David R. Robinson, DMD, PC

I hear he's the best around -- but he charges too much. Is there a legal cap on how much you can charge for dental services? Just saying...

My daughter chipped her front tooth on a Saturday night and needed to have it repaired as soon as possible. It was sensitive and she could not eat solid food. She is a student at Bucknell and so was too far from our family dentist, so I did an internet search and found Dr. Robinson. He could not tell me over the weekend when I called whether or not he accepted my insurance but said he would call before doing anything after he had performed the initial exam. He and his staff never called me, but a lady on his staff told my daughter the bill would be around $600-$650 and although they did not accept our insurance, they were pretty sure most would be covered since it was not a cosmetic procedure. I am a teacher and was not able to handle calling the insurance to verify what they'd cover while at work Monday morning. So, my daughter decided to go ahead with the procedure (she texted me and based on what they had told her, I said she could go ahead with it.) While Robinson did a nice job on the repair, my regular dentist later informed me that Dr. Robinson had totally taken advantage of our semi-desperate situation. For the work he did we should have been charged $200-$250 at a maximum. (My dentist normally charges $150 for this procedure.) Insurance covered $125 and we owed the difference, plus he charged another hundred or so for that initial 10 minute exam. Over $700 for a simple white resin tooth repair, mind you-- not a crown, and no pin put in to stabilize the repair. My regular dentist and hygienist were both so appalled by the amount Robinson charged that they said he should be reported to the BBB. My daughter later heard from the townies she knows, "Oh no-- you went to HIM? Nobody who lives in Lewisburg goes there-- he just takes advantage of the rich college kids." We are not rich, by the way, and this was a major blow. I called to ask Dr. Robinson is there was anything he could do about the price for this simple procedure, and he would not lower the charge at all. He is very cocky about his work and thought he deserved every bit of $700 for that hour and fifteen minutes and half ounce of resin. Beware.