Harold Shapiro DDS & Romina Mercado DMD

Dr. Mercado is amazing and has a great staff of wonderful and talented ladies: Myra and Livy.
I hadn’t gone to a dentist in ages (wont say actual length of time because it’s embarrassing), and my coworker insisted and referred me to Dr. Mercado. Saying «she’s not like your typical dentist». And she was right, Dr. Mercado is amazing.
I’m so glad I made this decision to start going here because my teeth are the healthiest I’ve ever had in my entire life.
She has all the latest technology and gadgets to help make the visit as comfortable as possible.
I like her style about «raise your left arm if you’re feeling pain». And she has a gentle touch as well. She goes above and beyond to make sure the patient experience is the best.
Can’t say enough good things about her. This is the dentist you want to go to if you don’t like dentists.

Went to get a filling on my front tooth. Doctor missed a very noticeable spot on the tooth, did not file the finished tooth. Took two hours to do it. Two days later the filling fell out. I end up going there twice to fix the problem. It was a female doctor, not sure about the name.
At the end, Md. Mercado redid the filling and it looks pretty good.
If you end up going to this office, make sure go to a specific doctor.

Dr Shapiro has retired. I’ve been coming here for years. Dr Mercado has a very nice bed side manner and positive attitude. Clean and pleasant facilities. I would recommend this place to any family or friends.

It was important to me to find a dentist I trust, especially since I am new to the area. Dr. Mercado is exactly that. She was very attentive and made sure I wasn’t in pain at any point while I was getting work done. She made it a very pleasant experience (which is hard to do when you are getting cavities filled and a deep clean!) I had quite a lot of work done, and she was amazing throughout the whole process! I definitely trust Dr. Mercado for any of my future dental needs and know that I am in good hands with her. I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Mercado.

Dr. Mercado has amazing bedside manner, incredible pain management concerns and most importantly very gentle. I would get my cavities filled with her and her team any day! HIGHLY recommend.

If you can go somewhere else, do it. By somewhere else, I mean a bar, the mall or an ice cream shop. But if you have to go to a dentist, go here. Coming to this office is like going to visit old friends. That is, if you have old friends who like to stick sharp things in your mouth. ;)
But seriously, I can’t say enough about this office. I picked Dr. Mercado because she takes my insurance and she graduated from UConn (Go Huskies!), but I will stay because of her attention to detail and the feeling that I got that she cares not just about my teeth but about me. This extends to everyone in the office that I met from the receptionist (Hi Shaquala!) to the hygenist (Thanks Livy). They explain everything thoroughly and try to work with your dental needs as well as your budget.
I initially called the office with a toothache. Even though I had not been an established patient and their schedule was full they took me that same day. It meant that Dr. Mercado and her hygenist had to stay late. Very late, as it turned out. Dr. Mercado took her time to explain everything to me and to answer all my questions. I had a lot of them but she never lost her patience or seemed rushed.
She was also quick to get me in when I broke my temporary crown. (Don’t chew a bagel on a temporary crown!) When I finally got my permanent crown, Dr. Mercado paid attention to detail and wanted to make sure the bite was just right. She didn’t settle for «good enough.» And she encouraged me to come back if it didn’t feel just right.
I do have to mention that there was a little bit of a miscommunication when I got my quote for services. I was quoted a price for one crown but Dr. Mercado ended up doing two so I was a bit surprised by the charges. They were super apologetic about what happened and — without me even asking about it – took the time to explain to me what happened. Shaquala also explained new procedures the office put in place to make sure that doesn’t happen again to me or to any other patients. I guess I can’t really ask for any more than that. (And the bottom like is that I really needed the two crowns so it didn’t actually make a difference when it came down to it so what’s the point in being mad about it?) I was impressed that they really seemed to care about the issue. They offered to accept a payment plan for the unexpected charges.
So I won’t say that I will look forward to my next appointment (because who likes the dentist?!) but I won’t dread it, either.
Thumbs up!

Dr. Romina Mercado also works in this office. I had an implant done here. What a great job. I almost had no pain at all. She took her time made sure that I was comfortable and gave me a deal too. It took a long time, but she made sure that the screw for the implant was stable. He threw one implant screw away during the procedure changed to another size even though she wasn’t going to charge me for it. She came in with two sizes to make sure to use the one that fit my jaw perfectly. I can’t believe I was so afraid to get an implant before.

I agree with most reviewers: Dr Shapiro is a decent, good dentist. He knows his craft well and is professional.
However, the big limitation of this practice is the management of payments and costs. They are VERY unclear about these and, I dare say, non-​transparent.
I am not sure if this is Dr Shapiro’s challenge or his assistant’s, Maria.
She is disorganized, does not provide clear information about costs upfront, and when asked the information is slow in getting to you and it is very unclear. I ended up with a lot of out of pocket costs due to this inefficiency.
As another reviewer stated: They should improve their management of invoices/​statements, as well as informing you of insurance issues (denials) that there may be on time. As a provider they have the duty to do so; as a patient one has the right to be properly and timely informed.
This is a shame for otherwise a very good dentist.

Dr. Shapiro has been our dentist for seven years. We like that he has a small practice. Dr. Shapiro does the cleaning and the exam. We feel very comfortable going to Dr. Shapiro and feel he is caring and always looks after our best interests. He is very quick and thorough. Recently, our daughter, who lives in another state, was looking for more specialized treatment. She was not satisfied with her dentist’s recommendations. I convinced her to see Dr. Shapiro when she was home. He quickly assessed her problem, recommended a specialist, got her seen the same day, and Dr. Shapiro followed up with additional treatment. Dr. Shapiro even called us at home to make sure our daughter was doing ok. We have every confidence in him and feel fortunate to have him as our dentist.
His office manager, Maria, is so personable and compassionate. She really understands the insurance side too. I can’t recommend Dr. Shapiro and his staff more highly.

I came here for my first dentist apt in a long time, and it was an overall great experience. Everyone from the receptionist to all of the dentists I spoke to were very friendly, knowledgeable, and genuinely seemed like they cared about me as an individual, not just another patient. I will definitely be going back.

Dr. Shapiro is an exceptional dentist, truly the best I’ve had ever. It is very rare that a dentist conducts exams AND cleanings, but Dr. Shapiro handles all work himself with assistance provided by a hygienist. In most practices these days, you rarely see the dentist except for a 3-​minute brief exam at the end of the visit. He is exceptionally pleasant and positive and chats throughout the exam and the cleaning. I have had two crowns and several cavities filled by him and have been very pleased with his work. His prices are slightly higher than other dentists but the service and quality of his work make it worth every penny. Maria, his receptionist, is wonderful at reminding me to schedule appointments and navigating the complications of heath insurance.

I had previously written a positive review, but had a bad experience that caused me to leave the practice. Even though I asked/​reminded Dr. Shapiro not to do anything that my insurance won’t cover, he did it anyway. Long story short, I ended up with a pretty large bill and his office would rather lose a client than work with me.
His work is good, but his prices are high — so be careful.

I have since moved out of the area and on my first visit my new dentist called in several of the dental hygienists to show them what he called «absolutely perfect restoration work» which Dr. Shapiro had done.
So in addition to having an excellent bedside (chairside?) manner and being great at explaining things in a friendly, non-​judgmental way, he evidently does great work too. What more can you ask for?

Found Dr. Shapiro through Unilocal when I moved to the area. My wife and I went for a routine cleaning — it all was very quick and professional. While the building itself is a little shabby, his office is perfectly fine. I ended up having to go back for some work, which he did a great job on. As a result of that though, I had a bit of an issue with my insurance company (none of which was the dentist’s fault though), and his receptionist Maria was very helpful and patient while I worked to resolve that. I would definintely recommend.

I needed a crown on my tooth, and they told me it would cost 2000. But when I came the next time, it turned out that my tooth needed some additional work, which cost extra 200. I was prepared to pay extra, but the receptionist, Maria, said she gave me a discount to keep my bill at 2000, because she told me before this is how much it would cost me! She didn’t have to do it, so it was really-​really-​really nice of her!
Overall, I am very happy about the quality of Dr. Shapiro’s work. He did my teeth cleaning, put a crown on my tooth, and I am getting ready to get a filling (as soon as my insurance starts covering it :). Everything was done professionally. Highly recommend him!

I have had some bad dentists in the past, and I am thrilled that I’ve found one of the good ones.
The staff was professional, and Dr. Shapiro cares about his patients and even performed my cleaning rather than his assistant. He also provided me with some good advice on preventative measures I can take, and we had a pleasant conversation about non-​dental stuff.
His office is nice and must have been remodeled since some of the other reviewers were there.
I will definitely be returning.

About 6 months ago, being new to the area, I looked to Unilocal for help in finding a good dentist for a general cleaning that would be covered under my work insurance.
My boyfriend and I rolled into the parking lot where Dr. Shapiro’s office was and thought «Well, this looks a bit shady…». Bad enough to where I actually thought about calling in to cancel my appointment. Since we had already taken a half day and were literally at the door, we hesitated but went in. The elevators and general ambiance of the building were not at all comforting.
Upon walking into the actual dental office, we were greeted by 1 receptionist and zero patients. Granted it was midday on a weekday, the place was eerily quiet. We filled out paperwork, which strangely asked for credit card information (is that standard VA protocol?). We had no way to back out so we provided all our information and waited for the cleaning. During the cleaning, I saw/​heard Dr. Shapiro marking papers and calling out teeth numbers to the hygienist, and he said nothing more to me. After all was said and done (rough prodding was NOT enjoyable), I was promptly told to bring my file to the receptionist to set up future appointments. She told me I had to schedule a few future appointments as to take care of my 7 cavities, costing a couple hundred dollars a pop. My eyes BULGED at that and told them I’d have to think about scheduling my next appointment. I’ve been regular on all my dental appointments and have never been told I needed 7 fillings. My boyfriend went for his cleaning shortly after, and likewise had exactly 7 fillings to be scheduled for a future date.
Ironic? I’d say Dr. Shapiro wanted to add the leather and heated seat options to his vehicle.

I randomly found Dr. Shapiro either through my insurance website or through Unilocal,and I couldn’t be happier.
Maria (the receptionist) is hilarious, and always very nice on the telephone and in person.
His assistant (I can’t remember her name!) is great. I’ve seen her twice, and going back this second time, she at least acted as if she remembered who I was from 6 months ago. It was great to walk in there and feel like they remembered me.
Dr. Shapiro is very nice, very calm, and definitely not into scare tactics. He’s respectful, makes pertinent suggestions (like how I probably really need to get a bite guard so I stop grinding my teeth and giving myself headaches) and how to pay for those in a way that works with my budget.
Also, I had a filling done this week, and he was a rockstar with the Novocaine. I barely felt the needle go into my gum. While my jaw was cranked open he asked if I was doing all right every 30 seconds or so, and would let me rest my mouth and massaged my jaw a little before continuing with the work.
He really cares about his patients and I am really glad I found him.

I was in need of a new dentist and because of Unilocal I chose Dr. Shapiro. The wonderful receptionist fit me me with a cracked tooth. Dr. Shapiro reviewed the case, made a recommendation and then has his staff call the oral surgeon to get me taken care of.
Thank God I finally found a good dentist who cares about the patients oral health and not just about padding the bill with the next costly procedure.

Dr. Shaprio gives exams like you’ve never had before. He is exceptionally thorough, and actually handles everything himself, with a single hygenist to assist. This means everything, including cleaning. He is extremely thorough and gentle, spending a solid 15 minutes on the routine oral exam, in addition to the cleaning and x-​rays. All along the way, Dr. Shapiro was giving me helpful advice on ways to improve my hygene, as well as noting the areas that I should continue the good work in.
The receptionist is a lot of fun. I, apparently, have the same name and some soap opera character, and we spent about 5 minutes on the phone discussing it as I scheduled my appointment.
Overall, my experience with Dr. Shapiro was excellent. The exam was very personal and I’m confident that I will continue to receive the best of care. I’d highly recommend him.