Dental Center of Highland Park

DO NOT COME HERE, unless you’re a masochist and like receiving bad service and long waits.
My brother got his braces done through here, and had no complaints so I figured I’d give them a shot.
Big mistake.
The dentist/​Doctor himself is very good with the procedures, let’s you know what to expect with the procedure, tells you to let him know if you feel a lot of pain at any moment, and gives you a heads up when he’s about to do something that might give you some discomfort.
That’s about the only good thing about the office. The staff they have surrounded themselves with are horrible. It seems that some of them don’t like dealing with people even though they took a job that requires direct interaction with people in the first place! If you question something they do they come back with an attitude.
There’s also a clear sense of miscommunication among the staff. On my first visit I was brought onto the chair and the doctor was going to go straight into looking at my teeth… but wait, there’s no X-​rays? Of course no one communicated that I needed X rays and they didn’t realize until the dentist was about to dive into my mouth.
The following visit, I had an appointment at 9am but apparently they decided to hold some sort of meeting at 9 as well with all of the staff so there was no one available until 9:30. What’s up with that? Why schedule appointments at 9am when you won’t be helping anyone at that time? They’re already running behind schedule right off the bat because of this. They also had some guy ‘monitoring’ the door with the keys to the door, I didn’t really know who he was as he didn’t introduce himself and once the staff came out at 9:30 he just disappeared to the back.
In that same visit, it wasn’t until 11am that I actually had my procedure done. Two hours after my ‘appointment’. I set up a follow up appointment in a few weeks, I should’ve told them I wasn’t going to go back to them after that but I didn’t want to make a fuss and just wanted to get out of there already.
Overall, poor guest service and staff with a decent Doctor behind it all. It’s funny that they have a Unilocal sticker in their waiting room, is it supposed to warn new patients? Because going onto Unilocal and seeing two stars is really not a good sign.

I’m a new patient, X-​rays only took 10 minutes, staff was incredibly helpful and kind, and they expedited my treatment in one go. Exam, fillings, and 2 crowns in under 2.5 hours. Quality staff, paperless systems, affordable prices, and high-​end state of the art equipment. A must consideration if you live in the area or worth the drive if your not.

Every time I go here it seems as if the wait time gets worse and worse. The first time I came here was when my daughter was two. Horrible mistake to be assigned to their office I was waiting for at least 2 hours before they saw my daughter, yes at 2 it’s hard for the dr to care for a patient but when they finally sat us. The dr came in for one sec didn’t even look closely at her teeth said she was fine and left.
The second visit was when my daughter was 5, (I went to another office to have her teeth cleaned in between visits) The wait was better than before, but only in the wait room. They sat us in an operatory and we waiting again for 2 hours till the dr came to see us.
Now this last time we came. They took X-​rays for my daughter and had us waiting in the waiting room for 3 hours when I told the receptionist that we were there for ONLY a cleaning. They don’t even acknowledge their patients while they wait! No apology for wait time or anything! I finally got upset for waiting so dam long! That I said screw this!!! I asked for a copy of my daughter X-​rays and walked out!
We definitely won’t be back!!!

AVOID at all costs.
I brought my son here after he developed an abscess on a tooth that he had previously broken.
He needed to get it pulled (it was a baby tooth). I spoke with them at great length and told them I wanted him to be asleep for the procedure because we had a very traumatic experience before and I didn’t want to put him through that. He’s 3!
They assured me everything was fine. He would be completely asleep. We made the appointment and my husband requested time off of work for that day (unpaid time off).
Fast forward to the day of his surgery. We arrive for our 2pm appointment and they inform me that he shouldn’t have eaten anything 8 hours prior to his appointment.
Nobody communicated ANY of that to me! And WHY you would you make an appt for a 3!!! Year old at 2pm??? Am I supposed to have him starve all day??? Appointments like that for kids are usually first thing in the morning. 7am.
It makes no sense to have a 2pm appt.
They also told me that he would be awake for the entire procedure because they don’t put kids to sleep. Um, but that’s the only very specific request I made to them.
I heard them call the dentist and I heard him begrudgingly get ready to see me. He actually said «Ugh. I guess I gotta put my coat on for this. «
Then, he comes out and because I’m a woman or a Latina (maybe both?) begins to speak to me like I’m a one year old who doesn’t speak English.
They didn’t fix my son’s tooth. He continued to be in pain until we were able to find a competent dentist (Wilshire Dental-​absolutely amazing). My husband lost an entire day’s worth of pay for nothing.
The majority of patients here are on Medi-​Cal. We had an HMO that we ended up switching to a PPO to never have to deal with places like these again.
And– there’s no parking anywhere. The lot is always full.
And we waited two hours to be seen.
AVOID. Terrible. So bad. So bad.

PLEASE, PLEASE, for the sake of your child. DO NOT ever bring your child here. I had my 6 year old daughter at this office to have fillings put in and I wish I would have read the Unilocal reviews prior to taking her here. First of all, they didn’t let her mother or myself in the procedure room. They also felt she was moving to much, so they strapped her down like an animal. Think about it… if I was 6 years old without my mommy or daddy around with complete strangers being strapped down, I personally would be freaking out. This is not how you handle a child who is scarred and uncomfortable. They should of put her to sleep instead and handled the job. My daughter was so emotionally distraught and scarred out of her mind that she was shivering. This is know going to be a legal matter and if anyone else has been in the same situation with this office, please come forward and message me, so we can obtain your statement as well. Thank you for your time!

I don’t believe it, just to have an exray and talk to the Dr. it took me from noon to 3.40pm. unbelieveble almost 4hours … I’m not coming back.. and told me to pull out my wishdom teeth which is not even border me…

Warning on this Dental Office. The staff are very unprofessional. They were laughing at my mother who only has medical insurance and could not afford the extra services, that were unnessary. Please pass this on to as many people as you can. They don’t deserve not even one star rating.

Was assigned to this practice by my new insurance. Worst dentist I have ever been to.
–Waited almost 3 hours to be seen. They said it was not usually like that, they just happened to be understaffed — but judging from other reviews, it is an ongoing problem.
–the hygienist took under ten minutes to clean my teeth. When i questioned her, saying dental cleanings usually take 30 minutes, she stated it was just different technique. She said I didn’t need a «deep cleaning» but needed a «antibacterial laser cleaning» that I had to pay out of pocket for
–the dentist told me I had 5 cavities, all 5 of which happened to be the only type of cavity that required a $ 109 copay per cavity. He refused to look at the old x-​rays I brought with me to see if what he was seeing was stable over time. I ended up paying out of pocket to go see my old dentist to get a second opinion, who said NONE of those 5 cavities required filling as they were all tiny and hadn’t changed for years.
–DO NOT GO HERE!

If I could give 0 stars I would. Actually if I could give negative 5 stars I would. This place has the worst time management and customer service. I’ve taken my daughter here for about 2 ½ years and EVERY SINGLE TIME we come here we end up waiting for an hour and half to two hours after her appointment time. I’ve tried giving them the benefit of the doubt maybe they were running behind or some emergency patient walked in but this is just ridiculous, being on time for your appointment then having to wait for 2 hours before a 5 year old is seen just for a cleaning! I would have been a little more patient with them if they at least acknowledged their patient’s existence, not even an «I’m sorry for the wait» or «we fell behind» or «can I get you something while you wait» It seems like they are more concerned about themselves than the patients in front of them. I finally had enough. I asked for a copy of my daughters X-​rays and was gonna. I’m surprised they didn’t even have a manager come speak with me regarding my concerns! Poor customer service guys get your office together!

The reason why I make an appt at a certain time is because I expect to be seen around that time. 10 min, 15 min? Okay. I get it. Sometimes other people run late. After an hour of waiting they told me it would be another 30 minutes. The front desk staff was certainly understanding because there was nothing they could really do, but jesus. An hour and half after your appointment time for a simple cleaning is beyond ridiculous.

I waited just a bit but i didn’t mind the staff was wonderful pleasant and i felt welcomed like i’ve known them forever. I loved it here and leonela was very good at explaining everything i had to have done.

Let’s start off with I hate Dentists and have since I was a kid! Due to this vitriolic relationship with dentists I waited for years before I finally decided it was time. I have been going to this office for over a year now and I must thank them for saving my smile.(it was almost too late) and putting me on a path of a healthy mouth. This is why I do not understand some of these negative reviews… Let’s start with the staff they are professional, courteous and make you feel like you are part of their little family. The Dentists are thorough, knowledgable and extremely patient when asking a gazillions questions! Their office does everything so there is no farming out work to other specialists they are all there!!! Dr Kyaw is the best and his assistant Agnes always makes me feel comfortable and relaxed before every procedure and offers me plenty of reassurance, believe me I need plenty… They have a great finance department who always gives me my options but has never pressured me to do more than that I am comfortable with. I have introduced them to not only my partner but also to my Mother in-​law… To all of those who have Mother in-​laws you know that one wrong move is going to be noticed and can take years to be forgiven…:) So they must be good if I was willing to do that!!!

The staff was very friendly and professional. Had my roothcanal done by Dr robert. it was the best dentis ever. i will recommend this dentis to friends and family

I came here last month for a dental clean up. The staff was very friendly and professional. Their service was really good. I checked in for my appointment, and with in a few minutes they called me in. They made me comfortable considering I hadn’t had a clean up done in over a year. The dental assistant Evelia was very informative about the procedure. Overall I had a great experience in this office especially since i live near the area.

The scheduling of appointments is disorganized. I took my child for her appointment and it had not been entered in the system. I had the appointment card in hand as proof so they did see her, but we had to wait for 1.5 hours. For the second appointment I called to confirm a day ahead and, again, she wasn’t in the schedule. They then scheduled her but when we showed up today for the appointment they had made another mistake. It’s been a half hour and I’m told there are still two patients ahead of my kid. If you have time to wait for hours then it’s OK.

Very good dentist not to mention good prices they take Insurance and they know what they are doing I got my braces there very good service they do a good job haven’t lost any brackets jet.

This place is horrible!!! They make you wait in the waiting room for over an hr. they don’t explain anything. And they chance the prices on you.
I will never come back to this place!

It was the dentist closest to home when I needed one. I had a tooth pulled and the dentist caused me so much pain it was worse the labor pains and delivery. My mouth was bleeding off and on for 8 weeks. I have seen children leave there very traumatized. My daughter saw them and they said she had like 10 cavitiies. After my extraction I decided not to bring her back for fillings or further care. And, well, she has
zero cavities. So they may have ruined perfectly healthy teeth for money gains. Awful…

I have a heavy heart while writing this review and I hate to have to write it.
The staff and dentists here are very nice. I’ve been seen by Dr. Zay (I forget his last name) and Dr. Edward Terzian. The girls at the office have been nothing but nice to me. Over all as far as niceness and customer service this place would get 5 stars. Too bad niceness isn’t the only criteria for being a dentist.
I came here for the first time back in July. I had gone to another dentist that could only recommend me to two different people, one to pull out my wisdom teeth, plus two others that had been infected by the wisdom teeth. The other person to do my root canal. I was in pain, and annoyed that I had used my sick day in vain. I called up my dental insurance and asked for a near by dental office that was open on Saturdays and specialized in everything… that’s when they recommended me to this place.
I was thrilled at first. I got a last minute appointment and had all of my infected teeth pulled out. I had read the reviews on Unilocal in advance, but figured Unilocal wasn’t always right, since I had chosen my last dentist based on Unilocal and she could do nothing to help me but recommend to other people that wouldn’t be able to see me for two weeks to a month from now! I met the infamous Leo and figured he was OK, that maybe people were exaggerating a bit. I appreciated that my bill was being explained to me before hand and that that job was somewhere in my expected budget.
Then things get interesting…
So after having been told in the past that I desperately need my gums cleaned, I go to the front desk to book a gum cleaning… then things get even more interesting when Leo steps up to the reception desk and says well first lets just do a routine exam since now I am their patient. I started to see what people were talking about with Leo, wondering how the finance guy has any authority to just step up to reception and decide exams etc for me, but I went with it. I agree, going in knowing that I had already had my check up at another dentists office, so I figure that they’re just going to tell me the same thing, «You need a root canal and a gum cleaning» and I can get my gum cleaning done finally.
I go back two weeks later for my routine exam and while Dr Zay checks out my mouth… Leo sits in the same room as us, VERY WEIRD. I mean who is this guy?! Since when does the finance guy just chill in the same room and start marking up notes on your bill during your routine exam?! Awkward!
After this routine exam, do I get even get a regular cleaning like you do at other places… no. I get brought right into the billing office to discuss how much everything will cost to fix.
Leo starts tapping away on his calculator and shows me what my estimated cost would be if I didn’t have dental insurance… $ 22,000 for some fillings, a gum cleaning, a root canal (2 ?) (they said I needed two, but originally had been told one) But I am soooooo lucky! I get the low low price of $ 6,700 for all of my work.
I started to notice something was up when I noticed on the bill that my deep gum cleaning would be $ 1,300, something I had already been quoted as being anywhere from $ 200-​$ 400 WITHOUT dental insurance in other offices.
I tell Leo that I will go home and think about it. That is when he starts pushing for the credit plans. When that falls though, he goes on to push for my bf to pay for my work, in a very tactless way.
Little back story here… my bf and I have a joint checking account and when I had my teeth pulled here I was in so much pain that my bf took out his card and paid, from our joint checking account. So maybe to them it looked like he was paying for me.
At first I brush it off and start saying whatever to just get out of the office. I say «oh, I’ll see what my family says.» Leo goes on to say «Well how about your bf’s family?» «How about your bf’s credit?»
I eventually got fed up and let him know that my bf is unemployed at the moment and that I am actually the one that is holding things down in these tough times. HE STILL PUSHES FOR MY BF AS I AM LEAVING! «Oh well, just talk it over with him.»
This guy was either being sexist or racist or maybe a combo of both. Just because my bf is a white guy and I am a mixed girl (I know I look more Hispanic) doesn’t mean that he is rolling in the dough. Oh yes, the little Hispanic girl in the relationship cannot pay her own bills, lets call up her white bf to save her! My bf was completely insulted. Apparently its nothing new to him to have people in currently gentrifying neighborhoods try to rip him off because he is a white guy. After looking at the bill and comparing it to what I had been quoted at other dentists, Leo was trying to rip me and my bf about $ 4,000. This is the estimate after being given quotes without including my dental insurance too, so might even be more!
I get a voice mail from Leo a few days later, asking me if I have asked my bf about his credit yet…

The staff here is actually really nice and friendly.
The finance guy Leo on the other hand gives off this really really sketchy vibe. He was telling us how much my dental work would cost but wasn’t telling us exactly what was being charged. He tried to get me to try to get a credit card to finance the whole procedure and seemed stuck on that when I told him twice I only wanted to do a small amount of the procedure so I wouldn’t need to.
He got kinda bugged when I told him I would just come back at another apointment to get any work done (because I felt like he was pressuing me to sign up for the credit). He then seemed eager to usher us out of his office. Whatever he was super rude and shady