The Virginia Endodontic Group

My husband had a root canal started by his general dentist on a molar tooth and half way through, one of the three rotaries got broken near the bottom tip. His general dentist recommended that we go to a root canal specialist to get the little piece of broken rotary out and to complete the root canal procedure. There was an opening that same day and within the hour at Virginia Endodontics in Chantilly, VA. This clinic was recommended to us by my husband’s general dentist office so we went straight to there within the hour to get the procedure completed. The reception office at the chantilly office was clean, pretty, and contemporary but the receptionist was candid and not too friendly. My husband went to the back to get the procedure done. The dentist, tall and slender (didn’t get his name), tried to get the broken rotary out but couldn’t and said he did a flush cleaning of all three canals, filled and sealed them. Took only 30 minutes and charged us for a full procedure of a root canal. I didn’t think that was fair. My husband’s general dentist did half of the work — numbing, drilling and insert of rotaries of the tooth. All this specialist dentist did was try to get the little piece of broken rotary out but could not then reclean the canals as if they were never clean then filled/​sealed. My husband thought they would only charge him for a portion of the full root canal procedure but they charged him at a full procedure $ 931 after insurance paid for 25% of the cost– wish I make that much on 30 minutes. Again, I didnt think that was fair so I called the clinic and talked to the finance lady who then let me talk to the dentist who did the procedure on my husband. The same dentist claimed he did a full procedure of root canal, totally dismissed my reasoning with him. I am super disappointed with this clinic and that dentist whom I didn’t catch the name.

I visited the Alexandria office a couple of weeks ago and saw Dr Hsu. This was the worst root canal experience I have had and I’ve had several of them over the years. Dr. Hsu was obviously in a hurry and wanted to get my procedure done as quickly as possible. He was not happy that I wanted nitrous and tried to talk me out of it. HIs explanation was that I would be finished more quickly and that the tooth was in a difficult location (upper back). As he was numbing me, he did not wait long enough for the numbing gel to work before he injected the novocaine. I felt my gums (on the inside) crunch as he jammed the needle in my skin. The procedure was over in about an hour and he explained that due to the large abscess, he would have to do the rest at another visit. He also told me I did well and that I didn’t really need the nitrous; that my «fear» was all in my head. (I explained that I had a dentist drill into my nerve and tell me that he was unable to numb me.) That experience was not «all in my head» and I felt belittled. I left the office with a prescription for an antibiotic and was told to use ibuprofen or Tylenol for the small amount of pain I might experience.
I decided to go over the Walmart next door and get my prescription before I took the 40 minute drive home. Within about 30 minutes of leaving the office, I was in the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. Apparently, Dr. Hsu chose not to use the «long acting» novocaine (I have since learned that there is such a thing) and the type he used wore off very quickly. I waited for an hour for my prescription and was in so much pain that my mouth was drooling and I could not close it. I considered calling someone to pick me up or having the pharmacist call the ER. But, I didn’t want to leave my car in Alexandria when I live in Centreville. I did a lot of self talk and told myself I could do it. I barely remember the drive home. When I got home, it took 2 percocets just to get the pain under control. Ibuprofen did not even dull the pain.
For the next 5 days, I slept and continued to use the Percocet to dull the pain. On the following day, I visited another endodontist, Dr Strittmatter. He drilled the canals and found that they were full of infection. He cleaned them out and refilled them. He explained that the abscess was very large and the draining of it into my canals was the cause of the pain. He used a long acting Novocaine so that I felt nothing all the way up to bedtime. He prescribed more antibiotic and Percocet and told me that if I felt extreme pain the next day that he would clean it out again for me. Other than the location of the injections (I did not feel the needle at all because he waited until the numbing gel worked), I had NO pain after this procedure. Dr. S was very kind and very compassionate and had no issues with my desire for nitrous. Today, I went back to Dr Strittmatter and he finished the root canal. Again, I have no pain and I am so grateful for his kindness.
Although as far as I know, Dr. Hsu completed the procedure correctly. However, compassion and kindness make all the difference for me. I believe he should have cared about my feelings as a patient. I also believe that as a professional, he should have known that this had the potential to be extremely painful (especially since he couldn’t finish the procedure due to the large infection). Why did I not matter enough to him to go the extra mile? That was the message I received and I will not return.

Great service and fantastic high quality dental work — but have good insurance as it can be expensive.
My only quam was that they have a policy of almost never giving out pain killers — even after a two hour double root canal. If you’re like me, you may have to plead for something stronger than Tylenol. Other than that, I’m thoroughly satisfied with my experience and the work they did.

Great place. Dr. Huang did a very good job with my root canal. The office is very efficent and very professional. The equipment is very new and everyone is very helpful and informative. I defintely reccoment this place.