Dental Patient Reviews Indio CA

My Experience at Inland Dental Center - Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry (July 25, 2022 - February 5, 2025) My experience at Inland Dental Center was horrible. Looking back, I truly wish I had never visited this office. It has been the worst medical experience I’ve ever had. I lost count of how many times I was treated by trainees instead of qualified professionals. None of Dr. Ronald Simus’ assistants are actual dentists. On several occasions, I was injured due to their lack of experience with orthodontic tools. For example, when they attempted to place rubber bands on my braces, they would often slip and hit my gums hard, causing painful wounds. Additionally, the pressure they applied to my teeth during these attempts was excessive, sometimes leaving my teeth feeling loose after appointments. There were also many times when they forgot to place some rubber bands on my braces or to put the wire on properly. I realized their level of professionalism was lacking. Dr. Simus often mentioned that I needed to file down one of my bottom teeth (tooth 31). After several appointments, I agreed to proceed with this treatment. Unfortunately, this caused a gap between my 31st and 32nd teeth. Dr. Simus had to adjust the wire at each appointment to try to close this gap, which seemed to cause him frustration. Initially, Dr. Simus estimated my treatment would take about seven months. However, due to the gap and his lack of attention to my progress, the treatment was extended to 31 months. Isn’t that ridiculous? I will attach a photo to show how my teeth looked at the beginning of my treatment and how they look now—practically the same. At one point, Ms. Donna Williams showed me on her computer how many appointments had exceeded the estimated time and informed me that I would need to pay out of pocket for any additional visits, as Dr. Simus had claimed my treatment was “finished” even though I still had a gap. When I asked for the issue to be addressed, I was met with disdain. On one occasion, when I mentioned I was out of bite-adjusting elastics, Dr. Simus decided to stop providing them to me, despite not having checked my teeth that day. He told me he wanted to see if my teeth would remain stable, which seemed like an excuse to stop giving them to me. At that point, I didn’t feel my treatment was being properly managed. When I voiced my concerns, Dr. Simus dismissed them with a comment: “I’m a retired orthodontist, and you’re not. I have the training, and you don’t. It’s not about the money because I already have more than I need.” After I stopped wearing elastics, I began experiencing jaw pain, which I mentioned at my next checkup. Dr. Simus dismissed my concerns with a cruel remark: “There are people with no teeth who don’t have jaw problems.” Later, during the removal of my upper braces, one of the trainees scratched my teeth while polishing off the glue. Additionally, there was poor planning on their part, as they made me wait a week to take impressions for my retainers and then another week while they were made. This delay caused my teeth to shift. When I finally received my retainers, they were too tight, likely because my teeth had shifted during the waiting period. Dr. Simus scheduled a follow-up appointment for three months later. However, when I arrived on February 5, 2025, Dr. Simus was not present. Instead, one of his assistants, Otto, saw me. I mentioned the new gap between my 34th and 35th teeth, and he confirmed the retainer was too tight. He said he would adjust it, took it out of my sight, and then told me he had slightly bent a wire to release tension. However, when I checked the retainer at home, I realized it hadn’t been adjusted at all. I took before-and-after pictures to confirm this, which was exactly what I expected. I am relieved that my experience at Inland Dental Center is finally over, although there are many more issues I could mention. Unfortunately, Google’s character limit doesn’t allow me to share everything, so I have attached pictures to illustrate what happened.

- David Infante

- Claudia Cloward

I have been taking my daughter here for 8 years and before that i was their patient for another 3. honestly i dont even know why i keep coming. Ive even referred my step son to them and still dont know why? I guess its because its hard to find a good decent dentist/ortho ? If you try to make an appointment they transfer you like 4-5 times to get to the correct person and you literally explain the reason of your call each time. The doctors hardly explain whats going on they just say the kid needs this and that.. i, myself had a bad experience with the ortho guy and thats why i never went back to see him and ended up taking my daughter to a diff ortho. If your looking for a place for you or your children and have PPO insurance, your better off somewhere else.

- Leeba leeva San

I didn’t have high expectations based upon location but I was wrong. Everyone was very nice. They got me in quickly when I had some pain and did not try to sell me anything I didn’t need. Pricing was reasonable and they accept a variety of insurance plans. Dr. Ayala is great and I will be going back.

- Shannon Cyr

They do such a good job of reminding you when your appointment is so you're on time. I show up 15 minutes early for 3:30 appointment. They call me into the office 25 minutes late and then let me know that the dentist is running behind and it could still be a while. A suggestion would be if the doctor's running behind maybe you should offer the same courtesy you do when reminding me for my appointment and let me know he's running behind earlier in the day and then I can reschedule instead of driving all the way here and waiting for an hour. Very bad customer service. Disappointing with the amount of money we spent at this place putting braces on all three of my kids. I don't think I'll be coming back.

- Brendan