Beautiful Smiles DC

Nanthini

UPDATE: Called the dental office today and spoke to Abby the office manager. She said that whatever insurance does not cover for the out of network fees, they will zero out on the account, and said that the X-rays that their office did not take, was maybe accidentally sent to insurance because the hygienist did not pay attention and that it will get removed. I double confirmed with her as of December 23 2024, that my balance will be zeroed out after they receive payment from insurance. We shall see. The other one star reviews are true. As someone who used to work in a dental office and handled billing/dental insurance claims, it is becoming clear that this office is involved in unethical and unlawful practices, mainly to get people to pay out of network costs for a simple dental cleaning. Backstory: I booked my appointment on ZocDoc over a month prior to my visit. I already had dental x-rays taken at another office 6 months ago, so I emailed my x-rays over to their general info inbox at info@beautifulsmilesdc. com. The day before my appointment, I called the front desk to confirm my appointment that I made through ZocDoc. She could not find my appointment on their calendar and asked when I made my appointment. I told her I made it over a month ago with Dr. Summer Lane through ZocDoc for a general cleaning, because of the availabilities it showed and that she was in-networth with my insurance.

She finally found my appointment but told me that she could schedule my cleaning an hour later than what I had originally scheduled for on ZocDoc. I told her that was fine. On the day of the appointment, I asked if they had received the x-rays I sent over, because I wanted to make sure they were not going to take x-rays again and bill my insurance for them, knowing that they won't be covered. It took awhile but receptionist was able to pull it up. I also asked the receptionist if a Dr. Dubey had worked there because I saw her name listed. Receptionist said “yes, she’s doing your cleaning today”, I was surprised and responded “oh I know her, small world”. To which the receptionist asked “are you a dentist”? I responded “no, but we used to work together”. Receptionist did not/failed to inform me at check in, that she would not be in-network with my insurance. Once I was in the chair, I saw Dr. Urwashi Dubey - we happened to work together 6 years ago at another dental office, instead of who I had originally scheduled the dental cleaning with: Dr. Summer Lane. Nobody from the office told me that they would be switching my providers or that my cleaning/doctor would be someone different than who I had scheduled with when I had called to confirm my appointment the day before.

A week after that visit, I received an EOB stating that I owe $608 out of pocket because 1) They billed my insurance again for x-rays that were not taken at their office or at the visit and 2) Dr. Urwashi Dubey (who is listed as this office's owner) is not in-network with my insurance. Having worked with her before, I don't question her medical expertise as a general dentist. I do however, question the unethical practice of their office, credentialing processes of their dentists and billing processes. It seems very apparent that this is a tactic used by their office, evidently from the other reviews I have seen, to get people to pay out of pocket for their dental cleaning. This would be in violation of HIPAA privacy regulation as informed consent must be provided including disclosing the identity of the treating provider. Additional ethical consideration from the ADA code of ethics emphasizes the importance of transparency and communication with patients, which includes informing patients about the changes in providers. I have sent multiple emails with evidence and have not heard back from them regarding this issue, as I would like this matter resolved by the end of 2024. If it isn't, they can expect me to seek other methods to get it resolved. For issues pertaining to this matter, please send communications to nanthinikuna@gmail. com.

April 12, 2025

JoJo

🚩PLEASE DO NOT BOOK HERE!! PLEASE DO NOT BOOK HERE!! PLEASE DO NOT BOOK HERE!! PLEASE DO NOT BOOK HERE!! 🚩 tldr: You are not a valued customer to them, just a wallet to be exploited. I had a HORRIBLE experience. I had tooth pain and booked Beautiful Smiles because they were in network and had the earliest availability. The dentist told me I had a myriad of dental issues and needed several different procedures done to correct them and then proceeded to try to schedule me with their office to complete said procedures. I didn't even get a chance to review the list. I told her I would go home and do some research and decide which to prioritize. Out of the 9 "NEEDED" procedures, only 3 were really serious preventative measures. The others were primarily aesthetic / unnecessary. I decided to book the wisdom tooth removal and the surgeon was nice.

. . AT FIRST. Prior to the surgery, I told the surgeon being high makes me anxious (I was being put under with laughing gas), she said I will be fine and it's not as bad. During the surgery, I kept sobering up because I can very much feel the pain and was signaling that to her. She would stop and ask me if I was feeling and I said yes. She would pause for a minute to allow me to reset but each time it would happen again. The pain was so bad, I started to cry. She was getting visibly upset and said that this never happens and usually the tooth comes right out.

She then spoke to her dental assistant in Spanish (she thought I wouldn't understand) and said "I don't know why we keep stopping. The pain can't be really be that bad. " She tried to up the dosage of the laughing gas which completely knocked me out but I was unresponsive (laughing gas replaces the oxygen in you lungs so this was VERY dangerous). When she lowered the dosage, I had to physically & verbally stop her from continuing and ask that she splice the tooth up in pieces. After it was all done, the receptionist tried to upcharge me on the dental wash by claiming it was sold out nearby (LIES - it was available at the nearest CVS a 10min walk away). I had to pay nearly 2k out-of-pocket AFTER the surgery and found out AFTERWARDS that the laughing gas was not an in-network service.

April 23, 2025

Brandon Duff

10/10 the best experience I’ve had with a dentist and their office in years! The front desk staff were all kind and helpful and Shabnam was amazing! Shabnam recommended that I get dental insurance before performing the procedure I needed and even took the time to check and verify that my procedure would covered by my carrier. Through the entire deep periodontal cleaning she was kind yet thorough and at the end of the 2nd cleaning my mouth felt brand new and cleaner than ever before. I want to thank the entire office for making a trip to the dentist enjoyable for the first time in a long time.

I feel confident knowing that I have found my dentist for the foreseeable future.

April 15, 2025

Michelle Marlin

I recently came here for a second opinion. After finding this office on ZocDoc and seeing that the office represented itself as in network with my dental insurance, I called their office to confirm then made an appointment. After my appointment (which strangely, I didn’t even receive a statement of services, even after requesting one), I viewed the office visit details on my insurance portal and realized I was lied to. They are NOT in network which was the whole point of going there. What a shame. They lied for a measly amount of money for the initial evaluation.

I’ll happily return to my out of network periodontist where at least I can trust them to be completely forthcoming and I’m more than happy to pay for that confidence. If the office folks will misrepresent important facts, I don’t even want to imagine what goes on there although the numerous poor reviews here should not have gone unnoticed by me. Sad. Buyer beware.

June 4, 2025