Columbus Circle Dental

I’ve been a patient at Columbus Circle Dental for years – they are very thorough and I have not had the experience of up-​selling that these other people mention. The dentists and staff are very concerned about proper dental health. Their equipment is state of the art and their people have excellent patient skills. I recommend them highly.

I Love them! I have been going to them since 2003 (I think) and I can’t say enough good things about the dentists (particularly Jaramillo) and the the entire Staff. The new office is beautiful. The care I have received there has always been top-​notch. When I moved to Westchester, I tried other dentists near me, but could not settle for anything but the best, so I (and the rest of the family) make our twice per year field trip into Manhattan.

I do go to this guy – but only because he is across the street from my office and because I say no to any and every service they offer me other than what I think/​feel is an actual problem. Otherwise I’d spend tons on additional and unnecessary treatments. Him and his staff are nice too, but mostly in that really annoying fake nice way because they want to sell you on something. For real problems, he tends to kind of ignore you (but again, with a nice read fake smile).

Friendly staff all around, sure. Why are they so nice? Because they’re salespeople.
Upon my first check-​up, I was told that I had dangerously large pockets in my gums and I would need to get several antimicrobial injections. The dentist hinted that it could lead to oral cancer if not treated. I checked into it with my dental insurance and of course it wasn’t covered — the cost would be more than $ 2,000. I called and asked if I could simply schedule a cleaning and delay the injections til I could afford it. They refused. The dentist was also fiercely pushing Invisalign — another $ 6,000 (even though I wore braces throughout middle school).
So I took my xrays to another dentist for a second opinion, and she literally howled with laughter. She even called another dentist into her office to take a look, and they both had a good laugh. They agreed that I had perfectly healthy teeth and gums.
I may have wasted my time with Columbus Circle Dental, but at least I didn’t end up wasting thousands of dollars out of my pocket. Sadly, I’m sure so many of their patients fall for this and don’t question the recommendations of these hacks. Beware is all I can say.

It took me years to find a dentist I trust in New York. Having gone to my childhood dentist until I was 24 (who, it turns out, is not very good), it never occurred to me how difficult it is to find someone who you trust to go poking around in your mouth with sharp metal implements. My journey that ended with me coming to Columbus Circle basically was Goldilocks and the Three Bears: First I went to a dentist that told me I literally had 27 cavities that needed urgent repair for $ 200 – 500 a pop, then I went to one who more seemed to gently reassure my teeth than actually maintain them. Then someone directed me here, and what do you know, they turned out to be competent, professional and honest. I know that sounds like the minimal, baseline compliment you can give a medical professional, but in my experience, that’s harder to find than you might think.
Special mention must be made of the staff’s (all of them) patience and kindness in dealing with my incredibly touchy and mortifyingly juvenile gag reflex. Taking my X-​rays is a tedious marathon of failure and shame, involving the nurse burning about 1000 calories from countless brave yet futile attempts to run out of the room to take the X-​ray before I ruin things by involuntarily spitting out the mouthpiece for the umpteenth time. Once I couldn’t stop myself from grabbing the dentist’s hand as it was utilizing an active drill in my mouth. He merely sternly instructed me to never do that again; I give him all the credit in the world for not punching me in the face right then and there.
I do secretly suspect the staff takes a measure of retribution through one of their hygienists, who is an extremely friendly and chatty young lady when I first sit down. But then when it’s business time and the scraper comes out, she cleans my teeth like I’m her ex-​husband and/​or owe her money. Maybe I’ve only had wimpy hygienists in the past, but when she cleans my teeth, she sometimes gets the scraper so far up there that I swear I feel it poking out of my eye socket. It is very nearly enough to make me cry, and I’m pretty sure my fingers have left permanent indentations on the armrests from gripping them so hard.
Wow, seeing this all written out it like this, it becomes plainly apparent that I one incredibly shitty dental patient. Sorry, everyone at Columbus Circle Dental.

I just wrote a sterling review for Dr. Jaramillo & realized that Columbus Circle Dental was here separately. I had to switch from Columbus Circle Dental due to a job/​insurance change & I miss Dr. Jaramillo terribly! Dr. Jaramillo set a new, towering standard for the dental care I hope to get in the future. The (very clean, BTW) office is super cutting edge — mouth-​camera, one-​visit inlays due to high-​tech setup (most offices require two visits for those)… They offer amazingly thorough & pleasant cleanings. Dr. Jaramillo & his staff are friendly, competent & professional.
To read more, you can check out my review for Dr. Jaramillo but just wanted to go on record here about how highly I recommend this office.