James Hastings, DDS

If excruciating pain is your thing then this is your guy. If you want to do unnecessary dental work and leave with more pain than when you arrived, this is the place. That’s if you can get past the contradictive, argumentative «jewel» of a receptionist and that’s not the word I wanted to use. Let me give credit where it’s due. There is a young blond girl there and I can’t remember her name but she is very sweet. She doesn’t belong there. The dentist was a real jerk to her and she didn’t deserve it.

This dentist is very unprofessional and incompetent. He tries to push a bunch of cosmetic dentistry on you every time you come in. He kept trying to have me re-​do my veneers unnecessarily for a big bill of $ 15,000 for 8 teeth! I had a veneer that came off and needed to be recemented. Four months later it came off again so I went back. He recemented it and it fell off 3 days later. He talked me into re-​doing the veneer entirely for over a $ 1000. I paid this upfront and waited three weeks for the veneer. In the mean time he cemented a temporary and it fell off 1 HOUR after he put it in!!! I had to go all the way back 2 days later to have him recement the temporary back on. When I went back three weeks later for him to put the veneer in, it was not correct and was not done the way it was suppose to be done. Instead of making it right, he told me that I would have to come in and he would have to do a «comprehensive» exam with full x-​rays of every tooth to establish myself as a patient even though he had been treating me for almost 4 years! I was shocked. When I asked him why he was saying this and that I have been a patient for almost 4 years, he said he had to hang up to watch the ball game. He also offered a refund during the same conversation and I could go somewhere else. So I told him to refund my money and he never did. He also has not returned any of my calls and of course he doesn’t answer his office phone. They do not take unidentified calls and they ususally do not answer their phone. Dr. Hastings is old and wants to retire but can’t financially. He has no genuine care or concern for his patients and clearly doesn’t even like what hes doing. He just needs the money. Maybe he was an ok dentist at one time but he certainly is no longer. His office staff is also very unfriendly and unprofessional as well. The office waiting room is always empty everytime I’m there, and the doctor is usually hiding in his little office next to the reception area. He comes out and after seeing you goes right back into that little office. I don’t know what he is doing in there but certaily he is not busy seeing patients! He also carries on personal conversations with his dental assistant the whole time he is working on you. Very weird. I am glad to be moving on! There are too many dentists out there to be treated in this fashion.

Dr. Hastings is a great dentist and very professional. His staff is wonderful and will make you feel very comfortable. I will be seeing him for all my future dental needs and will be recommending him to all my family and friends.

Great hygiene appointment with Heather! Very thorough and absolutely painless. Professional friendly office staff. Dr Hastings has been my dentist for 30 years — wouldn’t go anywhere else.,

This practice makes its new patients jump thru all kind of ridiculous hoops just to get a cleaning! The staff is inept at handling insurance. There is something about this practice that is «off» and kind of creepy. After three visits I will not be returning.

I have a crown and veneer on my two front teeth and they broke, so I went to see Mr. Hastings yesterday about replacing. I selected his office off of the Delta Dental website as a provider of Delta Care USA. Not many dentists accept that insurance, but I selected that plan because it was an HMO plan that covers almost everything, rather than a regular PPO dental plan that only covers 50% of most major things like crowns. From my understanding of my dental plan, I should have to pay very little money out of pocket. Imagine my surprise when the receptionist came back with a quote for $ 2,500. This is the cost that my regular dentist, who I have been with for 10 years (who does NOT currently accept my insurance) quoted me for the procedures WITHOUT insurance. Please explain to me how the cost WITH insurance could be as much as the price without insurance? I believe Mr. Hastings office either has very shady billing practices and/​or significantly over-​inflates their prices. Either way yesterday’s appointment was a total waste of my time. I called Bright Now Dental in Roseville and the crowns are 100% COVERED with no copay. There is something very wrong going on here that my estimate from Mr. Hastings was over $ 2,500 for COVERED procedures. As a side note the staff was pleasant and the dentist seemed knowledgeable. I just don’t feel their personalities make up the $ 2,500 price difference.
UPDATE: I just got off the phone with the insurance company DeltaCareUSA and the «procedure codes» that Mr. Hastings office used in my $ 2,500 estimate are not covered by my plan, even though crowns are in fact 100% covered on my plan, somehow Mr. Hastings just happens to be using procedure codes for insurance billing that DON’T work for my insurance carrier. Shame on you Mr. Hastings. It’s clear that you do not have your patient’s best interest at heart. I hope this review prevents other people from being subjected to this scam.

Dr. Hastings has been my dentist for over 25 years. I have followed him to Sacramento and now back up to Placerville. I drive from Nevada to see him. He is without a doubt the finest dentist I have ever known. He removed all the old silver mercury fillings from my teeth that had been there since I was a child. That was 10 years ago and they are all still strong and sound. He did orthodontics to prepare for 8 veneers. He gave me the option to do it right by lining up the teeth first. That was 8 years ago and they are beautiful. I get compliments about my smile all the time. He offers what is best for his patients, not their insurance company. If you want it done right, call him. You won’t be sorry.

New patients beware! This dentist is not reputable. Bait and switch, came in for a teeth cleaning and after 30 minutes of frivolous questioning by Dr. Hastings, I was told the visit was done. I questioned him as to when the hygienist was going to clean my teeth and I was informed that it would take place in a separate visit which was not what I was told when the appointment was made. Then when I was departing his office, I was asked for money ($ 50), when in fact my insurance co. paid 100% for a teeth cleaning visit. Then a week later, I received my explanation of benefits and he had the nerve to charge me for a health care consultation of $ 50. Interesting enough, I called and questioned Dr. Hastings about the unethical billing practices, he quickly stated he did feel I would be the right patient for his office. Go figure!
Note: The alternative name of his practice is Tunnel Creek Dental