Face Forward Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery - Dr. Lee Darichuk

Thank you to Dr. Darichuk for such a great experience. He walked my mom through the entire treatment plan and gave her an option that we didn't even know was possible. His entire team was so welcoming and made the billing process just as easy. We will definitely be back!

I was treated last year by this clinic in April of 2021 and received excellent service. Now in November of 2022 I wanted to receive treatment again. Initially I had inquired to see about having my file transferred to another clinic whose injection fee was lower however after further review the other clinic was not comfortable with administering the amount of units of Botox used in my last treatment. So I followed up Faceforward to proceed with treatment from them. They were helpful and booked my appointment and sent my prescription over to my pharmacist. Since it had been over a year since I was last treated by Faceforward my insurance company requested a letter stating that my TMJ is a permanent condition and not curable by one Botox treatment. Because of this we pushed back my appointment to the 30th and the doctor was kind enough to agree to come in early to provide treatment. The receptionist let me know that my doctor would write the letter requested by my insurance company when he was back in on Thursday. On Thursday I then followed up as I had not received a letter from them as promised. The receptionist advised the letter would not be provided. I inquired why this was however she stated she did not know and I had to wait till Monday. This seemed absurd to me as I cannot understand why this was an issue. I was transferred to a nurse who then said she would email me the letter right away. I did voice my concerns as to why this request seemed to be the issue and it was expressed that there was concerns that I was going to go to another clinic for treatment. I had an appointment booked with Faceforward and even offered to make payment for the injection fee over the phone in good faith and was told that was not necessary. So I thanked her for agreeing to send the letter to my insurance company so I could proceed with treatment same as before. Later I received the letter; upon review I realized they hadn’t provided what was requested at all. Instead they refused to confirm my Tmj and stated: “ We have obligations under our standards of practice that we may only delegate these treatments if the providers are following our profession's standards of practice. Without an ability to verify this, or knowledge of the wording of your benefits, we are in a position where we are unable to render the restricted activity of prescription of a class 1 or 2 drug within the context of "Dentistry". ” At no point had they requested any correspondence from Medavie the exact same insurance provider that provided coverage for my last treatment from Faceforward. I was shocked; none of this made sense -Botox prescription had already been sent by Faceforward to my pharmacy and appointment already booked with Dr Wakeham currently. Yet I felt I was was being treated poorly by asking for this letter from Dr Wakeham stating that my TMJ would be requiring ongoing treatment from him at this clinic same as before. I happily would have had my rep with Medavie correspond directly with Faceforward if at any point had been requested. The letter written by Faceforward brought great confusion and frustration to me as it seemed as somehow requesting this letter I was still planning to receive treatment elsewhere. I called was put on hold then Dr DARICHUK came on the line and stated that this clinic is refusing my treatment for TMJ for saying to his wife that they provide sketchy services which at no point in time was that phrase ever used. I was not able to get a word in edge wise and he stated he would contact the police if I ever call the clinic again for treatment. I am so in shock that this is the outcome of making a appointment for treatment and following my insurance providers request for a letter from Faceforward to approve ongoing treatment exclusively from Dr Wakeham. I think conclusions were made without communicating with me or my insurance company directly and now as a final result refusing to treat me despite my booking appointment with them and offering to pay them upfront prior to even receiving treatment.

I drove a friend here for their consult a while back and while I was waiting, their front end staff talk very poorly about the Dentist and manager. I don't think they realized I was still in the room when the conversation was happening as well.

Not sure what kind of work dynamic is going on here but as long as "were getting paid. " I guess

Great doctor who actually cares about his patients. Thank you so much dr DARICHUK for your kindness and understanding My appointment was very important to me and I am extremely thankful for seeing me ASAP5

I implore you to review your insurance coverage in advance and confirm the (policy-specific maximum allowable) coverage in relation to the Alberta fee guidelines. This health care provider is EXTREMELY overpriced and certainly not aligned with the quality and provision of service one would expect at such an exaggerated cost; rapacious and unscrupulous come to mind.

To give proper context to this experience, my eldest son just had his wisdom teeth removed by Dr. Darichuk. We were referred to his clinic by our family dentist at the Airdrie Dental Studio, who, from our perspective share equal culpability. Although I can neither confirm nor deny this, it stands to reason (given the lack of oversight in this private industry) that they would recognize a referral commission. Regardless, they would certainly have sufficient insight as to the services and subjective costs of their peers’ clinics to whom they are referring their trusting patients.

Of note and additional relevance for any current or potential patients, we will be discontinuing our patronage of Airdrie Dental Studio; their excessive pricing structure largely mirrors that of Face Forward.

When I inquired as to the details of specific line items on both the statement and explanation of benefits, I was given a vague response. They could not (or chose not to) provide clarity and transparency regarding certain “procedural” charges, particularly the “facility” fees.

As other reviewers have mentioned, there is also a $150 consultation fee. This “consultation” was a ten minute overview of the pending procedure. There was an accompanying PowerPoint presentation, but Dr. Darichuk, who expressed very little interest in being present, rushed through the slides, barely scratching the surface of the content therein. Following its conclusion, Dr. Darihuck was deflective of the questions that we did have, referring us instead to his assistant. While she was more than capable of responding, his responses were impersonal. Protocol may well be that the assistant replies to certain questions, but (particularly at a $150 sitting fee), I found it off-putting that he couldn’t take the extra couple of minutes to answer these simple inquiries in real time, rather than deferring. Furthermore, the content covered in this “consultation” could have been delivered exclusively with equal, if not greater effectiveness via written presentation (which was provided at the end of this very brief verbal overview).

The aforementioned dental assistant/oral hygienist (apologies if this improperly reflects the role) who prefaced and closed the consultation was lovely, engaging and very informative, as was the front desk receptionist, seated far left, furthest from the main entry (and one of three), who processed my son’s initial intake on the day of consultation.

Danielle, another dental assistant/oral hygienist, who provided post-surgical support and guidance was also very kind, courteous and thorough.

Unfortunately, the same credit and acknowledgment can’t be given to the other members of reception or Dr. Darichuk himself, none of whom were friendly. They did not conduct themselves in a manner that reflected genuine investment in their patients (customers). They were, in a word, pretentious.

The fact that I did not exercise due diligence in seeking comparable service providers falls squarely on my shoulders. Having gone through the same procedure myself a few years ago, albeit with a different health care professional, I (falsely and naively) assumed a degree of consistency and quality. That onus is mine, and mine alone.

Ultimately, the procedure was successful and my son is now recovering. That said, I felt compelled to write this review in an effort to caution other patients from making an uninformed decision. I would not, in any capacity, recommend Dr. Darichuk’s office for oral treatment of any kind, save for the few members of his team who exemplified professionalism, candor and courtesy. Put simply, seek alternative health care providers.

This review is my experience with Dr. Darichuk's practice. I had a horizontally impacted wisdom tooth with a cyst formed behind the wisdom tooth. My previous surgeon withheld this wisdom tooth as he was afraid of breaking my jaw. That was in 1974. Dentistry has progressed in leaps and bounds since then and Dr. Darichuk didn't blink an eye on seeing the x-ray. I was blown away. I also had an upper 6 molar that had perio problems, so it also had to be extracted. Luck me.double whammy. The staff were incredibly professional and friendly. I was in and out in an hour and a half with instructions for my driver and me. I'm 71 years old, so I expected this to be a long recovery. It's three weeks today and I'm 75%. The hardest part is the liquid diet for 10-11 days. My God that is tough. I had one rough period, but the clinic staff and Dr. Darichuk responded beautifully. I highly recommend this practice for the whole experience. Thank you

My wife had a tricky wisdom teeth very close to the nerve that she took out at this clicker. They were very nice to her and her face didn’t get swollen at all.

They were quite expensive but definitely worth it.

Highly recommended Oral Surgeon Doctor and staff are amazing. No pain after procedure
Fees is not pricey. Above and beyond 5

We were referred to this office and similar to other reviews here, we found our experience to be very misleading.

Their reception staff called us to book in an appointment to what we thought was our surgery date. When we asked if there would be any possible quotation for the surgery, all the staff said was the surgeon will discuss with you (they did not mention this was a ONLY a consultantation).

When we arrived we had a 10 min consultantation $170 for the Dr to tell us what we already knew from the x rays we sent them (we paid $300 for the x-rays).

After the consultantation we were only offered one option of complete sedation costing around $4000 to remove the teeth.

***This is a ridiculous money grab because we spoke with other maxillofacial dentist and they did not charge for consultantation and offered 1-6 different options ranging from light sedation to being awake ***

Not only did Dr. Darichuk go above and beyond in helping me get appropriate treatment for TMJ from bruxism, he also went so far beyond what any patient could ask of their doctor as far as understanding my socioeconomic status as a student. He is a truly incredible human being and a 10/10 healthcare provider.

I have to thank you guys, EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU, from the front desk staff (you guys were all great, fricken fantastic), the ones we passed by in the halls (everyone of you greeted us with a hello and a eye smile lol covid‍️) all the way to the Dentists/doctors who worked on my son today.
You guys are all very important to running a well established place.
But it's more then that.
Today you gave my son the pure gift of empathy, from the moment we walked into your office till the door closed behind us on the way out.
I have never been treated with so much respect and understanding in any kind of a office in my life, usually your just a number being greated with a blank stare and a please take a seat.
Thank you for treating him like he was the only one in the room.
You guys have that special touch with your patients AND THEIR WORRIED MOTHERS.

KEEP DOING WHAT YOUR DOING,
Theirs no words in any language that can describe just how much what you guys gave to my son today meant to ME.

SO THANK YOU, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.
SENDING LOVE TO YOU ALL
SINCERELY
TERA DELORME

The worst reception staff - Chelsea - Crystal that I have ever had to work with, Did not send information to my insurance company in a timely manner I had to call myself to get everything completed. Did not send my referral to the Doctor it was supposed to go to. I had to call in and literally check up weeks later. It would have not been followed up on. They wouldn't tell me the name of the Doctor I was referred to? Why? Dr Darichuk is a fantastic Dr! Just do all your own paper work and follow ups.looks like, by the reviews, its not just me that had a hard time with the reception staff. Obviously there is no follow up by the Office manager.

I had a great experience with Face Forward for my wisdom teeth removal. Everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable from my consult all the way to my follow up. I was also very impressed with how easy the office was to reach (I didn't have to leave voicemails or stay on hold at all), which I find fairly common with specialty clinics. Thanks everyone!

Shout out to Dr Lee Darichuk and his amazing team for a seamless and painless wisdom teeth extraction!

- I've experienced zero pain (literally zero pain) from extracting the four teeth.

- All the swelling subsided in five hours.

- All the billing stuff was handled efficiently and processed quickly.

I couldn't be more happy, impressed and pleased.

Listen, the worst part for me was waking up.
I was crying because I didn't realize I was put to sleep and it's a powerless feeling.

And my body felt weak like the muscles didn't work.

I know I was getting anthesia, but I thought I'd be asked to count backwards, but the nurse said breathe into this mask and I figured it was prep for the anthesia, but it was the athesia


Anyways, sent me home with three types of pain meds for pain management, but not using any.

The treatment i got for the procedure of removing my wisdom teeth was good. The personell was proffesional and caring.
But when i got the call to book my appointment there was some extra charges due to corvid-19 so I asked if it was all still fully covered by my benefits wich the receptionist responded yes to. After the surgery i got the claim back from my benefit and there was $1700 not covered. I asked them about it and the response was that they don´t actually recieve the sum coverage and it is up to me to know what is covered. I agree, but they should not tell costumers it´s fully covered when they actually has nothing to confirm that. I questioned their motives as it is an expensive clinic and told them not to mislead costumers like that.
So double check your benefit and dont´t take their word for it!

I got all four of my wisdom teeth removed at once. I strongly recommend just to follow their aftercare instructions (I was provided with a pamphlet after the surgery) to make your recovery quick and easy. A few days after the procedure I got a follow-up call from the clinic to check on me and answer my questions. Overall a very good experience.

Very kind and knowledgable staff. Dr Darichuk and staff worked very fast to remove my 4 wisdom teeth, it felt like 15 minutes and i was out of there! Very clear after care instructions, and friendly nursing staff! Thank you Face Forward!

I was referred to this clinic by Panatella Dental. I am pretty sure they get commission from them. I got a call from the clinic and got the appointment which was booked for a month later. I specifically asked the receptionist that i want to know what i am supposed to pay for the treatment before i come there, she told me that this was just a consultation and they will send a pre-determination to my insurance. So when i went in for the consultation they let me talk to the doctor who simply spend less than 5 minutes telling me how much it’s going to cost. They charged me $125 for that 5 minute consultation which was not even a discussion that was needed. Never going back. Total rip off! They overcharge people for services and Just because most people will have benefits, they don’t care.

I had a cystic in the upper gum. This place says lots of the required procedure is not covered by AHS. That’s not true. Than I went to see Doc. Touchan, who has seen many of similar cases, he said every thing will be covered since this is medically needed

We had a great experience at Face Forward. My adult son with a disability was referred to Dr Darichuk to have his wisdom removed. From the reception staff to Dr Darichuk, everyone was professional, efficient and very pleasant to deal with. They were organized and never kept us waiting. The take home instructions were given verbally and in print and we were encouraged to contact the clinic directly if we had questions. The surgery went well, the recovery was as expected and the follow up quick and efficient. I would recommend Dr Darichuk and staff.

My son had his impacted third molars extracted on Thursday August 8th. Dr. Darichuk and his team were outstanding from the consultation up to and including the surgery. Cannot thank them enough. My son is on his way to recover. Thank you!

We visited our dentist and he referred us to this clinic as my wife had a wisdom tooth growing in a strange angle and she is 6.5 months into her pregnancy. The receptionist gave us one date and that was in the middle of a hospital appointment and didn't even help to reschedule us in and suggested more than a month out! What a terrible place, with a typical Calgarian receptionist with NO brains!

How do people get these jobs, dealing patients? Your receptionists are the shop window to your services, this dentist/doctor need to hire better staff!

I told my family dentist, how we were treated by this clinic and they were not happy.

If you are looking for a professional and caring maxillofacial clinic, then go to the next place we got referred to.awesome place in NE. Touchan clinic.awesome staff and doctor/dentist.

Dr. Darichuk did a crown preparation for me, complete with bone transplant, after I was referred to him by my dentist. Throughout the entire 6-months process he was always kind, professional, and very knowledgeable. That was 3 years ago. I dropped by the other day unannounced because I thought an issue was developing with the crown. He just finished a surgery, yet was happy to see me and asked me to come in right away for him to take a look. Even though I was mistaken and the crown I was worried about was not the one he did, he examined it patiently, asked his assistant to X-ray it, so he may get a better look, and assured me that all was well. On the way out he refused to charge for the quick consult and the X-ray. I was touched by this gesture because it reminded me how rare these simple acts of kindness have become nowadays, and how common they used to be when I grew up. I would recommend this clinic (as I have) allheartadly. ARR.

I had great experience at Face forward oral and Maxillofacial surgery. Special thanks goes to Dr. Darichuk and the medical team at the surgical Centre. Dr. Darichuk did an impacted wisdom teeth surgery on me last Thursday. It was a painless procedure. After the surgery with 2-3 days and effects of Anesthesia wore off but i still had no pain. I wake up in the recovery room like nothing happened. I recommend Dr. Darichuk to anyone who need their wisdom teeth removed. The Anesthesiologist is also very kind as well as the nurses. What a great team! The surgical center is clean and the reception area is quiet entertaining. Thank you so much Dr. Darichuk. I pray to God to bless you and give you more wisdom to do your work.

Great experience! Very friendly and knowledgeable staff they take the time to go over everything with you and ensure all questions are answered. I highly recommend Face Forward.

Nearly 18 months and thousands of dollars of treatments after having my third molars removed, my neck has begun to recover from surgery. It seems as if the surgeon did not want to perform the surgery with me awake as limited jaw mobility required twisting my neck in to unnatural positions in order to to access my teeth. I insisted I was not comfortable with performing the procedure under sedation but the surgeon would not take no for an answer. Ultimately, I was not able to work a year due to what should have been a simple procedure.

Additionally, the clinic was extremely rude to my mom who was kind enough to provide transportation (the only kindness I experienced while under the care of Face Forward). If I knew she would be greeted with obscene double ententres, I would have taken a taxi to and from the appointment.

Overall the procedure was good, it was quick and professional. But im writing this review for the weeks after my procedure. I hate the stigmas on pain. I've been in pain since my procedure which was 4 weeks ago now. I went to my dentist to see if things were ok, and I was in and out in five mins and was said I was fine.yet still in pain, I've told both my dentist and my sergeon that the pain is real and I've been taking upward of 20 tylonal a day to relive my pain. So I don't go in to see these guys for weeks because I feel I'm being looked at as someone looking for drugs. So I just don't go and deal with the pain.so today I go to my sergeon because I just can't deal with the pain. I'm told it's sharp bone and it will cost another procedure or to let nature take its course and it will remoldle itself. So for the past month not being able to eat and taking upwards of a bottle of tylonal and advil a week I've lost weight and can only imagine how much damage I've done to my liver.all I'm saying is when someone can come in and pay 900 dollars to have teeth removed and tell a doctor their pain is real. I don't feel like I should of felt like a drug addict looking for a fix. I was in there for about 45 seconds today. I just don't feel I was cared for. I mean it's on me in the end. I should take better care of my teeth but still. Anyway I'm sure this review won't stop anyone from going here. It just made me feel a bit better to rant I guess.

From the way they treated me one would think they were a hospitality centre. From Toni who engaged me with excellent phone conversations and correspondence, to Chelsey and Lena at the Reception, you could see that the goal of Face Forward Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery was to attend to their patients with unquestionable excellent service.

As Jessica led me confidently from the Reception to the inner sections of the clinic, she beamed with bright smiles that seemed to tell me, “Relax, you are in safe hands”.

In the consulting room, Dr. Lee Darichuk, went through my X-ray and explained that I needed a surgery in taking off three of my teeth, simultaneously. He exhibited the calmness of one going through a piece of literature.

On the surgery day, Jessica’s smiles were enough to calm my shaky nerves. Dr Pearce talked to me briefly about anaesthetics and how my body was expected to respond to it.

The Surgeon, Dr. Lee Darichuk, certainly did an amazing job. These guys were concerned about me and committed to me, even into the post surgery stages, until they certified me fit. To me, this is hospitality and expertise mixed with surgery.

Thank you, Face Forward!

Abraham Umobuarie