Dr. Carmen Denise Maroon Lopez DDS

"I had the worst experience coming to this office. I will never come in here again. The receptionist for the dental side of the glass was so rude, because apparently I didn’t have the correct card to present. She took my license left it on her dirty desk and left me sitting there for 30 minutes. She was supposed to be checking to see if I was assigned to this horrible office. This office is so unorganized and not a shred of professionalism. I worked in a dental office for years and I would never treat a patient that way. I’ll never be back and I wouldn’t recommend this place"

"TLDR VERS: Other than the first dental tech, who was amazing, everything about this office felt like a scam, designed to charge for every service outside of insurance recommended guidelines. They used a mixture of hard-sales, pressure, condescension and intimidation to maximize profits. Kind of felt like the pressure-driven sales tactics that would be used at a used car dealership, no lie. ------------- I recently moved back to the San Diego area after a 6-year hiatus, to find out that my old dentist was no longer in the area. So I tried a random dentist that accepted my insurance. Scheduling the appointment was not memorable, neither good nor bad, other than the fact that it was a VERY long wait (over a month). Upon arriving, my initial impressions were a bit of a yo-yo experience. There has been almost no investment put into the waiting room - even though this is your first impression of the facility. But the dental tech who did my x-rays was absolutely phenomenal. I didn't catch his name, but he was friendly, genuine, and efficient. So basically from a slightly negative impression where I almost felt uncomfortable (waiting room) to a positive one where I thought I had found a great dentist. Then we get to the all-1*-from-here part. The dentist herself came into the room in what I'd say was a neutral mood. Not friendly, but not unfriendly. Just brusque. After a quick initial exam, she tried to sell me prescription toothpaste. My teeth are bad and may benefit from the prescription toothpaste it is true - I was unsurprised by the recommendation and told her I already had some at home. But it always makes me feel uncomfortable when a dentist making $100k-$200k/year is trying to hard-sell a $10-$15 tube of toothpaste. I kinda get it if one of her staff is doing it - but it's just such an incredibly small profit margin for the dentist to be doing, it screams "I only care about money, not my patients." And when I declined the toothpaste, her entire attitude became negative. She seemed to lose all interest in me - as if because she couldn't get the extra $10 out of me, I wasn't worth her time. The exam finished quickly from there, and she left without even a polite goodbye. Her assistant came in then, and told me I needed a $75 teeth cleaning. Even though I have insurance. I asked why I had to pay, and she said I needed an advanced cleaning which insurance did not cover. I informed her I had had deep cleanings in the past, and insurance always covered it, and she responded that I needed less than a deep cleaning, but more than a regular cleaning, and so must pay. When I balked at this, she actually said in a very condescending tone "Is $75 a lot for you?". I canceled all services and walked out at that point. And to be clear: I am fortunate that the answer here is "no, $75 is not a lot for me." But it is for many people, and it really doesn't matter whether it is or is not. The point is that my insurance covers both normal and deep cleaning options, so they specifically chose something the insurance did not cover, in order to (I assume) charge a higher rate than the insurance would have reimbursed. It felt so incredibly unethical. Maybe this is truly the service I needed - but if I needed it, why wouldn't the insurance cover it? I'm not dentist, and cannot be sure. But they were unwilling to do the lesser service, and there was no explanation provided, no reason whatsoever given for me to trust them. I felt scammed. And THAT is why I balked. So then to have her condescend me, while I was feeling scammed, it was just infuriating. In short: my visit here accomplished nothing for my dental health, but from a mental health perspective I left feeling angry, agitated and offended. It was such a bad experience that I've decided to simply drive 2 hours each way to my old dentist's office, rather than waste my time and stress levels trying another local dentist. If I could give less than 1 star, I would. STAY AWAY FROM HERE."

"Dr. Maroon came in immediately and welcomed me back. She she went over my history and answered questions. Her staff was thorough and when I left I knew exactly what my plan was. I am very happy to be back in Dr. Maroons care."

"I was referred by a family friend, I was a little hesitant because of the reviews on here and Yelp.. making an appt was super easy and FAST! They got me in the following week and within two weeks my whole mouth has been repaired and cleaned. Big thank you to everyone in this office for being so helpful and attentive!"

"Love this place! They are very accommodating and Nancy at the front desk goes above and beyond ever time I call or go in. only problem is timing some times they run a little lye but in my opinion worth it. Would recommend to family and friends"