time right now to have frequent appointments that braces entail nor do I have the money to replace my teeth with veneers! And I've had braces twice before, my teeth are not that crooked, just a little misaligned because the braces were so long ago. She then said she thought I needed a root canal and referred me to her husband. I have never in all my 46 years been told I needed a root canal. I was shocked and scared. I went to her husband and he was like "why are you here? You don't need a root canal." I saw him for like 5 minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion she refers most of her patients to her husband.... Now my daughter...... My daughter has special needs. We paid $950 to have her put under general anesthesia because we were told she most likely would need a root canal along with some cavities filled. Had it just been cavities that needed to be done we would have given her oral sedation but since we thought she needed a root canal we agreed to put her under general anesthesia at our cost of $950. The work was done, and it was good work done. She did not need a root canal. While she was being worked on Kate told me I had to pay $300 towards what I would owe for that days work being performed. I also paid separately the $950 for the anesthesiologist. Dr. Wittenauer brought my daughter out in a wheelchair who was still heavily sedated, falling out of the wheelchair, and Kate was trying to get me to book another appointment for the rest of her work. I said it would have to wait, I needed to tend to my child. The doctor was very kind and wheeled my daughter to my car for me. Kate called for days afterwards trying to get us to book another appointment, under anesthesia, for my daughter. I told her that if she didn't need a root canal we preferred to do the work under nitrous and oral sedation. My daughter is very cooperative and this has worked in the past. Dr. Wittenauer is supposed to specialize in special needs children but apparently is only comfortable working on them if you put them under general anesthesia at your cost. At this point we have maxed out our dental insurance for the year. I said we wanted to wait until January to do the rest of the work when our insurance kicks in again. Kate didn't agree with this and seems to think money grows on trees and wants us to shell out thousands out of pocket. Now I was getting ticked. We took my daughter to another dentist for a second opinion who said the work could wait until January. Then the bill comes. That $300 I paid? It was a FACILITY FEE. I called and asked what that was about. She said my husband signed a form agreeing to this. I said I don't think so but she says she had it right there, and basically tough luck. I'm like you used a regular room, there was no FACILITY, it was a regular room at a regular dentist office. So I called Delta Dental and got them involved. They called and spoke to Kate who again said we signed a contract. Delta Dental asked for her to send them a copy of this contract we signed. Well guess what? There is no contract, we never signed a contract, she LIED. They also are not allowed to charge a facility fee! So Delta found in our favor and ordered them to refund us the money. They gave Kate and Dr. Wittenauer 45 days to send us the refund. Well they did not refund us, so I've reported them again. So Kate promised me she wouldn't screw me over like my previous dentist did and she did just that! I'd run as far away from this office. Check your bills carefully because they are billing fraudulently and illegally. How sad, I thought I found a kind and honest office, not so. And they charge more than standard rate for a cleaning too. They charge $157 for a standard cleaning when the going rate is $117