Confident Dental Care

I signed up with this dental surgery about a year ago after (shamefully) not visiting a dentist for about three years. I have never been afraid of the dentist from a pain point of view - but I was scared what it might do to my wallet.


Cost-wise, though, this place is pretty good. They didn't have any NHS places left, but they explained to me that the difference in cost was negligible (£20 for a check-up as opposed to £15 on the NHS)


I wasn't kept waiting long, the receptionist was very friendly and they had a water cooler in the waiting room.


My dentist was efficient and explained all my options to me clearly and, most importantly, in a non-pushy way. I wasn't made to feel like I had no choice but to part with all my cash, but rather that I had a choice in the matter and I could do as I pleased. She played the role of a wise adviser which I appreciated.


My hygienist was lovely too - again, not too badly-priced and very talkative and amicable. Naturally, going to the hygienist is quite painful, but she explained everything she was doing and how I could avoid the pain in the future. She did make me feel guilty for not flossing often enough, but she sounded so genuinely concerned about the well-being of my gums I have flossed religiously ever since.

You must avoid this dentist. On my first visit I was told I needed a filling - fair enough. But the filling was incredibly deep and large, and the tooth was still sore for a week, and my bite had changed radically. A week after that I was in real pain I had to have root canal surgery whilst abroad in Australia. That dentist suggested the initial filling had been unnecessarily deep and badly done. The implication being that the initial filling/dentistry is what killed the tooth.


Subsequent to this I have found two other locals in Tufnell Park who have needed root canal surgery within two weeks of being given deep filings at this dentist. All three of us have decided to complain to the ombudsman. Avoid.

Aspire Dental Practice, 139 Fortess rd NW5
Every one in the practice (except one dentist), specially the receptionist is rude and weird. The receptionist is so pushy and they want all the money in advance just in case you walk out and change your mind. they would not pay you a penny back. Will not go there again.

Unfortunately my experience at this dental practice was not as positive as SarahT's. I'm not sure if it has been renamed or is also known as Aspire Dental Care, but as it's in the same location as Confident Dental Care I am assuming it is the same place. Aspire Dental Care supposedly specialise in aesthetic dentistry but you could have fooled me as my dentist seemed to have no interest in aesthetics whatsoever.


I made the appointment as I had an ever so slight chip in my front tooth, and since a trip to the dentist was long overdue I thought it was time to get it all sorted out. After checking out their website, Aspire looked impressive, I didnt think too much into it as I thought how hard can it be to fix such a small chip, they must get it all the time. So I picked up the phone to call them which is where it all went downhill. For some reason, they wouldn't tell me over the phone if my appointment was private or NHS and said it would be explained to me once I got there, which I knew was just a way to get me to come in and have the appointment privately. As I was in a rush I took my chances and booked the appointment anyway. I had to pay a deposit of 20 pounds which I didnt have a problem with.


Once I walked in, everyone seemed friendly enough, however the dentist then came outside and proceeded to tell me that I looked about 12 years old. I am 22. I thought that comment was completely unecessary and out of context. Anyway, ignoring that, I went into the dentist chair with a smile and ignored it. I was yet to be told if this was an NHS appointment or not, how much the appointment was going to cost or any details of payment at all.


Once I was in the dentist chair I had to stop him half way through his check up to ask him about costs where he merely mumbled, 'I have no NHS space left so this is private'. I had to persue even more to find out how much all of this was going to cost. I thought their prices were fair, not too expensive, however after the shoddy job the dentist did I now understand why.


Once he filled in the chip he claimed he had finished and I had a look in the mirror. He had somehow managed to not only fill in my slightly chipped tooth but also re-shape the entire tooth. So now I was left with a mis-shaped front tooth which looked asymmetrical and utterly ridiculous. When I complained, he acted as though I was being fussy and claimed that it looked fine and that if in a few days I still wanted it changed I could come back. I almost had to point blank refuse to leave the practice until he shaped it in a way that was happy with. After his fifth try I was finally somewhat satisfied with the result, and he practically pushed me out of the chair without even having smoothed over my tooth or anything. So now my tooth has a really rough consistency, almost like sandpaper, with lots of dents as it has not been smoothed over at all. How he managed to mess up such a small job is beyond me.


I left the practice fuming, he seemed desperate to get rid of me as he realised I was not going to simply accept his shoddy work with a fake smile on my face. He then proceeded to repeat himself and say 'we can fix it the next time you come in', knowing full well that I am never going to step foot in that place again.

Oh my god! I don't even know where to
start. I had a dentist appointment at 10:30 but I came 20 min early. The
receptionist (Mity or something similar) was incredibly rude and very
unprofessional, she asked me to come back later because I was early?!?! When I
asked if I could wait in the waiting area she hesitated and then pointed at a seat. She made this
scene in front of another 3 patients so I was rather embarrassed. It didn't take more than a minute before
the receptionist start explaining how desperate her boss is to find a new
partner to one of the patients in the waiting room. She kept going on and on
how her boss recently got divorced and that she was hunting for younger men or (toy boys as she
described it) on the internet, that she was discussed by her boss ridiculous and
dirty behaviour etc. For a moment I thought, this woman has some serious issues
with her boss, fair enough it happens! THEN she continued gossiping about other
staff members working for the
dental practice as well, that they had fake degrees, tax credit fraud, some
of them had alcohol and drug problems, children who were stealing from them with
drug problem and A LOT of other very personal information. Confidentiality clearly is NOT a priority
in that place and I can't even begin to imagine what she/they are saying about
patients if she is gossiping openly about staff members in front of other
patients. Do yourself a favour, avoid this dental
practice and this rude receptionist!