A Warning About Dr. Joseph J. Gorfien DDS

I notice that all of the positive reviews have been posted on the Internet appear to be written by the same person with the same misspellings and capitalization errors. Dr. Gorfien had his license suspended in 2006 for professional misconduct and was on 2 years probation. Hopefully our complaint will get his license pulled permanently.   Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 036136; Cal. No. 22411 Regents Action Date: May 23, 2006 Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 3 month actual suspension, 21 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation. Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of having been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Florida Board of Dentistry.   Back in June, I had broken off a wisdom tooth or at least I thought I had broken it. My dad began seeing a dentist in Lauderdale Dr. Gorfien. They had an arrangement where dad paid him in emeralds and rubies. Dr. Gorfien gladly accepted them with the understanding that he would do my dental work in exchange for them  Dad handed these to him in front of his receptionist who later admitted to dad that the good doctor had no intention of doing any dental work. Therefore, he stole these stones.   Just one of the emeralds were valued at $9000. The rubies he handed to Gorfien were worth 1,000. He let me leave his office with this broken tooth and no treatment. He did not let me view the x rays. He did not do a cleaning. Gorfien wrote up a treatment plan that he discussed with dad but never with me. He wanted to charge 3500 and it was all or nothing. He would not fix my tooth unless I paid for veneers. Veneers when all I wanted was my broken tooth fixed and my teeth cleaned!  At his office, I waited about an hour to see him. Despite having the gems, he would not even clean my teeth (note is new patient special http://www.drgorfien.com/new_patient_special.html) New Patient Special!  $50 Cleaning Exam 2 Bitewing X-rays Call Dr. Joseph J. Gorfien DDS to schedule an appointment at 954.742.0201 or contact us directly from our website. We look forward to hearing from you!   I picked up a copy of those x-rays. Gorfien and one of his assistants told us during the, "exam" that I had no impacted wisdom tooth on the bottom...no wisdom tooth at all, as the one of my right side had been removed back in the 90's. Well, sure enough the x rays told a different story. There is clearly an impacted wisdom tooth on the lower jaw left side. I specifically asked about it because I have had an ache there. Would you trust a dentist who doesn't know how to read x rays correctly? Now I took that copy of my X-rays to an oral surgeon who had to pull that wisdom tooth due to the delay in treatment. From there I saw another dentist recommended by the oral surgeon. The X-rays Gorfien took were of absolutely no value to the dentist, as they only showed the bones and the sinus cavity. While they were of use to the oral surgeon, They were of no use to diagnose any cavities or any other dental problems. My new dentist (who I love!) took a full set of x-rays and could not believe that Gorfien let me leave the office without any treatment. I had a debridement which is more invasive than just a cleaning. This is where they go underneath the gums. I have another appointment for a gum scaling over the early stages of gum disease that Gorfien missed or never mentioned at all. Also, the enamal on one of my front teeth is completely disolved. These are real medical conditions that need to be addressed immediately. However, Dr. Gorfien was too busy trying to sell us on veneers. To think he was going to slap veneers over teeth and gums in this condition.     Dad says that his bridge never was right and still hurts him. On the other side his gum keeps abscessing. Dr. Gorfien has been avoiding my dad and not returning his calls or the gems since he won't do the work as agreed.   So to Dr. Gorfien's employees (or perhaps even himself) who posts these reviews saying oh I have no idea what's up with all these negative reviews.. if you would conduct yourself in a professional manner, there wouldn't be negative reviews. My dad emailed him and gave him a week to contact him about this matter. He refused to answer his email or return his phone calls.