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UPDATE 9/14/2026:
I originally wrote this review after a disappointing experience during my appointment today. However, shortly afterward, I received a personal call from Jill at Northern Virginia Orthodontics, and I felt it was equally important to update my review based on how they responded.
Jill genuinely listened to my concerns, apologized for what happened, and, most importantly, wanted to understand how the situation made me feel. She didnât dismiss my feedback or try to explain it away. She took it seriously, acknowledged why the experience was upsetting, and assured me that they want us to have nothing less than a 5-star experience moving forward.
I told Jill during our conversation that the way she handled my concerns deserved five stars, and I meant it.
Things can go wrong in any business. What matters just as much is how a business responds when they do. Jillâs call restored a lot of my confidence in Northern Virginia Orthodontics and reminded me why, until today, I had been very happy with this practice.
For transparency, I am leaving the details of what happened below because they were genuinely how I felt at the time, but I am changing my review to 5 stars because I believe a business that listens to its patients, takes responsibility, and makes a sincere effort to address a problem deserves recognition for doing so.
My original experience:
My appointment was scheduled for 9:15 a.m., and I didnât leave until approximately 10:45 a.m. I understand that doctors sometimes run behind, but waiting nearly 50 minutes just to see the doctor was frustrating and not what I expected from a scheduled appointment.
The second issue was much more disappointing.
When I purchased Invisalign treatment for both myself and my daughter, a significant financial commitment, I asked whether they could offer anything additional since I was purchasing two treatments at the same time. They couldnât adjust the price, but instead offered complimentary whitening for both of us. I then asked whether they could also include whitening for my wife, who is also a patient there, and they agreed.
Today, since I was already there for my appointment, I simply asked how the whitening worked because I wanted to potentially schedule an appointment for my wife.
I was told there was no record of this on any of our three accounts. The receptionist checked with the person who originally handled our Invisalign purchase, and I was told that she is normally very good about documenting these things and had no notes about what I was describing.
That was the part that bothered me most. I felt as though I was being put in a position where I had to defend my own integrity over something that had been offered to us. At one point I actually asked, âDo I look like I just came in here and made this up?â because thatâs genuinely how the interaction made me feel.
Ultimately, they agreed to honor the whitening for my wife, but I left disappointed by how the situation had been handled.
And that brings me back to my update.
My concern was never really about the cost of whitening. It was about trust and how the interaction made me feel as a patient. Thatâs exactly why Jillâs call mattered so much.
She listened. She cared. She apologized. And she made it clear that this wasnât the experience Northern Virginia Orthodontics wants its patients to have.
I appreciate that tremendously. Our family has made a significant investment in treatment with this practice, and todayâs follow-up made me feel that our relationship and experience genuinely matter to them.
Thank you, Jill, for reaching out personally and for handling a difficult situation exactly the way I would hope a great organization would handle it. Iâm happy to change my review to 5 stars and look forward to the 5-star experience you promised us moving forward.â
Jan Hrivnak