Vivian Dental
Information about Vivian Dental
Opening hours
- sunday: (closed)
- monday: 8:30-17h
- tuesday: 8:30-17h
- wednesday: 8:30-17h
- thursday: 8:30-17h
- friday: 8:30-16h
- saturday: (closed)
A family owned dental clinic in the heart of New Plymouth. Established over 30years ago by David and Dot Antunovic. Offering high quality honest dentistry and oral hygiene services.
Vivian Dental: Reviews
Fantastic experience: What an amazing team! Fantastic pricing, caring and educating. I’ve never had such a positive experience before. Thanks again
Thanks Aimee! :)
Fantastic experience: What a lovely team they are! From the marvellously helpful receptionist through the friendly medical staff to the dentists themselves who put me at ease with their friendly, caring approach, they certainly provide five-star treatment. And it doesn't hurt that the practice resides in such a beautiful, welcoming house! Just great.
Thanks Jane :)
Fantastic experience: PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE A BAD REVIEW ABOUT THIS DENTAL!! Vivian Dental will NEVER deny medical treatment to any of their patients! I think you guys are great for this reason and I apologise for making a post and tagging the wrong dental unit!!
Thanks Clay we will continue to work to improve dental outcomes in our community and make everyone feel welcome. Let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can do this better
Negative experience: What a hateful practice. Denying Dental Care to unvaccinated patients, diabolical N.zi practice ! DONT GO THERE EVER ! Sies baie sleg, dis nie reg nie, jy stem saam met Apartheid!
Hey Esme. Sorry for the confusion - this is not the correct practice. We are in New Plymouth and this photo is from a different Vivian Dental. We do not have any such policy as the one you have shared. Could you please remove your review and pass this on to others who also have gotten this wrong. This is the link to the NZ herald that confirms it is a practice in Palmerston North.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-dental-practice-threatened-after-advising-extra-charge-for-unvaxxed/BZF4RUEZOOR4SSP373ZSBRGTPI/
We appreciate your cooperation. Thanks, Vivian Dental New Plymouth.
Negative experience: I am absolutely disgusted in this place trying to charge unvaccinated people xtra and only allowing emergency appointments' your a disgrace, every person is entitled to be seen for medical treatment without discrimination, and thats exactly what you have done. Shame on you.
Hey Andrea. Sorry for the confusion - this is not the correct practice. We are in New Plymouth and this photo is from a different Vivian Dental. We do not have any such policy as the one you have shared.
This is the link to the NZ herald that confirms it is a practice in Palmerston North.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-dental-practice-threatened-after-advising-extra-charge-for-unvaxxed/BZF4RUEZOOR4SSP373ZSBRGTPI/
Could you please remove your review and pass this on to others who also have gotten this wrong. We appreciate your cooperation. Thanks, Vivian Dental New Plymouth.
Fantastic experience: I have had yet another great experience at Vivian Dental today. The receptionist is so lovely and warm. Always greets me and makes sure I am comfortable. Great spacious waiting room - not that I ever spend much time here as they are always seem to be running to time. Lovely friendly dentists whenever I have been and very well priced. Thank you!
Fantastic experience: I get nervous going to the dentist, but felt very relaxed during my appointment. I would happily go back
Fantastic experience: I've been a patient of Vivian Dental for several years and they have made me feel so welcome I now love going to my appointments. The friendly staff go out of their way to help, even swapping my appointment with another patient when I had a family emergency, so I didn't have to wait too long for my next appointment. Great service and excellent dentists.
Negative experience: A checkup is $90 when I confirmed my appointment but on the day they wanted $95. After I said that it was $90 when I rang, they changed to $90, saying that they didn't know why she (the dentist?) charged that when shouldn't the front desk handle charging and know the prices? Who else are they adding on cost to their visits and people aren't calling them on it? They use the old outdated metal arm mounted shoe box sized x-ray machine technology that use a chomp down on a bit film device (twice, one for each side of your mouth) to take an x-ray of your teeth. These have a limited field of view and because of that, I was insistently advised by the dentist to pay an additional $70 for a full x-ray for seeing my wisdom teeth (that I was also told wouldn't be a problem until I'm 45 or I could be fine it's just the luck of the genetic draw) which I declined, just staying with the checkup cost. I asked the dentist for them to email of my dental x-rays to me, the dentist said sure no problem. I haven't received them while they have my email address as they needed it for some documentation before the checkup began. I also found it quite hard to hear the dentist over the sound of the room as she speaks very quietly, I was often nodding along even though I'm not sure what she said. From all of this, I would instead recommend that you go to New Plymouth Dental Centre because while their checkup cost was $119 quoted over the phone ($29 more than Vivian Dental), they use the new up to date x-ray technology that is a panoramic device that spins around your head while you stay still. You won't have to pay a surprise additional $70 for a larger x-ray view of your teeth because the panoramic x-ray machine is more advanced and has a wider field of view so you'd actually be saving ($90 + $70) - $119 = $41 by going to New Plymouth Dental Centre as the advanced x-ray machine they use is included in the $119 checkup cost and I've never had trouble understanding them when getting a checkup. I usually go to New Plymouth Dental Centre in the past when the cost of a checkup was $80-$90 but prices change so I tried somewhere else this time.
Sorry I do not know the specific details of your experience. The price you were given over the phone was correct. Sometimes there is an extra charge for additional xrays, fluoride treatments etc. which may have been the reason for the $5 difference in price. When you advised us that it was more than what you were told over the phone, as an act of good faith we reduced the amount to what you were advised.
We use digital xray, panoramic and 3D CAD-CAM (scanner and 3D printer) technology and the plastic and metal over-the patient mounted xray arm that you describe, is installed in every dental practice throughout the world . It is used for taking PBW and PA xrays. PBWs are standard in any dental examination and are included in the exam price. PA xrays are sometimes required for diagnosis of a single tooth and may incur an extra charge. We do not use "film" when taking PBWs. What you describe are digital PSP plates, again widely used in dental xray throughout the world and smaller than the bulkier sensor alternative.
The xray process that you described "spinning around your head" is a panoramic xray or OPG. Dentists use this machine when they need to xray the whole jaw which is necessary for wisdom teeth and other diagnosis, but panoramic xray is not used in regular dental checkups though they may be required from time to time.
I am sorry you could not hear the dentist and I will pass this advice on. It would have been helpful if you had told her at the time, because our dentists do like explain the treatment plan with their patients. And I am sorry also that you have not received via email the xrays you asked for. We are happy to forward them. You just need to call or email us if you have not received them
While you have taken the time to carefully compare us with another practice, and pointed out that our fees are less, there are a number of inaccuracies in your comparisons. You make out that our equipment is out of date when this is not the case. Like everyone who is at the receiving end of negative comments on social media we would have preferred it if you had raised these matters with us before posting. We are more than happy for you to contact us if you have further questions.
Fantastic experience: Very professional, friendly and helpful with their expertise. I felt extremely comfortable and well looked after. Thanks team!! See ya again soon :-)
Negative experience: My appointment was 40 minutes late, the secretary just ignored me as I stood waiting to talk to her for like 5 minutes. there was no apology for the lateness either.
We are sorry William that you were ignored and we cannot give an explanation and can only apologise. I see you have had two more visits to our practice since this posting and it looks as if we were running to time both visits. We respect that your time is important and strive to work to time . Obviously we can do better.
Fantastic experience: Very friendly. Not overly priced. Dentist was very informative and explains reasonings behind the costings before the procedure, so there was no surprises
Fantastic experience: Good service.
Fantastic experience: Had the most amazing dental work done at Vivian Dental. David and the team were amazing! I honestly didn't feel a thing, not even the needle going in for the numbing. Extremely reassuring during my appointment which made me feel very relaxed, friendly faces, and very happy with my end result. 10/10 highly recommend :)
Negative experience: Great dentists if you can get past the very rude, unhelpful receptionist. Rather than apologising for appointments running more than 20 minutes late and offering an alternative she launched into every excuse she could muster including how people could die if their toothache wasn't seen to immediately. Absolutely horrible.
We are sorry we were running late on the day of your appointment. I did explain that the dentist was attending to an unscheduled walk-in emergency patient and would be finished soon.
I agree every person's time is important but there are rare times when emergencies arise and our dentists feel ethically bound to see a patient who is in serious pain with an advanced dental abscess asap. It is important to note that a dental abscess can be life threatening. An abscess if not treated early, will spread very quickly through the body and leads to hospitalisation, septicemia and other serious conditions.
Reception staff have no control over how long a dentist is taking and while the patient has every right to complain, it should be done with respect. When running late, front office staff rely on the goodwill and understanding of patients. On this occasion, I should not have responded to your criticisms when you were so upset. It sounded like I was making excuses and this escalated the situation. I did offer solutions : to wait, to see another dentist in 5 minutes or reschedule but none suited you. If you recall you kept insisting you did not want to wait.
Dentists don't like to run late and are very mindful of time. We would normally warn patients ahead of their appointment if we are, but we failed on this occasion. You were upset and I should have managed the situation better and I am sorry.
Fantastic experience: Very kind and felt welcome thank you.
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