Liao Kenneth DDS

After my root canal done by Liao, I went to my dentist to get a crown put on. My dentist informed me that the root canal has to be corrected because the filling was too thin, so a post can’t be put in. He said someone that same week had the same issue with Liao’s procedure. Now I have the fun choice between paying even more money for someone else to correct it OR going back to Liao and risking yet another insufficent root canal. Yay!

OK, I’m here to set the record straight.
I was referred to Dr. Liao for root canal by my new dentist. I didn’t look at any reviews until the day I was supposed to see him, and boy, was I scared by what I read in the other reviews.
Since then, I’ve had two root canals done by Dr. Liao, and I made sure I waited until after I had a chance to really make sure everything turned out OK before posting this review.
I had two molars done, one week apart.
First of all, he was very kind to me and friendly. He took three x-​rays on each of the two teeth, before, during, and after, to make 100% sure he got out the entire root. He was careful to make sure I couldn’t feel any pain, and gave me a second shot of Novocain when I needed it.
After more than a month, I have no pain or discomfort, and now have the posts in ready to get caps.
My thanks to Dr. Liao, because when people say something is like «getting root canal» I can honestly say, for me that hasn’t been a bad experience at all

After reading the other horror stories concerning this guy, I figure I oughtta throw in my own two cents:
Firstly, he was referred to me by Dr. P., the lousiest regular dentist I’ve ever had. They’ve all stunk — better home care has resulted in my never having needed one for years — except for a gum problem that has pretty much gone away after I RECENTLY DISLODGED A PIECE OF PLASTIC JAMMED IN THE GUMS.
Secondly, Warren Baine, a hygienist referral by, yes, that same Dr. P., jammed and twisted a small plastic shard (translates into «irriitant») under my gums. The location of the gum with the above-​mentioned double-​pointed plastic shard was later operated on by Dr. P.‘s endodontist referral, Kenneth Liao — yet another «unfortunate» referral by Dr. P. — Dr. Peter Blumenthal oops, I said it.
Kenneth Liao (pronounced LEO) dug a $ 1300 hole in the gum to clean out the gum infection caused by Dr. P. s Baine Referral, and recommended daily massages of the gum in the infected area (presumably for life) BUT HE DIDN’T REMOVE THE PLASTIC SHARD LODGED IN THAT SAME LOCATION.
Very un-​American of him, I’d say.

Please don’t go through what I did. Dr. Liao seemed so nice and offered me some very informative information about the root canal I was having some discomfort with. It had been initially done by my regular dentist who thought that I should see a specialist. However, the whole scene changed the day I went in for him to «re-​Treat» my root canal. Dr. Liao didn’t explain a single thing he was doing while he was working on my tooth. I felt every bit of pain and he also burned my tongue. The root canal lasted under 15 minutes and there was another patient seated in the same chair I was in before I could put my coat on. I ended up in the ER two days later and needless to say my regular dentist was appalled when she saw the xrays of my tooth 4 days after I saw Dr. Liao. I was so scared to go back to him so I saw another Endodontist before the week was up. She also could not believe how scantly filled the canals were. I finally worked up the guts to visit Dr. Liao in his Hewlett office. Not only was he annoyed that I had seen other dental experts but he also said, «How dare anyone condemn my work?» To add insult to injury he charged me $ 200 for removal of the existing post and charged my insurance so much that I had no allowance left for any further dental services. The issues I have had since have been a nightmare. I have had numerous infections and have had to spend out of pocket to alleviate every issue his lack of skill AND consideration have caused. He is a horrible «specialist». I wish I had consulted a lawyer but the pain had me so confused. Do not buy into the nice appearance of the practice. They are only nice until they are paid. Do a little research and you’ll find that Dr. Liao is known for not filling canals well when he does root canals

I’m the first one to say I don’t like goin to dentists. The dentist I’ve been goin to since I was a kid is retired so I had the arduous task of finding a new dentist.
I was quite aware that I needed a root canal for quite some time now (a few years). But I could never find someone I was comfortable with digging in my mouth and my experiance with dentists from the DC 37 union roster hasn’t been too stellar. I finally narrowed it down to 2 endodontists. I called Dr. Liao first and left message on answering machine. (I thought to myself, another cattle house ?) I proceeded to call the next Dr. and the next available appointment was like 2 weeks away. So I made the appointment. I finally got a call back from Dr. Liao’s office the next day. I was wary at first of their scheduling but in my conversation, they had mentioned Dr. Liao was only in the office 3 days a week because he was teaching at NYU Dentistry. My ears perked up, I though to myself how bad can he be? Plus he’s teaching at my alma mater.
I cancelled the other appoinment and decided to go with Dr. Liao. It was a great call. The office is off the beaten path in Astoria in a private house. It is a clean environment. The waiting area has like 6 chairs and there are two operating rooms. The receptionists are soft spoken and professional. Dr. Liao was friendly and informative. He explained the whole procedure. The actual procdure took about an hour and I had to come back because one of my roots needed some followup. My followup visit was just as easy as the first visit. He’s efficient and thorough. I would brand him the «Root Canal Ninja». He’ll execute them with deadly precision.
Two thumbs up from me. If I have to go through this again, I’m goin to him.

The stuff of nightmares.
Had an incredibly quick root canal performed by Dr. Liao several years ago. After it was discovered the root canal had leaked causing an infection at the root of the tooth, I went to several oral surgeons (upon the referral from general dentists) who confirmed the root canal performed by Dr. Liao was HORRIBLY inadequate.
In fact, Dr. Liao actually has a REPUTATION in the industry amongst his colleagues for performing poor root canals! I’m flabbergasted that this guy is in business. One surgeon even offered that it looked like Dr. Liao’s handywork upon reviewing the xray of the poorly done root canal before me mentioning it! Wow. Another dentist stated several of his patients also have failed root canals by Dr. Liao. In short, due to the terrible root canal, I ended up having to have the tooth EXTRACTED! Quite traumatic. Please, beware!
On a side note, there seems to be some major misdirection, misleading and downright manipulation of patients in the dental industry as I went to not one general dentist for a second opinion on my failed root canal, but three. All three referred me to an oral surgeon. I naively followed the referral process, since these guys are after all «professionals», right? Well sadly, no. Oral surgeons do not perform or re-​treat root canals! Endodontists do! Why did all three general dentists refer me to oral surgeons who do not perform this work?
The oral surgeon will «guide» you to either have an apicoectomy (a very invasive surgery involving sawing through the gum and jawbone) or an extraction (both of which they perform, naturally). They will actually guide you AWAY from what you may need and what I now realize I should have been offered, a re-​treatment of the inadequate root canal (which an endodontist not the oral surgeon performs!) saying usually your tooth will crack in the process of re-​treatment and you“ll end up needing an extraction anyway. While this may be true in some cases, it may not have been for mine and I should have been given the choice, not misled. Extraction is an extreme and irreversible «last resort» measure that should not be offered as the first solution. If an endodontist deemed the tooth was not re-​treatable, THEN an extraction could be considered. It would seem general dentists and oral surgeons have a cozy relationship with each other but not with endodontists. One has to wonder why.
Extraction also has its share of complications I am regretfully learning. Namely an extremely slow healing process of the hole left behind (don’t let them tell you they will stitch it, they put 2 stitches, 1 in front and 1 behind the huge HOLE where the tooth was) making brushing and eating difficult and requiring constant salt rinses to get food debris out. Let’s not even talk about the odor. There is also the possibility of infection. Adjacent teeth may spread over time and the matching upper or lower tooth may shift. The tooth being gone, an implant with a bone graft is immediately offered. Terrific. Conveniently this would also be performed by the oral surgeon, for additional big money. Implants and grafts can lead to a host of other complications. It makes sense, they are foreign elements being introduced into the body and the body’s natural reaction is to reject them. Please research.
The existence of a gigantic and tender gap in your teeth will make chewing solid foods difficult, brushing around it a daily painful chore and also affect the confidence in your smile and image. In other words, extraction opens the door to a host of other problems and more work for the oral surgeon. It is not a simple, finite solution. NONE of these complications with extraction were explained by any of the 3 oral surgeons I was referred to! One has to wonder what type of industry this is.
Again, all these issues arose from the original botched root canal by Dr. Liao. It seems we are living in a time where it is up to the patient to protect themselves as doctors will not. We must do all the research prior to any procedure then INSTRUCT the doctors as to what type of care we actually need. I should have been more cynical in the 2 months I spent researching this stuff. I kept thinking, «those horror stories won’t happen to me, my guys are professionals». I allowed the seriousness of my condition to cloud my thinking long enough to forget that your teeth, while precious to you, mean nothing to this industry. Well nothing but profit. Dentistry, I’ve come to find out, is not an exact science, and they will happily experiment with you and if the treatment fails, they can yank out your prized teeth in a jiffy. They are quite proficient at it.
Multiple 1-​star reviews are not coincidental. I hope this review serves to warn others about Dr. Liao and others like him and avoid the same horrible experiences I endured, and am enduring, and find better, caring dentists. I’m sure they are out there somewhere.