Dale Bloomquist

[Modigliani]

Anyone have experience of this guy? He based in Seattle.

[Gregor Samsa]

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/878684/Dr-Dale+S.-Bloomquist-Seattle-WA.html

Judging by the negative reviews he does not strike me as someone you would want to have anything to do with.

[Modigliani]

Some of those reviews are pretty damning 

Maybe he was top notch years ago but his best years are behind him? Maybe he's just a tool?

[Gregor Samsa]

I think that's exactly how it is. He was maybe considered to be a top surgeon 15-20 years before the prevalance of the internet but the reviews indicate that he's old school and a huge asshole. You don't need more assholes in your life after what you've been through.

[Modigliani]

You're not wrong there my friend 

[ticktickatick]

My key points on Bloomquist:

- Personality is brisk but he does have a lot of compassion, not the best at showing it
- He will answer questions if you ask them, if you want a lot of detail you will have to push, he assumes most people can't handle lots of technical information
- Not interested in fame or academic notoriety, so he is not trying to make a name for himself flying all over at conferences like A/G and Mommaerts have done
- His good reputation has been built slowly over years of practice and some academic involvement
- Really works to keep prices down for out of pocket patients, he operated at Swedish for a number of years before they tripled their rates, now he has negotiated a personal rate at Northwest which is thousands lower than normal
- Has only raised his surgical fees minimally in the last decade
- Has more surgical demand than he can supply, I booked about a year in advance
- He does not have an online presence at all. I showed those negative reviews at my consult and he had no idea they existed.
- Most affordable surgeon who actually has a good reputation. Double jaw + genio + hospital was about 16k this year.
- Uses best practices in surgery, you won't get the latest cutting edge techniques, but you also won't end up a guinea pig
- Operates from the viewpoint of getting your jaw to where it should have been had growth developed normally, with aesthetic considerations implied (ex: I could have a good bite with lip incompetence, but he considers my large lip incompetence out of the range of normal development)

Some of those online reviews did scare me, but after meeting him and talking with others in-person about him, I came to the conclusion that they are a very small segment of the thousands he has treated in the last 30 years.

Yet still I doubt he would please most of the people on these boards. I find these boards represent a very particular segment of jaw surgery patients that have very specific notions about their jaw, their appearance, and what they want aesthetically after surgery.

He doesn't feel the need to prove to you...well anything really. I think that is the most off putting thing. I finally said to him point blank: look I am going to have my face cut up and I need to be 100% certain that the measurements are right, that you have a plan, and that you are confident going forward. And then he kind of buckled down and told me exactly how he was going to change my jaw, and expressed that he was very confident in his ability to perform the surgery and that the outcome would be good.

I get the feeling he has been doing this so long, has a bit of "your reputation precedes you", and honestly most normal people just don't ask that many questions...that he perhaps has forgotten what it feels like to the first-time patient. Especially to the nerdier ones (e.g. this board) that want all the gory details to feel safe. But in the end I think his skill and experience won out.

You can always get your A/G notes and take them to him, though, he is open to that approach.

So far my results seem natural. My bite is "exactly where it should be", my airway is better, my lips are closed at rest, and my profile is no longer retrognathic. That opinion is shared by my husband and immediate family members, even though they were very critical of the choice to have surgery and were ready to nitpick the result.

[ticktickatick]

If it helps, here are the members-only Dr Oogle reviews not duplicated on rateMD.  It looks like the three damning reviews were posted on both.

Just remembering reading this before I decided on Bloomquist, I noticed a few things...

Even the one lady who hates him said the "outcome for her daughter was perfect" she just hated his personality.

Also one of these reviews said everyone was nasty and they didn't help her with the health insurance appeals process, but no mention if the surgery outcome itself was good.

Having been to the office multiple times very recently and talked to pretty much everyone in the office, I personally think the comments on the personality are overblown. He's brisk, some of the staff are matter of fact, but I NEVER felt that anyone was nasty and some of them really bent over backwards to help me. But maybe I'm not as sensitive as some folks.

Anyway onto the reviews...

5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
Dr. bloomquist did an outstanding job on my oral surgery. I would strongly recommend him.

1 star  1 star  1 star  1 star  1 star
Dr Bloomquist is a talented surgeon. The outcome for my daughter was perfect. However, he is extremely arrogant and the office staff is flat out rude. In 3 office visits the minimum wait times were 30, 45 and 60 minutes. When we complained the response was: "we're busy". Bloomquist is the perfect stereotype of a talented but socially inept doctor. My daughter hated him and his staff.

5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
Dr. Bloomquist removed my wisdom teeth and he and his staff made it more comfortable than I have ever been with any dentist.

 5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
Dr. Bloomquist, and his staff, are very professional and experienced in their field. I felt completely satisfied with my entire procedure, office visits, and billing. I had a complete upper and lower jaw reconstruction and am so happy to have had it done. I would recommend Dr. Dale Bloomquist to anyone considering/having this procedure.
The cost, just like any other medical procedure, can be expensive but his office offers a much much lower cash price for those that don't have the insurance coverage!

5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
Had mandibular advancement (BSSO) with constriction (midline osteotomoy) done by Dr. B. This summer, since he is one of only 2 surgeons in the area to whom my ortho will recommend patients for this type of procedure.

If I could make my decision over again, I'd make the same choice in a heartbeat! My results are FANTASTIC - even my ortho was thrilled. Plus, I emerged from the op with virtually zero side-effects: NO NUMBNESS AT ALL, even just a few hours after the op (for this type of work that is simply astounding), no pain, minimal bruising, and my swelling was already starting to go down within the first 48 hours. He truly did a top notch job!

My only complaint would be that the patient must always be prepared with all their questions to ask, since he will usually whiz through appointments at top speed. However, I did notice at the discharge visit after the op he was rather warmer in manner, and took it at a slower pace. On the plus side, I'm always seen very promptly for appointments.

All the staff are very friendly and competent, billing has been fairly smooth, and they were very good up front (before I'd even committed to doing the op) in terms of working with me and my insurance to verify my insurance coverage.

 5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
I had re-constructive jaw surgery. This was a planned procedure and he worked closely with my orthodontist every step of the way. I would HIGHLY reccomend him to anyone in the area. Better hurry, I've heard he has plans to retire. My jaw surgery was totally worth it!

 5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
I had jaw surgery and for one of the most painful procedures in Oral Surgery, I had an amazing experience with Dr. Bloomquist. The treatment was a complete success and has changed my life in positive ways!

 2 stars  2 stars  2 stars  2 stars  2 stars
Worst experience I've ever faced with a doctor and one of the worst experiences of my life. Both he and his staff are nasty. Jaw surgery is difficult and emotional to go through - you will get no understanding of that here - it feels like a jaw surgery factory - once you have any questions or need help with an appeal to your insurance to cover the surgery, they treat you like garbage and move on to the next patient. Dr. Bloomquist is burnt out - it shows he cares nothing for his patients. I cried after almost every coversation I had with both he and his staff, and every visit with him because they are such nasty people with no sympathy or understanding of where a patient is coming from. Seattle is full of fantastic doctors with fantastic and intelligent staff - this is not one of them.


 5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
My son had a bi-maxillary osteotomy with a sliding genioplasty one year ago. The surgery and recovery couldn't have gone better. We (and his orthodontist) are completely pleased with the outcome! We never had to wait for the appointments. Our questions were promptly answered during office visits and over the phone. You do have to come prepared with your questions. We are completely satisfied with our choice of Dr. B. and the entire experience.

2 stars  2 stars  2 stars  2 stars  2 stars
I had jaw surgery on my lower jaw and it did not work. He offered to do it a second time for free. The process is painful. But I'm sure well worth it if the results are correct the first time. He is not a warm and fuzzy guy but he is rumored to be the best. There was a less than 1% chance of the surgery failing and I happened to fall into that unlucky statistic.

 4 stars  4 stars  4 stars  4 stars  4 stars
Our son is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. So far we are more than pleased with the treatment that we have received from Dr. Bloomquist and his staff. They worked with us and our insurance company to ensure that we had a reasonable amount to pay. We are alway early for our appointments and have never had to wait long to be seen. We will update this review after his surgery. He came highly recommended by our son's orthodontist.

 5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
I'm very satisfied with the results and with my appearance. I recommend Dr. Bloomquist to anyone in the Seattle area who needs jaw surgery.

5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
Not on overly friendly guy, but a great oral surgeon.
I've been to several dentists this past year and all are highly impressed when they hear that Dr. Bloomquist was my oral surgeon.
My jaw has never looked or felt better. I would highly recommend him.

4 stars  4 stars  4 stars  4 stars  4 stars
My initial consultation w/ Dr. Bloomquist went fine- he seemed well qualified and was very willing to answer all my questions. He didn't rush through the visit, either- which is really important to me. I haven't received my treatment yet, but look forward to it and am pretty sure I'll be happy with the results.

5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars  5 stars
 I had jaw surgery from Dr.Bloomquist and it changed my life! I would do it all over again in less than a heartbeat if I had to but only from Dr. B. I highly reccomend him!

Maxillary & mandibular. WONDERFUL DOCTOR! Doctor Bloomquist is a surgeon, focused on the job at hand. He performed my surgery and am very happy with the results. I feel that once the surgery was preformed, at the request of my orthodontist, my orthodontist's job is to make sure I was happy with the results. This is a team effort, I will agree there is a lot of stress and anxiety when the word surgery is first suggested, but the results I could not be happier.

[ticktickatick]

Lastly the consult is only $150. At first I was under the impression I had to bring an xray from my other consults or it was going to cost more, but when I got there they took their own xrays and did not charge for them. So I would double check on that.

[Modigliani]

Wow, what an incredible review, ticktick, thank you so much for taking the time to do it.

I'm running out of options so I can't afford to ignore this guy.

Would you mind sharing his email address please, couldn't find it anywhere on line.

Thanks again.

[Gregor Samsa]

I don't really mind arrogant surgeons as long as they can back it up with results. That idiot that gave him a one-star review despite getting a perfect result comes off as really spoiled.

[Modigliani]

I don't really mind arrogant surgeons as long as they can back it up with results. That idiot that gave him a one-star review despite getting a perfect result comes off as really spoiled.

Yeah, that person deserves a good hard slap!

The only problem I have with the surgeons of the giant ego variety is how they deal with post surgery problems - does their arrogance permit them to admit to a less than ideal result, or do they automatically go into arsehole mode?

[ticktickatick]

office@feldmanbloomquist.com

The office does typically respond to emails, but not always as promptly as I would like. Like many doctor's offices they are not very focused on their online presence. If you have any questions beyond something VERY simple you should just go in for a consult. If you are expecting to have a back-and-forth over email with Dr. Bloomquist may I just nicely say: don't count on it!

If you really can't fly into Seattle anytime soon, you can talk to Jennifer Ravetz (the treatment coordinator) ON THE PHONE and she can help you as much as she can before your consult.

Her number is: 206.215.2089 ext 107
Listen to the automated voice though on which extension to dial, I believe her extension has changed recently from that one.

I know phone calls and in-person consults are scary for many of us who like these online forums...we want all these guarantees before we go in there...but they are old school in that way so you will just have to deal with it.

[ticktickatick]

Wow, what an incredible review, ticktick, thank you so much for taking the time to do it.

I'm running out of options so I can't afford to ignore this guy.

Would you mind sharing his email address please, couldn't find it anywhere on line.

Thanks again.

In the reply right above

[ForeverDet]

I saw him Dr. B in 2010, wasn't impressed at all. Nice enough guy but the consult only lasted 5 minutes. I think his consult fee was around 180 or something, not worth it. I think he would be a good choice for mild to moderate cases that just need liner advancement.

He doesn't do counter-clockwise rotation (essential in cases like mine or else you get a compromised result aesthetically) and if you have joint issues, apparently he won't treat you.

[ticktickatick]

Not to discount anyone else's experience, but he did do CCW on me, so perhaps his technique has changed in the last 4 years, or he only performs CCW on certain cases. For the record I did not ask for a particular procedure, I gave him the latitude to decide what would be best to correct my issues.