Gentle Dental Carlsbad

Not good and would not go here again. My mom has had nothing but problems with an implant that went wrong. Took 6 months and over $ 6,000 for the one tooth and still is not finished.
At the first try the tooth was not made correctly. They said they had to send it back and remake it. Then came back put in the new one and told me it is fine but it still didn’t fit and wasn’t right.
Went back again because of pain and food constantly getting trapped in the big gap between tooth and gum and was told to just use a lot if dental floss and do it often.
Went and got another opinion in a different dentist’s office and they confirmed that the tooth was not made correctly and should be normally aligned with the gum and said I should go back and have them redo it.
High pressure here also from the get go.
Check the dentists out well before you go. We just moved and didn’t see the other reviews until unfortunately it was too late. What a pain.

Avoid this dentist office AT ALL COSTS. Dr. Hwang was very helpful and made it clear what needed to be done. She took her time which was much appreciated. However, that said, I have tried them, like many dentists I’m sure they try to sell you the most expensive stuff to make more money that insurance doesn’t cover. Their prices actually contradict my insurance coverage. When asked about it they will refuse to return my phone calls. There are hidden fees that if not explicitly asked about will they tell you what they even mean. The staff is very kind, however when I am being cheated out of money, I’d like to know prior so I don’t waste my time. Appointments are never on time. Read the reviews, this dentists office is by far the most shady one I’ve been to. Take my waste of time as wisdom, go anywhere BUT here. I would rather go to Mexico at least knowing they are not charging me some random $ 250 lab fee for a crown that costs me $ 200. Something just doesn’t seem right about that and when I try to sort it out with my insurance who says I do not have to pay that because its covered, this dentist will not return my phone call.
Again, the staff is very friendly however if you challenge their fees they avoid at every cost to explain, you will not be getting services through them, they are looking for easy money.
Honestly speaking, I would be absolutely shocked if this company does not get sued in the very near future. Had I received services from them without asking to see my treatment plan and asking about the prices I would be seeking to a lawyer. The billing department is running a legal scam out of this office.
PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND FIND A REAL DENTIST OFFICE AND AVOID THIS SCAM.

Five stars for Chritina who took her time to show my son how to really take care of his braces. We have not had as much helpful information as Christina shared with us today. Not only that, I felt like she truly cared! I feel now that my son will make better brushing habits in the future. Sometimes it’s better that kids hear it from someone other than their parents and Christina really got through to him. THANK YOU :) We may not go elsewhere depending on the service that we get going forward. Also, she has been the ONLY one to recommend us to schedule a regular dental check up.

NO. NO. NO. Stop here and look for another dentist. This place is shady! I even experience Dr. Nguyen yelling at his staff because they didn’t know what they were doing!

I agree with Mike M got braces for my daughter paid all upfront every time they try to get me with another fee. At first i had weekend apts I was assured that was ok since I work far during the week as soon as I paid got the braces for my daughter they said they had a scheduling conflict and no weekend apts for ortho. It’s a a scam I feel like I’m financing a car every time I go they try to sell me on something and put it on a dentis credit. I’m stuck with them 3 more months since I prepaid for the braces after that I’m out of here. Please do not use this office.

Don’t walk out of there run! They will do work that’s not needed and they just keep adding extra stuff that does not needs to be done. If you just want your teeth cleaned forget about it
They will say you need deep cleaning x-​rays and a whole lot more and refused to clean your teeth unless you pay up for the rest of the stuff. Do yourself a favor and find somebody else for your dental work.

Paid thousands for braces for two boys only to have them fall off constantly, painful pointed wires pinching gums over weekends with no help — stay away — went to a new ortho who said she was «embarrassed» to see the braces they put on my kids!
Too many doctors leaving all the time. Never the same doctor twice. Beware!

Dr. Hwang was amazing. I have anxiety awhile in the chair, and have a history of fainting with shots. So I’m very selective in choosing where I get work done in anything involving my medical. And I wasn’t able to pay full in price, however they allowed me to make payments on my procedure which was a blessing for me considering my financial status. 5 stars for this office and Dr. Hwang!

What a pleasant experience! Usually, going to the Dentist is a source of a lot of anxiety for me, but everyone at Gentle Dental was extremely nice, knowledgable, informative, and friendly I felt as though I had gotten the best care, and was well informed of every procedure that was happening! The staff was very caring and overwhelmingly helpful– I was even given a blanket when I told the staff I was cold! Again, a very pleasant experience– which is saying a lot from a girl who loathes going to the dentist!

I have been a patient at Gentle Dental Carlsbad for about 5 months now. I have gotten everything done here; check up, cleaning, fillings, root canals and just got braces 3 months ago. My primary is Dr. Hwang and she is very sweet and thorough. I have had a really positive experience here at Gentle Dental Carlsbad. The staff are all really nice, supportive and they truly make you feel comfortable and explain things really well. (I am particularly picky with doctors and dentists)
Furthermore, Eileen set me up with an awesome payment plan where I can get the work done I need, in the time frame that it needs to get done and still make it manageable for my budget. I am not one to go out of my way to write reviews; however; I really value the service I have been given that I felt compelled to do so. I would highly recommend this dentist (I have already sent a friend and a co-​worker there and they were pleased aswell).

My wife Rebecca was at the Dentists office for cleaning and evaluation. The staff is very friendly. The service is very good. We have been using the Gentle Dental Services for our family since the past 10 years and we are very happy with them.

I have read a few comments on here. For me so far I am having a great experience with them I see Dr. Hwang she is awsome her work lives up to the the name Gentle Dental. I am slowly losing my fear of the dentist. I will always have a fear due the needles they use and the sounds. But I now will not avoid seeing the dentist as long as Dr. Hwang is me dentist. The whole office staff is also awsome they are very helpful and supportive.

This is a terrible place seems like there are more concerned about getting numbers then patient care. Always felt like I was going to buy a used car when I walked in there. Plus they told me I had no balance left then came back two weeks later for $ 300 and promptly sent me to collections for it. If you do go there don’t say that you wasn’t told first smh

Do not get taken! This office will lie, rip you off and then send you collections for procedures they did not perform. please beware, gental dental carlsbad is a complete scam that any Doctor of Dentistry and any patient needing treatment should steer clear of.
File your complaints here:

If I could give negative stars I would. They are all about the money. $ 800 cleaning, really! Then they did a root canal on the wrong tooth. Then to treat the tooth that was painful they recommended a bridge requiring grinding off the crown that was just put on. Obviously the initial diagnosis was incorrect. Run, don’t walk away from any corporate dental office. Horrible experience!

They do not care about the patients they only care about money. DO NOT GO here for anything because you WILL get RIPPED OFF then they will say «You didn’t understand your insurance». Well, I do because I work in healthcare and do billing… they don’t understand good ethics or patient care.
I was in a rush after moving across the country and naïve. I didn’t research the reviews prior to transferring my son’s orthodontia care here 1.5 yrs ago. He kept his brackets on from east coast office and simply had about 7 visits for re-​banding. The total for ESTIMATED 18 months of treatment was $ 4,800. Upon starting care with them, the billing department; Aileen was VERY helpful in setting up the Care Credit DEBT to cover these expenses. My insurance covered $ 1,500, the rest I financed with Care Credit making monthly payments on it.
Meanwhile, I took my two other sons there for their routine dental check ups. While my children were in the dentist chair, mouths open, I was asked if I wanted to have sealants placed into their molars to prevent cavities. I asked how much that would cost and was told confidently, that sealants are covered by my insurance because I have great insurance. So, I said go ahead.
Meanwhile, I wanted to have the Zoom teeth whitening done on my own teeth and paid $ 299 for this. Prior to the procedure, the assistant asked me when I had been to the dentist myself for a check up… It had been a few years. So, they recommended I get my check up same day then whitening. I agreed. The check up took about 2 hrs and I didn’t have time to get the Zoom done (another 2 hrs) and had to leave to pick up my kids. I asked for a refund of my $ 299, but the front desk person said oh you can just make an appointment to come back and we’ll keep it as credit on your account. At this point I was still unaware of the shoddy billing schemes they do.
About 2 wks later, I got a bill for $ 450 for sealants for my 3 sons that weren’t covered. When I brought this up with Aileen the billing lady, she said I can submit an appeal but it’s my responsibility to know what my insurance covers and what it doesn’t. Yes, obviously but why was I told «Sealants ARE COVERED» if they didn’t call for authorization? So, I submitted an appeal with Gental dental and my insurance.
I go to make my Zoom appt. the next week and learn that MY $ 299 credit was applied to my Kids sealant issue before the appeals were even denied. I argued about the sealants for 4 months and the bill went to collections. So I just paid the remainder and never got my zoom done.
Lastly, the braces on my son didn’t change in the 15 months he had them on with Gental Dental… they refused any kind of refund on the $ 4,800 even though we took them off early because NOTHING was happening. Aileen, simply kept repeating «the contract», «patient’s responsibility», «you agreed to this»… I can’t go into all the details of the ortho QUAGMIRE but basically I paid a small fortune and still owe $ 1,000 for a bunch of NOTHING! Literally, nothing was done. Do not give them any money because if you do, they will find a way to bill you for MORE!

I really liked this place when I first started going here because of Dr. Nguyen. But apparently he only worked weekdays and I could only go in on weekends. When I switched to weekend appointments, I noticed my wait time was getting longer and longer and they kept pushing me into doing unnecessary work on my teeth, which of course means more money for them.
My teeth are relatively straight already but after getting badgered into getting a free consultation for invisilign, they wanted me to get a 4 – 6 month plan for $ 3,000 out of pocket. I know invisilign is not cheap but I’m not going to shell out that kind of cash for just 4 – 6 months. After I told them no, they kept trying to push different payment options. I left the office thinking the ordeal was over. A few weeks later I get a call from them asking if I reconsidered and looked into the payment options! These people are relentless!
My 6 month check up was due and of course I get a call from them as a reminder. I told them I was switching insurance and will give them a call back if I decide to make an appointment. I ended up just finding another dentist with better Unilocal reviews and completely forgot about them. The office ended up calling me again recently asking me when I wanted to make an appointment with them! I’ve never had a dentist/​doctors office call me so many times on so many different occasions asking for my business. It gets very annoying very quickly.
Also, the dental hygienist straight up murders my gums every time I go in for a teeth cleaning. I leave every time with bloody, stinging gums. My current dental hygienist at the new dental office is sooooo much more gentle and sweet. I feel a lot more relaxed and at ease – a whole different feeling than being at Gentle Dental.

These guys get a bad rap… Had a great experience. The four stars is because of the girls at the front desk… Seemed lost in the sauce when I called in to make my appointment and a little rude.

Most of the reviews speak for themselves, but thought I should reiterate my experience.
My daughter goes here for her orthodontic services, which I paid $ 3700 for and found out that they shouldn’t have charged me more than $ 2800-​$ 3000.
On top of that every time we have had a dentist appt there it takes about 20 minutes to be seen, even when no one is waiting and then my daughter just sits in a chair over an hour while the employees have snacks in the break room, chat to each other and do whatever else they shouldn’t be doing while my daughter is waiting and I am waiting. This has now happened to me twice. I decided the second time to try again, because maybe it was just a fluke that they weren’t working when they should be.
Patients should be treated better than this. I go to a dentist in Encinitas and I have NEVER had to wait like this. I get treated like my time is valuable and my business is valuable. I shouldn’t have to wait for them to want to work. I don’t think that the care there is great, far from it. I have even recommended people to go here, big mistake and will now tell the opposite to friends/​family looking for a nice place to go.
There are plenty of other dental and orthodontics places to go that have much better service. I wouldn’t recommend this place to ANYONE any longer. Wouldn’t have even rated them with the one star either!

I find it very interesting that with such a poor review, they don’t reach out themselves instead of offering a phone number for the disgruntled patient to call.
«Thank you for your feedback. We take your comment seriously and would like to discuss your situation with you. Please contact our Customer Service line at (800) 416‑1433. We hope to speak with you soon.»
After all, my phone number is in the chart. More confirmation that my decision to find a new provider was the only correct one.