Sunset Family Dental Clinic

Dr Sweeney was great.
BUT…
I stopped going here after one visit because Kourosh, her husband, who runs the reception, was unprofessional and inconsiderate of my time.
I’m sure he is probably just really passionate about patients caring for their teeth, but I felt he didn’t respect my own awareness and responsibility to handle my own dental care.
After my first visit he spent maybe 20 minutes trying to ‘convince’ me of the importance of caring for my teeth. (I did voluntarily go to the dentist, after all, so I didn’t think he needed to push that point). He also did this after I expressed that I was on a schedule and needed to be on my way out fairly quickly.
A couple weeks later, I had to cancel a deep clean (which would have been my second apptmt there) because I returned from another country ill from food poisoning. From his pushy response I perceived that he thought that I was canceling because I didn’t take my dental care seriously.
I did honestly wanted to reschedule, because I genuinely liked Dr Sweeney, and thought she was skilled in her work, but I didn’t want to have to go through the gate-​keeper of her receptionist husband.
I found another office that acknowledges me as a thinking, responsible person.
I would really encourage this practice to hire an outside reception team to handle their patients. It would have made me feel more comfortable returning.

This guy was a hack! He found out my boyfriend has insurance and totally tried to take him for a ride! He tried to max out his insurance with cavities and procedures my boyfriend don’t have or need (a second opinion proved this). DO NOT GO TO THIS QUACK!

I needed a deep cleaning in order to start Invisaline braces. A friend recommended Sunset Family Dental Clinic (Dr Valery Sweeny) and said she was good at cleaning. I found the opposite to be true. Not only did she clean my teeth poorly, her office also scheduled me for a regular cleaning 2 days before my deep cleaning, which I now know was completely unnecessary. I guess they saw a blank slate with regard to my insurance and decided to schedule me for some unnecessary stuff. They did the deep cleaning all in one hour. I now know that this procedure should take at least 2 visits, at least 3 hours total. They had me come back for a follow-​up 2 weeks later. I trusted them until they started recommending gum surgery, among other things. To be fair, it turns out I really did need some of these procedures, however, on hearing that from her I decided to get a second opinion. At the next dentist’s office that same afternoon, they gave me a thorough exam and I could see inside my mouth on a live monitor. They pointed to several areas where I could see there was still a lot of tartar, and a hygienist cleaned my teeth (again !!) and kept showing me areas where Dr Sweeny had missed. Remember now, I had already gone through a regular AND a deep cleaning with Dr Sweeny two weeks beforehand. My teeth should have been sparkling clean. They were not. This is such a basic procedure for any dentist, it’s hard to imagine what they would have done with more complicated operations… I have since paid the new dentist to actually CLEAN my teeth. I tried to dispute the charge on my credit card but they allowed the payment because it was a service rendered (poorly) and because I refused to go back to their office to let them work on me again. My insurance company did reverse payments for her services. What a pain in the butt to have to dispute all of this !! I am usually a very easy going person but I don’t like being jerked around. Seriously, there are so many good dentists to choose from… this is not one of them. Save yourself the hassle and avoid this place, unless you enjoy doing things twice.

I didn’t go to the dentist but to the medical clinic next to it, couldn’t find a Unilocal entry so I’ll review here. The doctor was a raving loony type, I went for a blood test for specific issues and came back for the results and after two weeks they simply said it was not done, and wanted me to do it again. When I asked for an explanation about the rest of the test results I had to talk him into explaining what how the results were and he begrudgingly went through the results without actually telling what was ok and what wasn’t. He just said «everything ok»! The other reviews about the dental practice actually apply to the medical practice. I feel like I’m seeing a dysfunctional uncle instead of going to a professional medical practice. A waste of time and money, avoid at all costs.

i have been to the sunset family dental clinic about 3 or 4 times for regular maintenance (no extensive procedures to date), and I have had nothing but good experiences with Dr. Sweeny and her husband (who runs the office). they are both friendly and professional, and i only wish that my travels have not made it possible for me to take advantage of this practice more regularly.
during my most recent visit, i got a general cleaning and a set of x-​rays that revealed that i need some additional work in order to stave off much bigger problems down the road. when dr. sweeny explained her diagnosis and suggestion for how to remedy the situation, i felt that she was clear and professional and at no time did i feel like she was recommending unnecessary work in order to increase the practice’s billings.
so… based on my most recent visit (and my others in the past) i have to give this practice high marks, but i will be sure to update my review after i return for my additional procedures. going to the dentist is never «fun», unless you have a borderline masochistic streak, but the folks here make the experience as pleasant as possible under the circumstances.
if you live in the east hollywood/​silverlake/​echo park area and in the market for a dentist, i don’t think you’ll go very wrong by giving this practice as shot at your business. it isn’t the fanciest-​looking office in the world, but it is clean and all of the equipment looks to be up to date. i also believe the doctor speaks spanish in addition to english which is always a plus for a los angeles community dentist.
p. s. the support staff/​hygienists are very nice and competent.

Two years ago I found this dental practice via some «Find a Local Dentist» website and saw Dr. Sweeney about an infection in my gum where a filling had fallen out.
Never in my life had I experienced such prolonged piercing pain when being administered anaesthesia. They had a needle stuck in my gum for up to FIVE MINUTES (watching the clock tick tick tick…) I don’t know why I didn’t just get a quick shot. The Dr. gave me a convoluted explanation… Something about «risks» which sounded weird to me. In all my experiences going to the dentist, the anaesthetic needle always goes in and comes out in 3 seconds. Never five minutes.
And here’s the worst part, the needle had «nipped» the side of my tongue and numbed half my tongue.
When the numbness in my gum had gone away, three weeks later, I still couldn’t feel half my tongue so I called the dental practice to find out if this was normal. The Dr said that it wasn’t normal… maybe they hit a nerve but … «everyone’s mouth is different» yadda yadda yadda and I shouldn’t blame them… yadda yadda yadda. I should also stop researching the problem on the internet and scaring myself unnecessarily, they said.
Eventually the numbness went away. And that was about 8 months later.
I will never return to this dental practice.

I feel a bit conflicted about writing this post, because I’ve never had any business try so hard to get and keep my business while simultaneously acting like a dysfunctional family. To be fair, I need to tell the whole story. Just two months after moving to LA, having not yet found a dentist in LA, I woke up with severe, throbbing tooth pain in the middle of the night. I consulted Unilocal,but none of the recommended dentists could see me quickly enough. A fancy Beverly Hills office was able to see me the same day, but the estimate of $ 3500 for a root canal and crown was staggering. I thought, SURELY there must be another option for quality dental care that wasn’t quite so expensive, and that did not come with valet parking. Sunset Dental Clinic was close to my house, and I went to them to explain my plight. They said that they could do the root canal and crown for a somewhat reduced fee if I also paid $ 250 up front for a full checkup, cleaning, and examination to be done later. Because the total was less than the Beverly Hills office and they used the same «freelance» endodontist for the root canal procedure, I decided to do it. Here are the pluses: 1) they worked me in quickly, 2) the dentist, Valery Sweeny, seems technically competent, 3) they called me back at night when I began having shooting pains in my tooth, 4) the endodontist, Dr. Bina, was great, and 5) the crown Dr. Sweeny put on fits and is okay so far (it’s been 8 months). Here are the minuses: 1) the office is being managed by Dr. Sweeny’s husband, who seems to mean well but who is not very professional, and there is palpable tension between them. 2) The estimate I was given for my treatment was not put in writing despite my repeated requests, and in the end, we wound up having an unpleasant dispute about the total. 3) I am a cautious medical patient in general, and I have a lot of questions. I was also under a lot of stress from my recent move to LA, missing work, unexpected dental work, etc. When I went back for my cleaning and examination after the root canal, they did complete X-​rays and told me that I had about ten cavities and needed four wisdom tooth extractions, for a total of more than $ 5,000 – in addition to the nearly $ 3,000 I had just paid for the crown and the root canal. When I expressed shock and told them I had been to two dentists in the previous year, both of whom told me I was cavity-​free, they said that «maybe those other dentists were more conservative.» I was also nearly in tears at the thought of my sudden and inexplicable tooth decay, plus the thought of spending another $ 5,000 on fillings. Both Dr. Sweeny and her husband then told me that they offered low-​interest loans, and when I said I didn’t want to take out a loan for dental work, they pressed me to tell them why. What kind of job was I doing, they asked? Why not get a second job? Dr. Sweeny told me I needed to take care of the cavities before they got bigger. It seemed baffling to them that I should be so distraught about $ 8,000 in unexpected dental work, but then they are both driving fancy luxury cars. I asked to see the X-​rays and have the cavities pointed out to me, and Dr. Sweeny said, «Are you trained in how to read X-​rays?» I told her that she seemed annoyed by my asking and she said, «I want to work with patients that trust me.» I replied that in order to trust her, I needed to understand how I had developed 10 cavities in the last year and why I should let her drill into what I thought were perfectly good teeth. She finally wound up showing me the X-​rays, and I could see what looked like small shadows in some places, but I told her I would need to get a second opinion. So I did: I got THREE second opinions. Dentist #1 told me I had NO cavities whatsoever after taking another full set of X-​rays. Dentist #2 told me that I had two small ones that could wait. Dentist #3 (highly recommended on Unilocal) told me I had one small one. All three agreed I should have my wisdom teeth removed. And all three were respectful, courteous, showed me the X-​rays without hesitation, did not engage in salesmanship or pressure me to take out loans for dental work, and were clear about their pricing.
Ultimately, I think that this office is trying to build its clientele and improve its services. But my experience was far more dramatic and complicated than a visit to a reputable dentist should be. I talked to them at length about these issues and they were open to discussion, but ultimately, I cannot recommend them. My conclusion is that they are either pushing patients to take out loans for treatment they don’t really need, or Dr. Sweeny is the most aggressive dentist I have ever encountered, meaning that if she sees even a hint of a future cavity, she’s going to take a drill to your teeth. Go somewhere else.