Greenwood Family Dental Clinic

As I look through the other reviews, I see a pattern… Folks that have been under the care of Dr. Fok and her office of crazies for a long time all love the place.
Sure, it’s not high tech. It could be that nothing has changed in the 10 years that I’ve been a patient. Same waiting room books, same xray machine, same tape on the wall covering that same spot.
Okay, the setting is not aesthetically pleasing or modern. I have friends that go to an annual rooftop party downtown put on by their dentist. There will be no rooftop parties at Greenwood Family Dental. They will not offer you a warm tea when you enter their waiting room. Greenwood Family Dental is not a day spa.
Granted, sometimes the interactions with and between the employees are awkward and tense. The receptionist that so many name as being rude, is a little rude and I love her for it and I wish I could be her friend in real life so I could adopt some of her assertiveness. The hygienists will tell you their life story while cleaning your teeth, the story only changing slightly over the years.
But the real reason to love this place is the quality dental work. Dr. Fok is the real thing, even if her office doesn’t look the part. Unfortunately, I’ve had a bunch of dental work over the years with Greenwood Family Dental and all of it has held up 100%. I just moved to a new city, and my new dentist marvelled at my crown and other work by Dr. Fok. This dental office is like Greenwood itself — a little rough around the edges, enough to give it some character and scare off anyone who wants a cookie-​cutter experience.
Edit: Dr. Knudsen is long gone, by the way.

i called and there was no answer from 930 – 100. The receptionist explained shed been at lunch!
then i was told that the dentist only accepts my insurance for people under 25…(i’m 60). When i asked why she said it was the dentists choice nd she HUNG UP ON ME! Thinking i dodged a bullet.

I apologize, this is going to be a long review, however I wanted to accurately describe my experiences. I have been going to this clinic for 3+ years with no issue until recently. My qualm (putting nicely since we cannot use derogatory words here) is with Dr. Koudson. I went in for a routine cleaning and was told by a female dentist (cannot remember her name) that I had one tooth that needed to have a filling and another that needed to be ‘watched’. I came in two weeks later, Dr. Koudson filled the one and drilled out a VERY large portion (I was told half of the tooth is now gone) of the ‘need to be watched’ tooth and stated I needed to have a root canal on this tooth… therefore come back to this office and pay them to do this work.
Wait a minute. huh?
Luckily during my cleaning visit I had an x-​ray done of this tooth before he drilled it out. I took it to an endrodontist and had him test this tooth for dead nerve. THAT TOOTH IS HEALTHY!!! I went also to another dentist and was told the same thing. I am incredibly mad, because now I have to watch this tooth very closely and a root canal is inevitable because so much of the tooth is gone with not much coverage over the nerve. I couldn’t be more upset. When I came back to get additional xrays for my new dentist he stopped what he was doing and came out to tell me it was surface decay, whatever that means. he felt guilty. I know guilt. and to top it off and evidence of such guilt– I was never sent a bill for the first filling or the temp filling work on the tooth in question! That to me spells g-​u-​i-​l-​t-​y. I do not have the energy to take them to court, which I know I have a case for. so there is Unilocal.
BE AWARE if you are told you need a root canal from this office get another opinion!!!

I chose this place because I lived in the neighborhood and thought it would be nice to walk home after going to the dentist. My husband and I separately each had terrible experiences with the front office staff. I can’t believe the reviews of this place are as good as they are. Very disorganized and rude. Bleh.
I’ll give them 2 stars because the male hygienist was friendly, and the dentist was quiet but nice.

I have been going here for over 10 years. Yes, you can find slicker looking dental offices but all my experiences here have left me very confident in their competency. Dr Fok teaches emergency dentistry at UW and so can hand pick the best to work for her when she needs to. I just had gum surgery there last week. Dr Fok doesn’t do that so I saw Dr. Knudsen. I was nervous when I turned to see this very young man standing there. Yikes! «How old are you?» (he’s 30 ~ 2 years out of school) He calmly addressed my concerns, answering all my questions patiently and assured me that they would be happy to refer me elsewhere ~ no worries.
I relaxed and went ahead with it. He is the most skilled I’ve ever had for giving shots in the tender roof of my mouth. Everything went perfectly. He is sharp and competent.
I see some comments about Marge. I get that she can be off putting in her sometimes socially awkward ways but WOW that woman is so good at what she does! She is meticulous and fast. Thorough and efficient. If you can articulate what you want, she will move heaven and earth to try to meet your requests.

My cleanings were great, I really liked my hygienist.
The receptionist has always been short with me and impersonal even if everything seemed to go smoothly :(. When I got my very first filling, I had to go back the next day to grind it down (since it was too «high») and smooth it out (turns out bits of bonding agent was stuck around my tooth) and I was basically told that I was making up the part about it being too «high» and that the bits of bonding agent should ‘eventually fall off.’ I used to work as a dental assistant for two different doctors and I haven’t heard either one of them say that they are going to leave glue stuck to a patients tooth because it would ‘eventually fall off,’ and I haven’t seen either one of them argue with a patient about their comfort level. So, yes, this place gets two stars, because «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»

My experience with most dentists is that they try to sell you cosmetic procedures. What I like about Dr. Fok is they never try to sell me anything. My dental cleanings are 100% covered by insurance. They don’t try to get a nominal co-​pay out from me. No frills. Exactly what I want and need twice a year.

My experience in this office was most unpleasant. The dental procedure was loud, chaotic, and inefficient. The office staff told me it would take 8 hours to prep for a crown and 5 hours to seat it. I later received a bill saying I owed whatever amount remained after the insurance company paid the negotiated rate. When I pointed out the error, the bookkeeper repeated that it didn’t work that way and that I owed the full amount after insurance paid. I called the insurance company who confirmed my understanding and they called the office to set them straight. If you are in the Phinney-​Greenwood area, I recommend Dr. Pichler (amazing!) on Holman Road over DR. Fok, Dr. Fukada, or Espresso Dental.

I have been a patient at this clinic for about 2 years and I will absolutely never set foot back in this Greenwood Family Dentistry ever again! Not only is the clinic dirty and run down but the staff is extremely unpersonable. Here’s the main reason behind why I dislike this place so deeply: About a year and a half ago I went here to have a cavity filled. I remember that during the filling Dr. Fok’s daughter seemed seemed like she was having trouble with the procedure and I even remembering her making a comment on how the decay within the cavity was deeper than expected. After she said this she seemed to be somewhat rushed which was concerning. Anyways she finished filling the cavity and all seemed good… Until about 6 months ago when the tooth started hurting once again! I went back to Greenwood Family Dental and guess what? They told me that I now needed a root canal on the same tooth that they were supposed to have fixed! It turns out they did not complete the filling properly and now my tooth needs serious attention. BEWARE OF THIS PLACE, IT IS FLAT OUT DANGEROUS!!! DO NOT GO HERE!

Do not set foot in that office. Here are a few things I am dealing with after being a patient there:
1. Needing to have work re-​done
2. Fillings that should not have been done and were done improperly
3. Signing forms regarding a root canal while completely doped up on nitrous during a procedure. They ended up drilling too deep.
4. It took 4 weeks for my records to be sent to my new office, different story every time I and my new office called.
5. A filling was done when there was an infected tooth underneath it, on top of another filling that was breaking down.
6. I am now on antibiotics and went to my doctor last week for a painful ear/​jaw/​head ache due to filling an infected tooth that needs a root canal.
7. Communication breakdowns and just not nice.
This is all truth. This place is dangerous.

I am TERRIFIED of dentistry. So it means a lot when I say that this is a good place. I had the male dentist do my fillings and such, and he was very very gentle, sweet, funny and did not make light of my terror. He took his time giving me the about ten novacaine shots I need for complete numbness (yes, I’m that sensitive). They did a lot of work on me including a root canal, and I lived to tell without too much discomfort. They are nice and I highly recommend them if you are scared!

I believe in the skills of this dental office. When talking to Dr. Fok, she told me that teaches at the uw dental program. Once I found out about this, I had full trust that my work done at this office would be the highest of quality. The staff is friendly and I always have a warm feeling going there.

I have been going to Dr. Fok for over ten years and have never had an unpleasant experience. They are always helpful when I have to switch my insurance (like I have almost 100 times from being on my parents’ to my student and then to my current one). Never had a billing problem and I have also had several fillings done there which were all easy and painless. The receptionist always remembers me immediately by name on the phone and in person. The office is clean and the dental assistants are all very friendly and gentle. They also have this awesome special cleaning thingy that doesn’t involve that horrid little metal scraper. I love this place and continue to travel out of my way to go there every time!

I have probably 5 filings done every 18 months and have had extensive root canals, oral surgery, etc. Needless to say, I’m unfortunately an experienced dental care user. Since I went to Dr. Fok based on Unilocal reviews, I feel compelled to share my experiences. I dealt with them for almost a year, and every experience was a hassle. She is not a good enough dentist to make me put up with all the rest of what her office generates.
Her husband was in charge of billing, etc. and I spent HOURS dealing with them and my insurance company to correct his mistakes — at one point, my insurance company had to call her office in order for my money to be refunded. Her husband ALWAYS gave me the wrong price for my portion of her services, and unsurprisingly, it was always far more than I was required to pay. He attempted to assert at one point that since my benefits were maxed out, I had to pay the «cash» price, i.e. whatever they say the price is — which is totally untrue.
I had to write a letter in order to get Dr. Fok to review and tell me about the full set of x-​rays the dental assistant assured me I needed (yeah, right).
The office itself is shabby and dirty. The carpet is stained and torn. Dr. Fok herself is not exactly personable or engaging, and don’t even get me started on the receptionist. I was deeply concerned about Dr. Fok and her staff’s repeated recommendations that I get silver fillings — I didn’t even know those were still used. Needless to say, I tried repeatedly with this office since I hate changing dentists, but this place is really WAY more hassle than it’s worth. Particularly when dentists are a dime a dozen around here.

I love Dr. Fok and her crew of helpful, polite, and very gentle hygienists. They have been my dental clinic for six years (with one unfortunate gap when they didn’t take Aetna insurance). The receptionists can be a bit prickly on the phone, but that’s common and in person they are quite nice.
I’ve had cavities filled, my teeth cleaned, and two fillings replaced over the years. They always keep their appointments, review notes from last time, and are very patient. I had to reschedule after Novocaine didn’t work once. (don’t drink coffee on an empty stomach first thing in the morning before dental work — it’s like the antidote to Novocaine.) They didn’t make me feel bad or pay for the waste of their time.
I highly endorse this place!