Dr. Matthew Epstein, DDS

There are no words to describe how awful Matthew Epstein & West Newton Dental are. I went in for a routine crown replacement and left with permanent nerve damage to my tongue and a host of related symptoms that persist almost a year later. During what should have been a very routine procedure, the drill slipped and lacerated my tongue, permanently severing the nerve. The result is that for the rest of my life, I'll have constant pain & tingling in my tongue, together with an accompanying altered sense of taste and a multitude of other symptoms in my mouth and jaw. One learns about people when things go wrong. What I learned about Matthew Epstein is that he doesn't have a shred of empathy and absolutely no responsibility or self awareness of his actions. He sent me home, still numb from the anesthesia, with an oozing wound in my mouth without even telling me what happened. When I requested and received the notes from the procedure, he indicated that I gagged and moved my tongue… into the drill. Honestly, I did this to myself? Isn't that why a dental assistant is there, to prevent this kind of thing? Isn't gagging a standard part of any dental procedure and something to be monitored? Shouldn't one be able to trust a dentist to complete a very basic procedure without permanent injury? What's the most unconscionable is Matt Epstein's total lack of remorse. Not only did he not apologize for permanently damaging me, he never even acknowledged the actual injury, the permanent damage from a severed nerve. He consistently deflected, telling me that the metallic taste, which started with the injury, had to be unrelated and medical in nature. When I provided the diagnosis that had been made by an MD/DMD who specializes in this area, Matthew Epstein referred me to a cranial pain center that focuses on facial and joint disorders, as if this were an unrelated "disorder" rather than a nerve injury. It was deflection rather than acknowledgement of the fact that his actions have permanently damaged my mouth and my quality of life. My quality of life is permanently altered. I hope this review keeps others both from experiencing the same thing and from dealing with any aftermath. There are many fine dentists in the area and there are choices. My recommendation is to stay as far away as possible from Matthew Epstein and West Newton Dental.