Feb 28, 2026 – Renzia Jordan – 156683792404679

I needed gum grafts and my dentist recommended that I find a periodontist to do the work. I made a lot of calls to track down a practice that would accept Medicaid (see note below). I have a life-long complication where I don’t go numb in the top of my mouth and need sedation dentistry, especially for a procedure like this. In addition I have a rare edema diagnosis that is exacerbated by anxiety and dental procedures. I give all this background to demonstrate that I’m a complex patient due to these factors. I found Dr. Alex Podaru in my search, and the Tower Road location could accomodate my need for sedation. Lisa was an absolute godsend, as there was a lot of logistics to navigate between my referral, records, medical clearance, and insurance questions. She was incredibly patient and supportive. I was extremely stressed out at my evaluation (severe dental anxiety due to past negative experiences) and the staff were lovely, going out of their way to reassure me. Dr. Alex was very thorough and took a lot of time to talk through my long list of medications, diagnoses, and dental experiences. They were able to accomodate me within a 2-week timeframe. I need to administer an intravenous med before procedures like this, and this was also patiently accomodated (even though it impacts their schedule and timeline). In the week after my procedure I had two questions and Dr. Alex responded very quickly and reassuringly. I am very grateful to everyone at this office who walked me through this process.

If possible I would take off half a star for my initial “new patient” phone interactions (not with this office specifically, but with general representatives). I was twice given incorrect information that I would need a completely new patient appointment with x-rays, despite having a referral, x-rays and a complete dental exam just a month previously. Lisa was very helpful in clearing up this misinformation.

Note on navigating Medicaid – from everything I’ve been able to figure out, a procedure like this falls in a gap. The dental portion covered my sedation, but not the procedure I was being knocked out for. The “dental Medicaid” said to call the “medical Medicaid” about it. 2 different reps assured me definitively that this procedure is absolutely covered, it just needs to be “sent to Medicaid.” In actuality, it is only covered if I am wheeled into an OR, an oral surgeon completes the work, and it is billed with CPT codes (dental bills as CDT). Every other oral surgeon’s office I called bills like this. The exception would be Denver Health Oral Surgery, but it would have to be a very complicated procedure they need an actual OR for, which this was not. So I did have a significant out-of-pocket cost for the grafts themselves, but this would have been the case anywhere else.