Patient Perspective: Quickly finding a dentist to save the day

Kim Sorenson had seen the commercials, but didn’t really see herself needing to use 1-800-DENTIST’s help to find a dentist.

That was before she found herself in dire need of a dentist on a Saturday morning and was having absolutely no luck reaching one.

Sorenson, an avid runner, had fallen early on this Saturday just before she was planning to leave on a much-awaited vacation. She fractured her two front teeth and needed emergency care to continue on with her vacation plans.

In pain and upset, she first tried to contact her regular dentist who was not answering on this Saturday morning. Next she tried to reach a couple of her friends’ dentists, but none of them were answering either.

“We were getting desperate so my husband started calling dentists who were in the phone book that said they were emergency dentists that were open on Saturday, but no one was answering,” Kim said. “So we were really pretty crazed.”

That’s when the Sorensons turned to 1-800-DENTIST. Not only did the company find Kim a dentist ready and willing to treat her emergency on a Saturday morning, but it did so surprisingly fast.

“My husband went online and filled in a little form and within a minute of filling it out, 1-800-DENTIST called him and asked a few questions,” she said. “He explained the situation. They said they had a dentist in Morgan Hill who could see me this morning. They hooked up a 3-way call and explained the situation to the dentist.”

Dr. Giang Chu, whose practice is located in Kim’s town, asked a few questions, gave the Sorensons directions and, “Within an hour my teeth were fixed.”

Kim was thrilled at how well and how fast the whole process came about. Her terrible morning had quickly turned around and she was able to carry on with her vacation plans.

“It was great. It saved my vacation. You can’t really take a vacation without your front teeth,” said Kim, who was so happy that she shared her experience on Facebook so that others in need of a dentist could turn to 1-800-DENTIST confidently.

“It was an absolute life-saver. We would have had to cancel our vacation. It was a Saturday  morning and I would have had to wait until Monday to have teeth, and that would have been a problem.”

With scratches on her face, Kim joked that she may have still avoided being in a lot of vacation photos, but added: “I looked a little beat up in my photos, but it looked a lot better with teeth. And it made eating a lot better.”

So she has spread the word on social media and also will recommend the services to anyone who should need a great dentist.

“It was amazing. I never imagined myself using their service, but they saved the day. The whole experience was terrific. I’m profoundly grateful to Dr. Chu and the service,” she said.

“I went immediately on Facebook and posted about the amazing experience I had, and when I went there I heard all these people saying they had great experiences with 1-800-DENTIST, too. If I were to move or need to switch dentists I would totally use them. That’s why I titled my Facebook post, “To all you Moms” because if you have kids sooner or later you’ll have a dental emergency or something. To all you moms out there in Facebook-land, check out 1-800-DENTIST.”

Looking back, Kim’s still amazed at how quickly her situation turned around for the better.

“Within an hour…I fell at 8:30-we probably spent an hour freaking out and trying to call all these other dentists-and by 10 or 10:30 my teeth were fixed. She did a great job.”