Michele M Yamada, DDS

I have been receiving regular dental work and cleanings from Dr. Yamada for several years now. I have always been impressed with the professionalism the entire staff displays. I have not had dental insurance for a very long time so I have always had to pay full price when it comes to the dentist. I have shopped around and there are dentists that are less expensive to go to. But the old saying comes with that, you get what you pay for. I would rather pay a little more up front and get it done correctly the first time and have a happy mouth.
Dr. Yamada and her team have really helped me to turn around my oral hygiene. I went from having some pretty bad gum issues to having none at all and the little problems that do pop up are easy to correct and I don’t have to dish out thousands of dollars.
I think too many people expect dentists to wave a magic wand and have their problems go away. I know that when I took responsibility for my dental health with the support of Dr. Yamada things have changed for the better.
I definitly support going to Dr. Yamada. Give her a shot, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

My experience with this dentist was horrendous!
A little bit of history… I had the same dentist for about 8 years or so, but my dentist was in Sorrento Valley which is where I used to work. It’s a bit of a drive and recently that dentist sold the practice to another dentist so I saw an opportunity for change. I loved that dentist, but I thought it would be convenient for me to see a dentist in OB or Pt. Loma…
A guy at my gym had a shirt on with this Dentist’s name so I thought I’d ask him what he thought. He had great things to say about her so I scheduled my first appt.
Okay, first thing I notice is that they have a pay first policy. If you don’t know what that means and have dental insurance, it means that if the service is $ 400 and «will be» reimbursed by your insurance, you pay $ 400 and then are reimbursed at a later date by your insurance company. This was a red flag but I was promised that in her many years of experience, she (the receptionist) had never seen a problem with reimbursement and that the payment would come before the cycle of my next bill.
I agree and continue to wait in the office, patiently. The receptionist proceeds to try and contact my dentist. I had told her that I had full x-​rays at my last visit and I just needed and was covered for a cleaning/​checkup but she insisted on contacting my previous dentist. She didn’t trust me, the patient and also didn’t provide the service that I had asked for which was just a cleaning/​checkup.
She finally got my dentist on the phone and argued with them and made them fax over my previous work schedule. She also requested the x-​rays that I had gotten just like I told her. I asked her what she would have done had she made me get full x-​rays and I wasn’t covered because I would have paid up front and she said she would have paid me but another red flag…
As I waited even longer, she proceeded to belittle my dentist and said that it was no wonder that I was afraid of paying/​reimbursement. I had told her that my dentist had to fight with Delta Dental about getting some services paid for before (another reason to fear pre-​payment)
I finally get into the chair and get a cleaning and the normal inspection. I will say that Dr. Yamada did a thorough cleaning and the her manor was pleasant.
After I was done they asked if I was sure that I didn’t want to get a full checkup, that it would only cost me an extra $$ I told them that at this point I didn’t have time (1.5 hrs) They force a «full checkup» appt on me and I left that day feeling like I was buying a car.
So, a month later, I hadn’t received a check for that appointment. I receive a call from the receptionist that Delta Dental sent the check to them. Not only that, they didn’t reimburse the proper amount it seems as they charged me $ 118 for the cleaning and they got $ 87.30 So what does the dentist do? They gave me a credit towards the next appt that I didn’t want.
Could this get any worse?
I called and left them a message and told them that I didn’t want to be their patient any more and wanted to cancel my appt and withdraw affiliation with them.
AFTER I left them the message about not wanting to be a patient of theirs, I got a message from them saying that my next appointment was only costing me $ 2.70 because of the «credit» that I had in my account.
They finally started email dialogue, acknowledging that I was leaving them. I asked for them to send me a check in the mail for the amount and she said that accounting would not do that. I had to give them my credit card number over the phone or email or drive there so they could reimburse me or the other option was to wait 4 to 6 weeks for the insurance company.
I have to add to all of this that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of these people by phone and a lot of the time, their voicemail doesn’t take messages. I had to change an appt using their online service.
This experience was TERRIBLE. I would never in my life recommend this place to anyone.

I have been seeing Dr Yamada and staff for the past 8 years and the service I have received has been phenomenal! The staff is amazing! They are friendly, energetic, caring and extremely knowledgeable. As a medical professional myself, I ask a million question and always get detailed explanations and answers to my questions. In fact, I moved from Ocean Beach many years ago and am actually no longer in network with Dr Yamada, but I refuse to switch dentists and continue to travel to see her. I highly recommend Dr Yamada and her staff to anyone looking for a friendly, relaxed atmosphere with top notch dental care.

I’m truly a fan of the staff and dentists. Yes, I have had poor dental health for a while but they helped me turn it around with regualr cleanings and motivation to do more to prevent cavities. Tiffany is a wonderful voice to hear on the phone as well. I’m very impressed with their customer service as well as thier understanding of your personal situation. They are almost always on time and get you out fast as well.

I have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Yamada and her staff. All I ever need is a check-​up and a cleaning, but they never try to talk me into anything else. I went to another dentist before who was always trying to replace my fillings which are in fine shape. Dr Yamada’s staff is really nice and friendly.

I’m bummed to hear about the bad experiences that others have had with Dr. Yamada and her staff. I’ve undergone dental procedures in my life that no human person should have to experience… braces, expanders, headgear, jaw surgery (where i literally had my jaw broken and re-​set). I no longer have that little thingy that connects the inside of your upper lip to your upper gum. It’s sad.
These experiences have made me PETRIFIED of having dental work done, especially since the nerves in my upper jaw have been playing hide & seek since my jaw surgery and it takes like 47 shots of Novocaine to even begin numbing my mouth. I expressed all of these concerns on my first visit to Dr. Yamada’s office and they were incredibly understanding, offering me a number of options for sedative dentistry (for the big stuff) and taking great care even when simply cleaning my teeth. I had a few cavities and other problem areas that had built up after somehow managing to escape with only cleanings and maintenance with my previous dentist (maybe because i never called them back when they wanted to schedule cavity work?). In just a couple of appointments I had all of my problem areas fixed and with very little pain, fear, or inconvenience (thank you, narcotics!).
I recommend OB Dental and Dr. Yamada, especially to anyone who has avoided getting work done for the same rational fear of dentists that I have been afflicted with for years. My only issue with their practice is that you have to pay out of pocket and then be reimbursed by insurance – since they are outside of my plan I end up paying more than I would if I went with an insurance-​approved dentist. It’s worth it to me, though, to not live in fear of the dreaded cavity, knowing that Dr. Yamada and her staff will take thoughtful care of me.

Our family has been going to Dr. Yamada for 10 years. When I started going to Dr. Yamada I was terrified of the dentist. I think it was one of those «childhood» memories of the dentist with the loud drill and the awful smell of decaying teeth! Yuck… When I entered OB dental I was pleasantly greeted by Tiffany and her calming voice reassuring me everything was going to be fine. Their dental office was kept immaculate. Laura lee and Dr. Yamada walked me ever so patiently through the entire check up, cleaning and x rays. They have seen my family grow and I have seen Dr. yamadas staff family expand. Dr. yamada is always up to date with the newest dental technology. I love the fact that she is always a great supporter of our OB community. Dr. yamada has been a local sponsor for my childrens Albion soccer team for the past 5 years. If we could only have more business owners like Dr. Yamada. Lives, works, and plays in ob. She is THE BEST dentist! I consider Dr. yamada and her staff part of our family.
THANK YOU OB dental for taking such good care of our oral hygiene!

Stay far away unless you prefer haphazard dentistry. The cavities she missed under two of my fillings were detected 6 months later by a competent dentist who not only showed me the pictures but pointed it out on the x-​rays she had taken. Had this gone undetected I may be looking like the biggest fan in the front row of a country music concert with just as many missing teeth… Try someone else or just get the Sally Struthers School of Lock-​Smithing & Floral Arrangement DVD and have them throw in the home dentisrty CDROM so you can do it yourself. No Kidding…

I was COMPLETELY ripped off by this «dentist» for about $ 8,000.00 around 10 years ago and had to go to another dentist to have everything redone. I guess that’s one way she managed to buy the entire complex where her office is located and completely paid off her house. Even a formal complaint to the local dentist association was more or less pissing up a rope (Regrdless of the x-​rays and professional photos I submitted, THEY delayed examining me in person for over 1 year– after I ALREADY had the re-​work done, then had the audacity to tell me they «couldn’t determine what had happened», so decided in this beyotch’s favor! What a scam!) Save your money. There are excellent dentists out there (as in Dr. Park in Pacific Beach 858 270‑1400, 3023 Bunker Hill Street, #101) I’ve even had better care for a lot less money in T.J., which is located in a 3^rd world country. VERY GREEDY WOMAN, no integrity to speak of.