Harold Baumstein, DDS

It was pretty disappointing experience. My wife came with minor bridge problem
with was addressed promptly and in professional manner — it is good part. But then Doc suggested to adjust her bite w/​o describing what this procedure is and started sawing her bridge w/​o giving even a word. After she complained about that — she was left in the middle
of procedure and advised to go see other doctor. She insisted on procedure completion,
then it was completed but it seems that bridge was corrupted by this procedure — some piece of material appeared in the mouth from this bridge on next day, also bridge became rough while bridge on opposite side is still smooth. I leaving one star because it is absolutely
not acceptable to do any procedure w/​o letting patient know what the procedure is and
let patient decide and terminating in the middle.

Dr. Baumstein and his staff are great. I had an annual teeth cleaning. I had read the reviews here on Unilocal,so I felt like it was a little mixed bag, but THEY TAKE MEDI-​CAL and that is very important to me.
Parking: You can park in a lot adjacent to the building; there are planting of spots.
Scheduling an Appointment: I called to make an appointment. It was efficient. They were able to take me the very next day — so kudos to them.
Professionalism: The receptionist was very friendly and answered my questions about Medi-​Cal. When I bashfully apologized for asking questions about payment that I should probably know the answer to, the receptionist validated me by saying «It is your right to know!» I appreciated this. So often we don’t talk about health insurance coverage because it is nebulous and confusing and taboo. But it felt nice to know that I was empowering myself by doing so.
Dr. Baumstein is efficient and experienced. He was a little aggressive on my teeth, but I had read in the reviews that this was no «Dental Spa» experience per se, so I didn’t mind. Besides, I had a lot of tartar that I know was hard to get off. He explained what he was doing and what was going on in my teeth, so hey, points for transparency. The x-​rays were done very fast, and he told me what I needed to know.
All in all, efficient, professional, and thorough! Thank you! See you soon for my next cleaning.

He didn’t introduce himself or ask how I was (rude) and got straight to business. He was a bit rough with the cleaning, but he did fill my cracked tooth. When he was done he went into the next room to work with another patient and didn’t say bye or have a nice day (rude again). When I got home, my mouth hurt really bad and he didn’t give me a warning. Also, the patient he was working with in the next room was moaning and groaning very loudly and my grandmother, who was waiting in the lobby, even heard his cry’s. Obviously too rough.

Great dentist! Going to the dentist has never been a super fun experience, but Dr. Baumstein and his staff make you feel comfortable plus they are very knowledgeable and friendly. Highly recommend!

I have been going to Dr. Baumstein for dental work for many years. I’ve had cleanings, fillings, and wisdom teeth removed by him, and have always been satisfied. Very very highly recommended.

i have very mixed opinion about this dentist. he is cheap, and one of the only dentists in the area who accepts denti-​cal, which my developmentally disabled clients have. he is very flexible with accepting payment from these low-​income individuals.
the disabled clients are not easy to work with, as they have the fear of pain like kids, but the strength of adults to fight back! they also tend to have horrible dental issues.
his next-​door partner, dr huang, also accepts denti-​cal and disabled patients.
this is an older building, so it is not very wheelchair friendly. my client was able to get into dr baumstein’s chair only by wedging her manual chair next to his exam chair, and having a few people lift her to transfer. her power chair would certainly not have fit. i think dr huang’s office may be a bit more accessible, as i know people with power chairs who have gone there.
the nearest disabled accessible bathroom is across the street at kfc.
my client’s teeth did end up very clean after her visit, but she opted not to return, as dr baumstein tends to be a little rough when it comes to cleaning.
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as for my personal experience, i did appreciate his flexibility in fitting me in on very short notice.
i found his office assistant, i believe her name is rachelle, to be very friendly and accommodating. dr baumstein is also a nice guy.
he uses star dental in santa clara, a very inexpensive dental office and lab to send his tooth molds, they make the crowns and whatnot and send them to his office.
i found out a week before i was to spend a month abroad that i needed an urgent root canal, otherwise i was likely to lose my molar. and while im sure i could have gotten it much cheaper overseas, i don’t exactly trust african dentists.
silly me, i had let my dental insurance lapse for a few months while transitioning between jobs. i should’ve purchased cobra, a lesson learned the hard way.
the place that diagnosed my cavity would charge $ 2000, and would not be able to complete the procedure before my trip.
i called dr baumstein’s office, and he was available the next day, and quoted me $ 1600.
i have a small mouth, and dr b has large hands. he repeated numerous times during the hours long visits that it was extremely difficult to reach the back of my mouth. he was obviously struggling, and it wasn’t exactly fun for me either.
the first day, he spent several hours grinding my teeth down, he worked pretty late into the evening, i appreciated his willingness to finish the job that day, when he probably would have liked to go home.
after he ground down my tooth, he used lots of little strings to fill the nerves, he also used a metal tool to seal the pieces in, that he heated over an open flame, bunsen burner style. the metal tool burned the crease at the side of my mouth 2 times, which was pretty painful. he did not notice that he had done so, but was very apologetic afterwards. he gave me a tiny vial of lidocaine to put on it to reduce the pain. he also did a mold of my tooth.
the second day, i came in to get fitted with the porcelain crown made by the dental lab. he took quite a while to make sure it fit perfectly, and had to grind a little extra piece off several times, so he did multiple xrays until he was satisfied that the fit was correct.
the second visit was even more excruciating than the first, because i now had a painful wound (it looked exactly like a festering cold sore, eeugh) that had to be stretched open for hours. he slathered my mouth with tons of vaseline to decrease the friction from his hands while working on my mouth.
they do not have digital x-​rays, just the old fashioned kind, so i might have gotten a little extra radiation due to the fact that he had to do a bunch of extra slides, to make sure the fitting was correct.
visiting his office was kind of traumatic, not to mention it was the most expensive purchase i had ever made to date. it actually cost more than my africa trip…
the total cost was $ 1800, but he gave me a check back for $ 100 on the second visit. he said he had charged me a little too much, but i suspect the refund was an apology for the festering wound he inflicted on me.
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none-​the-​less, i would still recommend him to disabled and low-​income clients who have few other options. he does try his best, and will work overtime to help you out. just be careful, if you are very sensitive to pain and discomfort, you may want to seek out another dentist.

I’ve been using Dr. Baumstein for 8 years and all I know is great service. I would recommend Dr. Baumstein to my 95 year old grandmother. Honest, caring and quality service.

Had my first appointment with Dr Baumstein today and was very pleased with the results. I had a tooth crack earlier this week and was seen by another dentist who referred me to Dr Baumstein due to his many years
doing root canals. I was nervous as I could be to see a new Dentist, but was immediately put at ease by the staff as soon as I got there. Rochelle,
Rosand, Rosie and Lai were all superb. Then when I met Dr Baumstein I was immediately put at ease by his combination of Skill and his great personality. He got me taken care of and on my way quickly and with a smile on my face. I have another appointment with him in a week, and I
have no doubt that it will go as smoothly and pain free as today was. Way to go Doc, you and your staff get my highest recommendation.

I’ve being going to Dr. Baumstein for years. What separates him from other dentists is that he really cares about his patients’ well being. After I had a root canal done, he even gave me his mobile number to call 24X7 if I was in pain. His staff is fantastic as well and the location is hard to beat.

If you want to take a chance… go ahead and see Dr. Baumstein. I liked him and his staff, our whole family went to him; UNTIL he screwed up my mouth, and left me in pain for a long time. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and NUMEROUS chances to find the problem with my tooth pain (a lawyer wanted to represent me against him) and he did not find it. I am now in the process of having a bone scan performed due to many doctors thinking my nerve was damaged due to bad dental work. DO NOT SEE HIM! Only go for dental cleaning. They are good at that. I would not have him extract a tooth, do a root canal, etc, as I don’t think he knows what he is doing.