Thomas Wu, DDS

I love the radiation blasting given to me by Dr. Shaw’s assistant. Nothing is more rejuvenating than a full recharge of X-​ray radiation to the dome. Beats the chiropractor any day. Come out energized and ready to conquer the world. Shhhhhhhhh… Don’t tell Megatron!

These people are SCAMMERS!!! Avoid this dental office at all cost. They tried to charge me extra for work that my insurance covers. Don’t let them scam you.

Called to schedule an appointment and to see what type of insurance Dr. Wu accepts. The receptionist, Nico (if I heard correctly bc she basically mumbled a greeting), answered and was by far the rudest. I have been to Dr. Lai in the past and she is wonderful, but the receptionist is tarnishing the business name. I usually do not write bad reviews, but I was rudely dismissed over the phone. Please hire someone other than Nico who is rude, lacking knowledge, and with no social skills.

I have to give Dr. Wu 5 stars. I got a root canal here, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. About 3 years later, I got a crown put on it by another dentist, who was amazed at the thoroughness of his root canal work. Dr. Wu had found all the roots (4!), and the dentist was confident when he put in my crown. I had a deep cleaning a few months ago with yet another dentist, and she also complimented my root canal! Seriously, these dentists were in awe. It’s a strange thing to be complimented on — Dr. Wu’s handiwork shines on.
The front desk people may be irascible and hard to handle (this was ever the case, even when I went there in 2008), etc., but Dr. Wu does a solid, thorough job — which is all you could ever ask for, considering anything less will leave you with a rotting crown and more painful dental work. Dr. Wu gets it done right the first time.
If I ever need another root canal (and I hope I won’t), I will drive all the way back to Dr. Wu.

Front desk receptionists always greet their guests and if you have a problem, they are willing to sort it out. Most of the time they will make your next appointment for you even if you are unsure of the date and time and tell you to change it but I would prefer just making it when I know I am available.
Dr. Wu is very nice. In the beginning, he didn’t say much and it felt like pulling teeth to get him to answer certain questions, you just had to probe him about it. But after a while, I realized he is just a really patient man and a good listener. He will wait for you to explain what you want before interrupting. He explains things and even can carry on a conversation. He doesn’t have the attitude that you are wasting his time.

I would give give this place ZERO stars if i could, first off i have insurance with them and they wanted to charge me $ 900 for a fill with my insurance. i went my old dentist which charged me $ 170 without insurance. So i figured since i have dental i’ll get my teeth cleaned since that is covered. they informed me i need to pay for deep cleaning instead. Well i said ill get it done at my other dentist or when i have more cash to dispose of since they are trying to charge me an arm and a leg. They informed me they won’t give me a regular cleaning and to go to ANOTHER DENTIST! Worst experience at any kind of medical practice. I would definitely stay away from this place. i would rate this place better if they would let me see the dentist but they wont so im basing my rating through the only person i talked to which is the receptionist. she should be fired and she really needs a job that does not involve customers.

They are a scam. They charged me $ 100 for isolation material per filling ($ 5 for a pack of 20) since it supposedly wasn’t covered by my insurance. They didn’t put it on my receipt because they knew it was bogus.
I asked about this practice to other people in the dental industry, and every single one of them agreed it was a bogus charge. You don’t even charge for isolation material. It’s like charging for the water they use to rinse your mouth.
They saw that I was young and inexperienced and took advantage of me.
AVOID.

This morning was my second visit to Dr. Wu for a wisdom tooth extraction. He is absolutely amazing! Since my insurance doesn’t cover any procedures with this doctor I am a cash patient. However, this has not made me explore other options. Dr. Wu is very friendly and welcoming. He has a very gentle hand and makes sure his patients are well taken care of. I would highly recommend him to everyone!

The Receptionist is the worst!!! They need to fire her.
They rescheduled my dentist appointment because the dentist could not see me the date we agreed on. We had set another date. I later find out I couldn’t make the date. So she wanted to charge me a rescheduling fee. I told her I would not pay. She told me that I would be able to come back until I paid.
Dr. Lai and Wu are awesome dentist though. They need to fire the receptionist.

Dr. Thomas Wu and Dr. Helen Lai both work at this practice even though Unilocal only lists Thomas Wu, DDS. In fact, they are married!
Dr. Lai was my first dentist. I have been seeing her since I was 7 (16 years ago).
The Good
— Dr. Lai is professional and experienced. She recruits great people into her practice. — They are not out to get the money in wallet. They are really looking out for my teeth and my health. They don’t drill random holes in my mouth because of «cavities» to collect money.
— She is great with kids. If you have kids who are scared of the dentist, she is great with kids. She has 3 kids of her own.- Dr. Wu has cleaned my teeth couple of times and I am satisfied every time.
— I don’t have any problems with the receptionist but I have known them since I was a little girl.
The Bad
— They are not covered with many insurance companies. When I purchased UCLA’s dental group, Dr. Lai was not under their network.
FINAL VERDICT
Dr. Lai is still my favorite dentist. I hope one day I will be covered by her network again!

I was referred to Dr. Lai by a friend who had great experiences with them. I, too, enjoy Dr. Lai’s great care. She’s respectful, discusses possibilities with me throughout the procedure; very skilled and caring during the treatment.
Staff are really professional, too. I had replaced two bridges with them, which were the best fit and quality for me over the past 15 years.
Dr. Lai accepts some PPO, but the coverage really depends on the type of PPO one has.
Receptionists are friendly. I didn’t have bad experience with them during my past 6 visits.

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Wu’s for years now. I can’t even remember how long I’ve been going here, perhaps 10 years? Who knows, but the fact of the matter is that i’m a returning patient.
The staff is amazing. The two receptionists are super sweet and really make you feel like they’re your friends. The dental assistants are also very friendly and great at what they do, from suctioning to doing x-​rays.
I’ve been under the care of primarily Dr. Wu and Dr. Shaw and a few interactions with Dr. Lai. They’re all really great dentists. They take the time to get to know you and are very thorough in their work. I’d recommend them any day.
They also provide me with a little good bag when the service is done. It includes floss, a tooth brush and toothpaste. I always keep them around for when i’m traveling. Perfect!
Lastly, they’re very accommodating if you dont have dental insurance. Just make sure they know it so they can adjust costs.

I did not have a rude experience with the receptionists. They are a little disorderly but not rude. The dentist is great but I think the services are way over priced. I have to agree with Joyce on the «discount». If you are in desperate need of good work and are willing to pay ANY price, then this is your place. Otherwise, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Receptionist: 1 star! Dude, she was totally rude. I forgot my insurance card and so they couldn’t make a copy and I was asking nicely whether they had internet to check my insurance. She rudely yelled at me that they didn’t have internet or e-​mail access so they couldn’t check my insurance for me. what kind of place doesn’t have internet or e-​mail? Are you that outdated? Seriously? Then, when i was exiting the office and talking to the other receptionist lady, she rudely interrupted and yelled the same thing to me.
Dr. Wu: the dentist himself wasn’t bad. He was actually pretty nice and cleaned my teeth and answered all my questions. He recommended me to have some work done but he didn’t trick me or make me feel like I had to get the work done first before he cleaned my teeth, like other dental places I’ve been to. (Read: Avoid Dental Group of Arcadia).
I’m still in the search for a good dentist who’s not trying not to sell me something and pretend they’re giving me a «discount» for services. Yeah, discount… sure. (*sarcasm*)

I started coming here about 10 years ago. when it was on Garfield Blvd. Dr Helen Lai is super nice, and she helped me though my fear of dentists when I was a kid.
The office then moved to where Gabrielino High School is now, then when they started building the high school it moved a block down to where it is now.
Ah, its been a long ride but now that I’m without insurance my dentist visits are few and far between.