Dental Clinics North - Traverse City

Please read this before taking your children to this clinic!!!!! On Friday, September 26th, I brought my 6-year-old (now 7) in to have a cavity treated and capped. After numbing her, they began the procedure—only for my daughter to suddenly scream in pain. It became clear they had not numbed her properly, and the drill had gone into her gum. The dentist, Dr. Coss, then tried to administer more numbing medication while she was terrified and panicking. We had to hold her down so he could finish. Since that day, my daughter has developed significant anxiety and fear surrounding the dentist—something she never struggled with before. On Friday, November 14th, we returned for a cavity on the other side of her mouth. My daughter was already scared but willing to try. Partway through, she began to panic. Instead of offering any solutions or comfort, Dr. Coss repeated things like “this is just ridiculous” and “I have never…”. After about 20 minutes, he told me “it’s now or never, mom,” yet still didn’t offer anything to help her anxiety—no laughing gas, no medication, nothing. He eventually walked out of the room, leaving me to try and calm her with his assistant. We ended up having to hold her again just so they could place medicine on her tooth to keep it from getting worse. After leaving, I called the clinic to ask about laughing gas—only to be told it’s available, commonly used for kids, and not even something they charge for. It was never offered to us, despite everything she was dealing with. Today, Thursday November 20th, we went back to finish the treatment. The moment Dr. Coss entered the room, my daughter became too anxious to even step inside. Instead of showing any empathy, he said to me, “We’ll give her two minutes and then I’m done.” When I explained again that she was scared because of previous visits, he dismissed her completely, saying, “This isn’t being scared—she’s just acting out.” At that point, I became extremely upset. While I know yelling isn’t ideal, I was beyond frustrated with how unprofessional and unkind he was being—not just to me, but to my very anxious 7-year-old who was traumatized by the earlier mistake. I understand that mistakes happen. What I cannot accept is the complete lack of compassion afterward. No apology. No solutions. No attempt to help a frightened child feel safe. Instead, he was rude, dismissive, and un-empathetic toward a child who had every right to be scared. I’ve gone to this clinic since I was a kid. My daughter has never had a fear of the dentist—until now. If you take your child to this clinic, I strongly recommend considering a different provider if that’s an option for you. I would hate for another child to go through what mine has endured these last couple of months.

The only reason I’m even giving them two stars is because Alyssa at the front desk was incredibly kind and very helpful. However Thomas the male dentist is so cold and not well mannered when dealing with patients. He told me I had to have a tooth pulled and refused to discuss another option of any kind so I left his office and went to another to be told my tooth was absolutely save able and they’d do a root canal. I’ve seen many other reviews saying he’s not very good communication and being kind to his patients unfortunately I have to agree however Alyssa at the front desk is great.

Terrible attitudes. Front desk staff seem to hate their job. Voicemail claims they do not tolerate disrespect and will hang up on you if you are disrespectful but they are very rude and disrespectful themselves. Maybe a little practice what you preach DCN.