Dr. Neil Schultz DDS of Brookhurst (McFadden) Dental Group Final Report
Feature Image
Feature Image - Check Header
We are not certain if Dr. Schultz
knows we withdrew our retainer credit of $457.50. There was no note from him with the check we
received from his office by mail. Looking
back we have been with his group for more than four (4) years. In the end we didn’t even get a thank you
note for Keith “Buster” Torkelson MS being a loyal, valued and paying
client. In 2022 Buster visited Dr.
Schultz’ group office about once a month for re-assignment purposes. Each time clerical said we cannot re-assign
you back here yet. After at least four
(4) “Nos” our interpretation is that they dropped Buster.
Work Done
We more often than not like to
kick things off with our work already done in the form of Google Blogger publications. We already submitted our study on affordable
healthcare. One of the primary concerns
we address in our paper affordability paper is the cost of dental care
especially for service year 2021.
Link to Affordable
MSGBase > Metadata >
09_BND_Complaint_Healthcare_Affordable_21121601_Notes
V2022
20220311-F: Finished Publication
Sprint
Auto Link >
https://brandnewdayhmo.blogspot.com/2022/03/affordable-healthcare-glitch-brand-new.html
Introduction & Brief
Initially we were rather happy
with the dental treatment that Keith “Buster” Torkelson MS received from Dr.
Schultz’ group Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG). After a couple of years and a couple of BMDG
errors we began to become disenchanted.
As usual with our papers we balance by addressing some of the strengths
about BMDG. Yet as service year 2021
came to a close the frustrations outnumbered the successes. Things only got worse as 2022 was getting
underway. We are now disappointed in
BMDG. The prime motivator for this study
is that Buster experienced incredible PAIN with a Root Canal (RC) gone
bad. In order to not go over-the-top
with criticism vis-à-vis distributing this critique we will apply our Harm
Reduction Policy (HRP). This immediately
translates as we will not sell this paper using Twitter. Our goal is that Buster can move ahead with the
least effort and discomfort. When we
checked online ratings about BMDG we find a surprising amount of positive
ratings. We will address online ratings later.
Objective Assessment Up Front
More often than not we like to go
online to see what others are saying about the professionals that serve Keith
“Buster” Torkelson MS. In general we
hope to see between 25 and 100 reviews.
When we checked online for some reviews about Dr. Schultz initially we
found very few. There was a time when
Buster would give Dr. Schultz a (Star) rating around 4.
FYI - Dr. Neil Schultz, DDS |
Westminster, CA | Healthgrades
https://www.healthgrades.com/dentist/dr-neil-schultz-ybqhdbz
Dr. Neil Schultz, DDS is a
Dentistry Practitioner in Westminster, CA.
20220506-F: Rating: 5 · 2
reviews
Crop of Keith “Buster” Torkelson’s BMDG Medical Records
2018 Onset of Partnership
Our records show that Keith
“Buster” Torkelson MS began seeing Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG) back
in 2018. In 2014 Buster saw BMDG for a
confirmatory consultation only. Between
2018 and 2022 BMDG had a clerical staff turnover. About half of the problems we describe here
are centered about the new clerical staff.
Back in 2021 we penned and mailed a letter with our concerns to Dr.
Schultz. He called Buster on the
telephone and assured us that his office’s intention was and is not to drop
Buster.
Satisfaction
If Dr. Schultz were younger we
would pen and mail a new letter for Quality Assurance purposes. Yet, he seems to only be biding his time till
retirement. After the behavior or lack
of about his 2022 clerical team we are now parting ways with BMDG. In the end we are not happy with them, would neither
recommend BMDG to family nor friends. If
all goes well Dr. Schultz of BMDG will see this Final Report online. We will keep working the issue until Buster
reports he is Satisfied.
Refunding Our Retainer
It looks like Dr. Schultz was not
brought onboard about this issue including the potential dropping of his account.
Strength - Implant Gone Right
This is a good place to begin
with strength about BMDG. Back in 2018
Buster had an implant performed by BMDG’s Dr. Kha D. Le (Dental Corp). It went really well and Dr. Le was happy with
himself and his work. Implants are
cosmetic and Buster’s dental insurance did not pick up on the cost of any. Between the veneer work, the implant, and the
frontal upper crowns BMDG may have reached the impression that Buster would
continue with cosmetic work. In short we
may have misled BMDG about profiting off Buster in the future. This may be one reason BMDG drove Buster
away. We feel Buster in part was dropped
because he is not the golden goose anymore.
Figure – Medical Record Tooth 7 Implant
In Better Times
Our records indicate that Buster
linked with Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG), Manny the Hygienist,
Clerical Jackie and Dr. Schultz on January 31, 2018. We spent much of 2018 building the
partnership that included gaining trust in BMDG. During 2018 and 2019 we were served by what
we call ther A-Team. Because of other
preoccupying issues with Buster’s health he could not do anything but accept
what was given him by BMDG. We now have
time to do a fairly thorough Quality Review Report (QRR).
Figure – Time Stamps for First
Encounter as Regular Client
Table – Comparative Review of Dr. Kha Lee
Featuring Dr. Kha Le – Review Using Vitals Format
Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG)
Images as provided online (BMDG) – A Team plus Kha Le
Mostly from Yelp
Two Handwritten Letters – Expressing Concerns
Driven by sub-standard Clerical Staff Behaviors and Attitude
Letter as Mailed To:
9900 McFadden Ave Suite 101
Westminster, CA 92683
Dr. Neil Schultz - Root Canal Day
To begin: Thank you for helping
me with my root canal. I was a bit sad
after leaving your office. I felt you
were angry with me. There is a chance my
social condition is deteriorating. All
of the Corona isolation and adjustments have changed me a bit. I feel like I did something wrong or my
behavior was inappropriate. My symptoms
of anxiety were causing me trouble.
October (2021) has been very challenging for me. I was referred for a root canal.
Am I going to be allowed to return for work with your office? Do I return to you for the crown work? Sorry for any awkwardness. It may have been inappropriate to take the photograph. New clerical don’t seem to like me much. I am getting a bit old and tired.
Thank you for your time and
consideration.
Email ktork46@yahoo.com
20220508-SUN:
Reached a point where we are glad
that we will not have to see Manny, Dr. Schultz or the Clerical on left ever
again. Buster was way too accepting of
their shortcomings and errors.
Mail To: [DECIDED TO NOT MAIL]
Patrick Kha Le, DMD
9900 McFadden Ave STE 101
Westminster, CA 92683
Office Dropping Loyal Patient
April
20, 2022 (W) - 20220420 (W)
As
you may know Brand New Day’s (BND’s) dental plan has changed from Liberty
Dental to Delta Dental. Delta Dental
assigned me to another dental office. I
have been working for over three (3) months to get re-assigned back to your
group Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG).
On each attempt I check in-person with counter staff in your office for
help. The gal on the left keeps saying
come back in a month. It is now April
2022 and my annual exam with you is well overdue. Our records indicate that we have been served
by your office since at least Wednesday, September 14, 2016 1:32 AM. We take this date from a routine email to us
from you. Again, this week the gal on
the left said wait another month.
20220420-W: Bedside Manner –
Dropped Account
She was very irritated. If we give her the benefit of the doubt it
may not be Buster that she is irritated with.
Rather she is irritated with Delta Dental and their processes. Unfortunately it is unwise to wait any longer
for our annual exam, diagnoses and treatments.
While in the BMDG office April 20, 2022, we requested our monies that
you have on account from us. The counter
gal (new) on the left acted as if she didn’t value our account and
patronage. Her bedside manner is sub-standard
as compared with your Jackie circa 2016-2019.
One of our conclusions is that for some reason your office wants to drop
us. If so the new gal on the left could have
told us back in January 2022. We find it
unfortunate that we have these impressions.
Thank you for our refund with the notation: Our records indicate a TOTAL
PATIENT BALANCE AS OF 021622 of -457.50 (Credit).
20220428-TH: Again, sadly we
received the refund we requested from your office today. The lack of any note supports our belief that
your office was trying to drop Buster.
You could have been honest by telling him on the phone when he talked
with you back in October 2021. We have
been trying for over 3 months to get re-assigned to your office. Knowing we were dropped could have gotten Buster
well his way with the new dentist that our Brand New Day Delta Dental has
assigned us. The treatment by your new
clerical worker that replaced the old user friendly Jackie has been
horrendous.
Email ktork46@yahoo.com
2022 Incidences
Note this is a personal paper
therefore we will not proof it much. On
April 20th, 2022 Buster decided to drop in the BMDG office to have your
counter staff help with re-assignment.
In the past when his dental insurance re-assigned him to another office your
“Old” Jackie effortlessly picked up the phone and successfully mediated
re-assignment back to BMDG. Below is our
Structured Temporal Reconciliation (STR) about Buster’s assignment
(re-assignment) centering in on BMDG’s (new) clerical staffing.
Service Year 2022 - Begin Brand New Day Delta Dental Tenure
Assignment Fiasco
Last Review: 20220508-SUN:
*OJ – Old Jackie
We use “Old” Jackie for our standard of Usual and Customary
for BMDG clerical.
Feature Before and After
Below we include some pictures
that capture the before and after for Keith “Buster” Torkelson’s dental work
centered about Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG). The first picture shows Buster’s missing an upper
tooth and the space between his two upper middle teeth. The second picture shows the implant that Dr.
Kha Le inserted. The third photo shows
the crown solution that closed the gap in Buster’s two upper middle teeth. The fourth is a reference image with
numbering for the teeth.
Figures – 1 through 4
Denture Modification
After the failed Veneer procedure
we wanted to minimize the chance for errors in the future. The last thing Buster wanted was for BMDG to
ruin his upper partial denture.
Therefore he modified it post-implant himself by cutting out tooth 7 to
make space for the tooth 7 implant.
Failures
By 2021 the failures were adding
up. In short BMDG failed us about: The
Veneer solution, refunding us for the Veneer failure, replacement of effective
clerical staff, prevention and early intervention about tooth 18, the tooth 18
extraction process, etc.
Suicide and Dentists
Sometimes we just have to include
something of general interest. People
including professional Health & Human Service workers are committing
“Suicide” every day. We have for years
heard that Dentists were an atypical high risk for suicide. The last thing we wish to do is push the
Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG) dentists too far. That is one of our reasons we selected to not
send Dr. Schultz a second letter of concern.
We don’t know the determinants behind dental suicides. The best we can do is act as if all were at
risk. During 2020 Buster was a bit more
stressed than usual to see the dentist because of the Corona Complication. We really needed BMDG to step up and make his
consumer experience more favorable than ever.
FYI - Mental Illness and Suicide in Dental School Fighting the Stigma
“Male dentists hold the highest suicide rate at 8.02 percent. Female dentists hold the fourth highest suicide rate at 5.28 percent. Physicians (7.87 percent), pharmacists (7.19 percent) and nurses (6.56 percent) also hold suicide rates much higher than the national average.” Nov 1, 2014
Being Different - Disposables
Obviously when it comes to
ratings Buster appears to be different. In the beginning he was giving BMDG and
associated doctor’s good online ratings.
Over time Buster wished that BMDG had a sound Quality Assurance Program
(QAP). Just because Buster appears
different don’t mean his opinions do not matter. Yet why send our findings to Dr. Schultz with
his retirement looming on the horizon.
BMDG may just get rid of Dr. Schultz like they did Buster.
Featuring Manny the Hygienist
Here we will discuss a break-even
relationship. BMDG retains a Dental
Hygienist. She likes to go by
Manny. While in the chair Manny
discussed with Buster her child, her pregnancy, a hernia associated with her
pregnancy, etc. In other words she
talked about her personal life. Every
once in a while Buster and Manny would cross paths at Starbucks. Manny indicated she was a Starbucks
addict. Buster had the impression she
was nice enough to deserve a homemade card (See below). Manny gave Buster some good advice. Get and use a water pick. Buster asked whether he put mouthwash in the
water pick. Manny said put dilute hydrogen
peroxide in the water pick. Buster still
follows Manny’s orders each day.
Figure – 2020 Manny’s Card
Arestin - Preventive Value
Again. Buster’s dental hygienist with BMDG for the most part is Manny. We are not certain of the correct spelling. Back in 2018 Buster saw her for the first time. She prescribed “Local deliv antimicro…” It cost Buster more than $500.00 out-of-pocket. If these treatments were necessary then the insurance should pick up most of it. If you notice tooth 18 received a double treatment. Which indicates that tooth #18 was reasonably intact back in 2018. Note: After doing his best to follow orders from BMDG tooth #18 had decayed by 2021 so far as to need Extraction. We think the “antimicrb” is a concoction called Arestin.
Figure – Patient Ledger Extract for Keith “Buster” Torkelson
MS
Preventive Care & the Alcohol
Annoyance
Doctor Schultz prescribed
Listerine for Buster prophylactic purposes.
Buster naively goes to Walmart to fill the doctor’s prescription and is
surprised to find that Listerine contains the alcohol Ethanol. As you will see later it is unwise for Buster
to put ethanol in any form in his mouth.
Below is a figure of the Listerine formula. Other than alcohol Listerine appears of have
sugar in it. We guess that the sugar
Sucralose cannot be used as a growth factor for Dental Caries.
Buster’s Solution
Buster quit drinking ethanol back
in 2012 after sustaining excessive ethanol related losses. A good way to avoid ingesting ethanol is to
not put it in your mouth under any circumstances. We assume the Listerine that Dr. Schultz
prescribed was to be used at least once daily.
Buster enjoys following Doctor’s orders as much as possible. After using some ethanol free gargles he
finally found Listerine Lingual Sheets or Listerine Pocketpaks Breath Strips,
Cool Mint, 72 Count. When Buster told
Dr. Schultz about his solution Doctor seemed un-impressed. Then in a subsequent visit Dr. Schultz prescribes
Listerine gargle again. It is really
annoying to have to repeat yourself.
Figure - Listerine Pocketpaks Breath Strips, Cool Mint, 72 Count
Veneer Failure – Refund Promised
– Benefit of the Doubt
Back in 2018 Buster was
interested in closing the gap in his two upper middle teeth. He brought it up with Dr. Schultz who
prescribed Veneers. We paid $580.00
out-of-pocket for the Veneers. The work
was done around June 7, 2018. Dr. said
to avoid biting or eating with the Veneered frontals. Even though Buster followed his doctor’s advice
the Veneers failed and fell out. While
being served by Dr. Kha Le for his implants Dr. Le indicated that the Veneers
were the wrong solution. Dr. Le
recommended bonding. It took Buster more
than two years to save up for his bonding.
Dr. Schultz promised to apply the lost Veneer money toward bonding. The bonding was billed as
“Crown-porcelain”. We have looked
through Buster’s patient ledger and can see no notion that Buster was credited
about the failed Veneer. We will give
him the benefit of the doubt. Possibly
each Crown cost was actually $290.00 plus $800.00 which equals $1090.00 each.
Bedside Manner
One of the service features than
diminished the most over time was the Bedside Manner of all but Dr. Kha
Le. Prior to the treatment of Tooth #18
the providers would talk to each other and to Buster while they were
working. Prior to the clerical staff
being turned over the old clerical staff had good Bedside Manner and treated
Buster kindly. Then came for Buster the
Extraction Affair. It began with what
was to be a Root Canal (RC) at most. During
the RC Dr. Schultz and his assistant barely talked and when they did it was
whispering. Buster is sort of an old guy
nowadays. When he is stressing he has to
go to the bathroom more. So one hour in
he asks for a bathroom break. Dr. who is
still in the grinding phase stops immediately and says he is done. He did nothing to close the hole he ground in
tooth #18. Buster asks about PAIN
medicine and Dr. Schultz recommends something over-the-counter (OTC). In no time the anesthetic wore off and
progressively worse PAIN sets in. Buster
purchases the OTC medication and it doesn’t work. Eventually for further treatment of the same
tooth Buster is referred to an Endodontist.
We will skip the Endodontist details, yet he did prescribe Aleve for the
PAIN. Aleve for the most part
worked.
Scoring – Five (5) Star System
We use our patented Binary
Scoring Method (BSM) on the way to calculating our Star Equivalent Scores
(SES). Our standard for executing Stars
Ratings is the CMS Medicare five-star system.
Five Star scores are superior. If
we find a rating online such as Yelp or “demandforce” we consider them with our
review.
MSG’s Basic Vitals Assessment
We have two assessment
instruments to apply to those doing business as Health & Human
Services. The Basic Vitals Assessment
(BVA) has about seven elements where our Vitals Extended Tool (VET) has more
than fifteen elements. Here we choose to
apply the BVA across Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group professional and clerical
components.
Subjective Assessment
MSGBase Metadata > Assess_Vitals_16091901_Forms
Provider: Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG)
Professional Component
Dr. Neil Schultz DDS
Patrick Kha Le, DMD
(**) Centered about Extraction (2021)
Dr. Schultz’ scores were turning up a bit after the Veneer
Failure (Treatment Error)
The Last Deal
Late in 2021 Buster made his last
deal with Dr. Schultz. I was that Tooth
#18 needed some rework and potentially a RC and crown. The whole affair didn’t go as promised. The
tooth was “Extracted” by an oral surgeon to whom BMDG referred Buster. With the preventative care including routine
x-rays how could a tooth go so far as to need extraction?
[INSERT PHOTO OF TOOTH #18]
Introduction to PAIN
We have included an image of
Tooth #18 after it was extracted. One of
the biggest motivations to see this and other dental reports through is
PAIN. We stay presenting PAIN in
association with Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group for the next report. Potentially the most PAIN Buster has
experienced with respect to dental is about the treatment of Tooth #18 during
late 2021.
Provider: Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group (BMDG)
Specialty: Clerical
Score: Clerical Prowess
The Girl on the Left
Somewhere during the cusp of 2020
and 2021 two seasoned gals from the counter appear to have moved on. The one we dealt with for all of our service
before 2020 was named Jackie AKA Old Jackie.
All at once two rather young gals show up at the counter. They both were a bit challenged on how to do
business yet the one on the right eventually got it together. The one on the left was so bad that we hoped
she was a temp. She mediated the
Extraction Affair. She is also the one
in the office that Buster finally said I have had enough with Brookhurst
McFadden Dental Group and their shortfalls.
We had predicted back in December of 2021 that there would be more
shortfalls as they were demonstrated in 2022.
Hoping She Was a Temp
Coming into service year 2022 we
were hoping that the Clerical gal on-the-left was only and Temporary. She has proven to be quite the “Renegade”. It looks like she did the refund behind Dr. Schultz’
back. There was no note from him and he
didn’t sign the check. When the gal
on-the-left talks she more often than not has a hostile tone. Dr. Schultz is in ear shot so we guess he
approves of her methods. In the end we
really find little reason to like the gal on-the-left. When you go to BMDG Yelp page they have edited
Old Jackie out of the group photo yet have not included the two new Clerical
Gals. That was one reason we thought the
gal on-the-left to be just Temporary.
BMDG Presence Online
Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group
https://www.yelp.com/biz/brookhurst-mcfadden-dental-group-westminster
20220508-SUN: 4 Yelp Stars across 25 reviews
FYI - Westminster Dentist - Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group
https://www.brookhurstmcfaddendentalgroup.com/
Our number one priority is our “patient's comfort”. We use any available tool to make sure you have
a comfortable experience during your dental visit.
https://local.demandforce.com/b/patrick-kha-le-dmd
We proudly provide “quality
dental care” to the community of Westminster, CA 92683
Online Reviews – Statistical Improbability
Quality and comfort for Buster in the end is questionable. We have looked at over 100 online
reviews. When you see something like 569
votes cumulatively yielding a perfect 5 score you know something is fishy. Buster’s niece double doctor Kline indicated
that the online rating sites could be padded with false information. We call reviews that appear to be impossible
Hocus Bogus. For our purposes Hocus
Bogus means: “Something that is lame, bogus, or just plain not right. Hocus bogus is always a negative term.” Two impossible aspects of the “demandforce”
rating are the number of votes and a perfect rating of 5 across those
votes. Even if you see a provider
getting a 5 the number of votes is ten or less.
Over ten the odds increase substantially that a rater will offer up a
score lower than 3. There is the chance
that rounding plays a part. We are not
going to do the math to show how an actual average of 4.5 can be rounded up to
5. We are just saying the “demandforce”
rating looks like Hocus Bogus. Even if
we rated BMDG a 0 today it would not alter their 5. One last point: If you compare the
“demandforce” review with Yelps review they should be in parity. On May 8, 2022 (SUN) Yelp reported 4 Yelp
Stars across 25 reviews. Four (4) stars
are by far more sensible than 5 stars across 569 votes.
Summary
Well that is part of the story
and we are sticking to it. We will
return to this study in order to address that PAIN associated with the
Extraction of Tooth #18. In addition we
are considering sharing some of our findings on the Yelp page for Brookhurst
McFadden Dental Group (BMDG). We encourage
BMDG to invest in a Quality Assurance Program (QAP). We advise them to replace the Clerical gal
on-the-left. We are glad that Buster is
finally parting ways with Team Brookhurst McFadden Dental Group.
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