Dr. Tierney Maleia Pettinato

Dr.Tierney Pettinato does an amazing job with her dental work, as well as making the kids feel as comfortable as possible at their dental appointments

Overall my family and I have been happy with this office over the last 5 and a half years. Dr. Frank Pettinato rebuilt my daughters trust and comfort level with Dental visits. Unfortunately my daughter has had 2 cavities in the last year and a half. When I scheduled the appointment for my daughters 1st Cavity Filling appointment the office attempted to collect FULL payment for the Cavity appointment over the phone the day I called in to schedule the appointment. I thankfully was able to talk the receptionist/scheduler into allowing me to pay 1/2 the fee at the time of scheduling the appointment then paid the remaining balance the day my daughter had her Cavity Filled upon arriving for the appointment. When I had to schedule my daughters 2nd Cavity Filling appointment I HAD to pay the FULL amount for the Cavity Filling in order to secure an appointment slot for my daughter. I calmly spoke with the Office Manager and she explained to me that it's the Office Policy to pay upon… making the appointment (even though I had to schedule the appointment 2 months out.) I called several Pediatric Dental offices in the Tampa Bay area and inquired about their policies in order to schedule Cavity appointments and every office I called required payment DAY OF Appointment! I did proceed with scheduling, paying (thank goodness I had the funds available) and having Dr. Tierney Pettinato take care of my daughter's 2nd Cavity. After the Doctor was done taking care of my daughter's Cavity I asked to please speak with the Doctor in private. I explained to her that I didn't feel it was fair that FULL payment for Cavity Filling was required just to schedule an appointment for your child. Unfortunately Dr. Tierney Pettinato was passive aggressive and a bit disrespectful when I expressed my concern. She firmly stated that office policy is set this way for a reason. I truly feel bad for those parents who may not have the funds up front just to get their child on the schedule for a Cavity Filling. Why does this office currently operate this way if NO other Pediatric Dental offices or even regular Dental offices in the area require this???

My kids had been going to Pettinato's office for over 10 years. Since they closed the Dale Mabry office, we've experienced nothing but problems. First, we showed up at the Dale Mabry office for our appointment to find a note on the door stating that they closed this office! No text, email or phone call. This wasted a couple of hours of drive time. Then, I show up to the next appt. and they said they had called to reschedule. I never received a call. Finally, we showed up this past Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and the compressors were out so they called us 30 minutes prior to our appointment to cancel. I didn't receive the call because I was already on my way to the appointment. So much wasted time only to have to schedule new appointments. I like the dentist but they need better staff, Better communication. When I called to let them know we were going to a new dentist, they could not have cared less. Didn't even want an explanation. Really bad treatment of a long time customer. I recommend… you give your business to someone who cares about you as a customer.

Very upset and disappointed in the staff at office. I had to reschedule a dental cleaning for my daughter who has been going here for years. Appointment was rescheduled for today at 5pm. As I took off work early, got my daughter out of practice early, on my way to appointment, then I get a phone call asking me am I coming to appointment, telling me appointment was at 4:30 And not 5:00. Really, cause you just called my Husband asking him if we could come in early at 4:30 so we could fill out some new forms. So basically they screwed up and tried to blame it on me. Never so angry before!! So sad, cause I refuse to go back. Now I have to find another Dentist for my daughter. Very very very disappointed. All you had to do was be honest and say you screwed up and scheduled appointment wrong. Way to go!! ??