Tavern Street Dental Practice

Great place for full dental care. Lots of staff and hence lots of support for all sorts of dental treatments without wasting your time or money. Nearly all treatments are upstairs with no lift. Something to keep in mind for those who can't climb stairs. Lovely reception / waiting room on the ground floor. Reception upstairs for appointments etc. Treatments are good. As tech is relatively new too. Which always helps. They do take nhs patients. But you need give your contact details via a quick online form. Then will reply via email asking for you to come in and fill in a form. And possibly get an NHS dental treatment. Which is very helpful for some. Not a huge amount of parking. Usual town rules apply. Close by parkings are in Bury street car park and Meadow centre car park / asda.

To start I have been with this dentist for nearly 4 years, I got a leaflet in the post to say they are taking on NHS patients that day I called to ask and was told to email all my details…..2 weeks later no reply, I called numerous times still no reply, I emailed again guess what no reply. Then my wife who had been at the clinic less time then myself was told she can become NHS in which she did. I carried on for another year or more and then was told they are taking on again so I called that exact day to be told I have to come in and fill in a document personally I finished work on purpose to go in that day. It came around to my appointment, I asked I assume I’m NHS now to their reply no. So pretty much just took the absolute micky out of me and too be totally honest reading all the previous 20 reviews and majority being 1 star just explains it to be honest. I do also have friends who have had terrible experiences but didn’t let that stop me from using them as had to issue but let’s say I won’t be going back neither will my wife so two less patients for them. Would not recommend.

I had appointments booked for my daughters today. We arrived approximately 5 minutes late and were told the appointments would need to be rebooked because the doctor was busy and we had arrived late. I explained that one of my daughters still had her appointment time coming up around 10 minutes later, and asked whether the doctor could at least see her. The receptionist spoke to the doctor and then informed me that none of my daughters could be seen because it was considered a "family appointment". However, this was not a family appointment, as each child had a separate appointment slot booked individually. I then asked to speak with the manager regarding the situation, but I was told that no manager was available today. I understand punctuality is important, but I feel the matter could have been handled more reasonably and professionally, particularly as there were still valid appointment times remaining.

I went really open minded because despite the reviews, I was just happy to have an NHS option as I really needed work done. In my second appointment I had a filling and an extraction. The dentist wanted to continue and do another filling on the other side of mouth, I told him I felt anxious and didn’t want both sides of my mouth numbed. He threatened to not see me again for a minimum of 3 months if I didn’t let him do the work right away. I had to explain I was anxious and have a panic disorder. Eventually he agreed but wasn’t shy in letting me know that I annoyed him. A week later another dentist near me opened up for NHS so as it was closer I joined there. I had an xray and they told me that my recent filling wasn’t done correctly as the dentist left a hole by the nerve and so I needed it removed and redone. So gutted. Seems the reviews were right.

I cancelled a hygienist appointment with more than two working days notice — first by replying to the reminder email, then by phoning the practice — yet a late cancellation fee was still added. The cancellation policy wasn’t made clear when I booked in person, wasn’t stated in the reminder email, and isn’t published on their website. I then heard nothing about this fee for over 19 months before suddenly being contacted and told I owed money, including claims of "repeated attempts" to contact me that simply never happened. The way this was handled caused me a great deal of unnecessary stress, and seeing similar experiences in other reviews suggests this is not an isolated incident. I would recommend others look elsewhere until the practice improves its communication and transparency.

Absolutely shocking customer service, have tried to lodge a simple complaint to owner Cheerag Raval as there is just no line of command apart from reception and then him?! but all I get is a blanket type nameless email response then no contact. It is worrying NHS have contracted them and they are being regulated by CQC and for them to rate them to have 5 ticks with a clear lack of policy, framework and certainly not costumer orientated. It is such a shame as we have always had such positive experiences with the dentists and hygienists in the past. I feel this gives me no other option to write this review and possibly take things further with the regulatory bodies if I don’t hear back.

On behalf of my disabled neighbour: Staff lovely but a couple of issues that affect physically disabled people: 1. The heavy doors make it very difficult to get in if pushing someone in a wheelchair or if they are trying to manage it themselves. Why not have automatic doors 2. The reception desk height makes it very difficult to communicate when in a wheelchair. Why is it so high?! This affects the ability to have a conversation and so very often conversations are had between the receptionist and whoever may be pushing the wheelchair, rather than the service user.