Bay Area Dental Specialty Group

First and foremost, I hate going to the dentist let alone an oral surgeon.
When I walked in, I was greeted with smiles and everyone was very helpful.
I have to say «Thank You» to the staff who was very attentive and professional. I was very nervous and according to my blood pressure readings, very anxious. Once I met with Dr. A. Ephraim who was cool and very personable. I thought maybe I can get this tooth pulled today, Maybe. His assistant made sure I was ok which, made me feel even more comfortable. The procedure was some what quick and painless. On top of that, they call you to see how you’re doing which was awesome. My overall experience at Bay Area Specialty group was great. I would recommend this place for sure!
Smooches to the staff!,
LuLu

I had an okay experience here when the office next door recommended I go here for a root canal.
Unfortunately I was CHARGED for the procedure after specifically traveling from Napa for an office that told me upfront front that my (2) insurances would cover the procedure completely. I still left with a bill sent a couple weeks later.
This place is a rip off and I wouldn’t recommend anyone trusting these guys with the payment portion. This is unfortunate because the procedure itself was pretty good, not to much pain even though I get nervous when having dental work.

I was referred to this place by my general dentist, and I have no complaints! Admittedly, reading other reviews made me very anxious but such fears went out the window when I walked in this morning for my root canal consultation. The office staff were very friendly and took pity on me although, due to a stupid scheduling error on my part, I arrived a few minutes late (don’t do what I did!). They managed to squeeze me in, and my appointment went very smoothly.
The consultation itself, while not without discomfort, was very thorough, and the endodontist took care to explain the details of each test, x-​ray, and what the results meant for me and my aching molar. I was happy to hear that I did not, in fact, require a root canal at that time (yay!), but that the pain I was experiencing was actually due to my recently developed clenching and grinding habit. I was super impressed by the doctor’s bedside manner, and his patience when fielding all of my questions and «what-​if» scenarios.
So, five stars — no, I didn’t actually have to have any work done here, and while I hope I won’t need to return in the future, I certainly won’t be devastated if I have to.

2 months later, still waiting on my deposit refund… not expecting a miracle

This place was great! (Albeit my abysmal dental insurance led me to have the not-​greatest-​day-​ever) The people, place, parking, all of it were JUST FINE. Ignore the bellicose one-​star reviews – they are a lot of drama. I actually read them all before my appointment and was terrified to go in! To them I say:
1– Know you insurance, and don’t blame any negative surprises on the receptionist who doesn’t know your plan sucks until you get there. Also, don’t sign on for a service if you don’t know how much it costs! That seems like the most basic of consumer responsibilities.
2– The setup of the office is FINE. Have you ever been to a dental facility in a city? In OAKLAND? Equipment is expensive enough, and I’m sure Fruitvale offers them cheap-​enough commercial space. The waiting room is totally run of the mill. Don’t trip.
3– When you have a medical appointment, you’re supposed to ALWAYS show up early. New patients have paperwork to fill out before they see a practitioner, and old patients might be able to sneak in early. Also, long waits are just a reality of the system, not one facility. Bring a darned book, or read the Ebony or TV Guides that are free for your use. Come on, people.
4– Dealing with medical crap is physically, financially, and emotionally stressful. don’t take that out on the nice person who’s trying to fix your gnarly gums!
The place was JUST FINE. Dr. Gasper was to-​the-​point, rational, attentive and understanding. My only advice would be to call in the week-​of to confirm your appointment, but they were super cool about me rescheduling to hell and back. If your insurance plan drops you here, don’t freak about all the Unilocal reviews. It already sucks that you have to be there, you don’t need a bunch of fools to scare you even more! You want the best, shiniest office with mimosas and a pianist in the lobby? Well, reality check, that’s for someone with more money and a better plan than you (and I)! Take a deep breath, it’s going to be okay.

This office will require you to place a $ 800. deposit down to hold your appointment. When i questioned them about it, they explained it was really a deposit to ensure payment of emergency bone grafting that may be needed during surgery. I explained we were just having a wisdom tooth pulled, and not an implant. Staff assured me after speaking with the doctor that it wouldn’t be necessary in my case and the amount would be refunded.
They ran a refund receipt with my credit card, but it never was processed. When I contacted their billing office they stated the $ 800 deposit would be held for 6 – 8 weeks, and then released.
I immediately contacted my bank. They had my account credited for the $ 800 and placed an inquiry into the charges. They said the deposit legally could not be held for more than 2 weeks.
After 8 weeks, Bay Area Dental Specialty Group contacted me to request my Visa number supposedly to credit my account. I explained that I had already had my account credited.
THIS IS A COMPLETE SCAM TO HOLD AND USE YOUR MONEY FOR 8 WEEKS!

Man, I don’t know what to say. I don’t remember the specialist’s name, but I believe it was Dr. Michelin; he did a good job on my root canal I had today. Although he did kinda leave for 5 minutes to make a phone call, I guess it’s okay… But what I gotta say, is about the assistant. He fucking sucks at his job, I had to do an X-​ray 4 times, because his ass does not know how to position it correctly. He asked me, medicated and numbed, to hold it in place. And I’m thinking in my head, my mouth is numbed right now, I’m out of it, and you’re asking the patient to hold it, knowing that the patient will fuck up regardless? Useless. He kept stabbing me with the X-​ray square against my tongue, and of course I’m able to feel that. During the whole procedure of him doing X-​rays, I was rolling my eyes and giving him that «WTF» face. «Chin up, all the way. Tilt your head more.» That’s all I heard from him. The only entertainment I got from today was the specialist yelling at the assistant. Kinda glad at least someone bitched at him in any form of matter about any situation, haha. Super glad the specialist explained to me why this procedure took an hour and half, because I had a complicated root canal. I hope not to come back here, and if I do, I hope I get another assistant. Endo specialist, you’re okay in my books for now. But you’re dumb for not giving me the aftercare papers. Luckily I came here last time so I still have that paper in handy.

I went here two days ago to get a root canal.
I’ve been here before and my experience wasn’t that good.
I had an appointment for 2pm and I got there at around 1:50.
I signed in and they told me to wait.
So I waited… Until almost 2:30pm and they called me in.
I sat down and waited AGAIN. The nurse came in and took some x-​rays and I waited for the dentist to come.
The root canal FINALLY started at around 2:55pm.
The dentist finished part of it, then left, and the nurse helped me take some x-​rays.
This happened for 3 times and the root canal ended at 3:45pm, somewhere around there.
I was really bored cause of the waiting and I even fell asleep! In the middle of the root canal! Just like that, mouth open…
Wouldn’t come here if another dentist clinic would take my insurance…

I had such high hopes after reading Emily L’s review about her root canal being painless and amazing. I had high hopes when I called and front desk receptionsists were all very friendly and helpful. BUT the Endo specialist was AWFUL, HORRIBLE, NO chair-​side manner what-​so-​ever. He talked to the dental assistant non-​stop about non-​operation related things the entire time and didn’t even acknowledge. I understand I can’t talk while I’m in the chair but he didn’t even check on me to see how I’m suffering. Then, when it’s all done, he just left. Not even a word. I didn’t know I was done. I sat in the chair for a good 20 minutes until the assistant came in and asked me to rinse. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. No wonder they don’t list doctors’ name and credentials. I would hate to learn now where the dentist went to dental school.
It fumes me to even look at the glaring star on this review because they don’t deserve it!

If you want a Monty Python experience in a dental office, come here!
I arrived a few minutes early for an 8 a.m. appointment. I was asked to fill out a few forms, one of which asked me to sign off on a procedure that was not yet indicated (and which my appointment was for an evaluation of, not a scheduled procedure). The audio environment in the waiting room was unreal — they had a speaker phone on very very loud which constantly reached phone trees in insurance companies where the recording was saying «Your entry is incorrect, your entry is incorrect» mixed with a radio loudly blaring pop tunes mixes with A Movie in the Patient Waiting Room which showed a totally inappropriate movie with a sexually charged mystery scene between an attractive young woman and a menacing man in dreadlocks; when a huge black monster animal emerged from the forest in the movie, I told the receptionist I’d prefer to wait in my car outside until it was time for me to see the endodontist for my root canal evaluation. The staff turned off the monster scene and turned on cartoons, which still made the audio environment terribly chaotic and stressfull. In the meantime, I had to fill out a questionnaire asking me how I felt about seeing dentist — i.e. did I feel anxious? etc. Pretty ironic under the circumstances.
I would never have selected this office had it not been one of the two within 20 miles of me that accepts Aetna DMO.
Once in the consultation room, I listened to a heated discussion between the dentist and the receptionist over whether or not another front office employee had resigned or not. Suddenly the employee who had sent in her resignation appeared and it was back to work. No effort was made to have these conversations out of range of four or more patients’ earshot.
I cannot speak for the practice skills of the actual practitioner, as in my case, the decision was made to refer me to others for specific treatment, but I can say that my on site interaction with this office was beyond the bounds of what I could have ever imagined.
I would not recommend using this office. Next time, I will drive 20 miles to the city to see another practitioner, who is in Pacific Heights, where people have higher professional standards as far as office conduct and patient waiting room ambiance.
I used to see another dentist (not an endodontist) in the Fruitvale neighborhood — for 20+ years — where none of the unprofessionalism of the 12^th St. office was present, so it is the tone the business sets, not the neighborhood, that I attribute the lack of professionalism to.
if i could rate this as negative stars, I would.

I had my wisdom teeth pulled out awhile back like last summer and everything was chill. Now im taking my sister and they made us bring both of my parents and i also had to come to the appt bc they arent primary english speakers but they understand everythin i mean i did come here before. We came at 1130, her appt is at 12. Then we were told she wasnt supposed to eat or drink 8 hrs ahead of time and its been awhile so i forgot and we were not infomed prior to the appt. I argued with the front desk about it and she told me she left a msg, i checked it and clearly the msg did not say anything about it.
Now we are seeing the doctor and the doctor yelled at the assistants bc they arent supposed to leave messages but they are supposed to get a hold of a human being to speak to. Then my sister was gettin her teeth examed and she realized the xray was not hers but our second cousin’s which name was nowhere similar to my sister’s. What a coincidence right? The stupid assistant had already taken notes on the papers too. Her dumbass looked at the xray after my sister pointed it out and wa like ohh.
Worst place ever. Dont go here

The staff was friendly but the doctor and place sucks! I had a 1:30pm appt for my wisdom teeth and I didn’t get the surgery till 7pm. Had to wait the whole time and watch movie after movie and I couldn’t eat anything since the night before and it was such a horrible experience. Then when I went to get my perscription walgreens couldn’t give me the pain killers due the dr wrote a perscription on another dr’s pad and didn’t give an authorization number. I can’t believe any insurance company would have such a horrible place like this on their choices. I partly blame blue shield!

The office staff are completely incompetent. They do their best to interfere with patients ability to schedule convenient appointments and they have no idea of proper customer service interactions.
They are not even aware as to who they refer their patients to.
I regret paying in full for my daughter’s treatment.