ROCKAWAY BEACH DENTAL

My experience with Rockaway Beach Dental’s billing practices has been extremely disappointing and frankly unacceptable. In December 2024 I had a crown placed and paid roughly $500 out of pocket. I was told at the time that my insurance would cover the remaining balance. In December 2025 I received a bill from the office for $573. I called Rockaway Beach Dental on December 4, 2025 to ask why. During that call I was told that my insurance had denied the claim because the X-rays submitted by the office were invalid or incomplete. My insurance had requested additional X-rays from the dentist. The office told me they were working with my insurance to resolve the issue and specifically told me not to worry about the bill while they sorted it out. They also said they do not charge late fees, so I should wait until they had clarity from the insurance company. Three months later, in March 2026, I received a letter from a collection agency (Transworld Systems) demanding payment for the… $573. When I called the office to ask why they sent this to collections after telling me to wait while they worked with my insurance, they claimed they had no record of my December 4th call. They also said they had sent additional X-rays to the insurance company but never heard back. Instead of following up with the insurance company again, contacting me so I could help resolve the issue with my insurance, or even notifying me that the balance was being sent to collections, they simply sent it to collections without any phone call or email. They also claimed they tried to contact me. I did not receive a single phone call, voicemail, or email from them about this. The only communication I ever received were invoices for the bill that I had previously been told to ignore until the insurance issue was resolved. The situation became even more ridiculous when I tried to resolve it. The dental office told me they could not recall the debt from the collection agency and that I needed to pay the collections agency directly. When I called the collections agency, they told me the exact opposite and said payment had to be made to the dentist. I then had to call the dental office back and provide my debit card information over the phone to pay the balance directly. This entire situation appears to have started because the office submitted incomplete or invalid X-rays to insurance, yet the burden was pushed entirely onto the patient. Being told not to worry about a bill and then having it sent to collections months later with no warning is unacceptable. Patients should not have to deal with this level of disorganization and lack of accountability. I strongly recommend documenting every interaction if you choose to work with this office.