James J. Chen, DDS

Saw Dr Chen today for a consultation. Felt he was very professional and knowledgeable and his staff was super helpful in making sure I didn’t have to wait too long (I called in advance to see what wait time was). I like Dr Chen because he feels like an honest, humble technical expert, not like a pushy sales person.

I drive from San Francisco all the way to San Mateo to see Dr. Chen. His staff is friendly, competent and professional.
Dr. Chen is a excellent orthodontist and I highly recommend him. His prices are reasonable too!
And Dr. Chen is friendly and very gentle with my teeth, which makes the 1 hour drive over worthwhile! :D
A++

Dr Chen was nice enough to take on my 16-​year-​old son’s case of 2 impacted canines with the complication of resorption, after we had sought out the world’s leading expert on impacted teeth in Jerusalem, Dr Adrian Becker.
My son needed the ‘power chains’ changed every 10 – 14 days to keep the traction on the canines. After 13 weeks, on the last day of school, Dr Chen suddenly emailed that he saw himself as ‘transitional’ and said he wouldn’t care for my son’s treatment any longer.
My son and our family are now in an emergency situation.
For six days, I have had to use old elastic bands and use tweezers, sewing scissors, a crochet hook, and fishing line to attach the elastics to maintain traction until we find a competent orthodontist. We have to do it daily, it takes 20 – 30 minutes. It is essential that the traction on the teeth is constant not to jeopardize the surgery my son had in Jerusalem. Since the elastic may break when my son eats or yaws, he can’t be away from me, and our family can’t travel until the situation is solved.
It is very hard to find anyone accepting a local transfer, especially someone who has a complicated case where UCSF has failed, and where the outcome is still uncertain for the upper canine. Some appointments are two months in the future.
We are chocked that an orthodontist is capable of acting in this irresponsible manner. The transfer forms between orthodontists stress that it is of ‘paramount importance’ that you refer patients to an orthodontist who can successfully complete the treatment. In my son’s case, it is even more poignant because of the necessity of constant traction.
You can find the full story of my son’s ‘orthodontic odyssey’ on
under ‘Sam’s case’. I will be updating my review as it continuous. We are very stressed out being in this situation! It feels pathetic to be reduced to DIY ortho!

They get 2 stars because they are on the cheaper side. That said, one of the assistants is so rude and every time I went in, I waited 25+ min even though my appointment has been booked way in advance. I’ve had a very negative experience here. On top of that, they didn’t give me a retainer after my braces had been removed so now I have a little but of spacing between my teeth and need to get a filling so food doesn’t get caught.

My daughter went in with an overbite and 18 months later she has one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.
Dr. Chen and his staff are fantastic. They are generous with their time. They work with their clientele (mostly adolescents and teens) with respect and a lot of kindness.
Dr. Chen’s work is that of a master. I can’t imagine why anyone would not choose Dr. Chen and his team to work on their or their family member’s teeth.

Dr. Chen and his staff are wonderful, helpful, and kind people. After getting my braces and retainer here, my teeth are beautiful thanks to Dr. Chen and his amazing staff!

I went to UCSF because of their prices and plans. I was skeptical because I did not know how the service would be and I have to say that we were blessed to find Dr. Chen. My daughter had a severe under bite and Dr. Chen had a special night clinic for just that and it unexpectedly was dropped by UCSF but Dr. Chen made it a point to continue care and honor the prices we were originally quoted. I had consultations with other orthodontists and they all told me we would need to maybe break her jaw, get braces, get a headgear but Dr. Chen gave her a simple retainer and this was only 3 months ago and she already is doing better. He is very personable, great to my daughter and just an all around good person. I am now bringing my son in as well. I would recommend him to family, friends or anybody that needed orthodontic help!

This is where I recommend all parents to take their kids for their orthodontics work. Great staff. Very friendly and Dr. Chen is awesome. Great with kids and always encouraging.

Wow what a great place. I did my whole treatment here and they are just amazing. The doctor, the staff. A+ all around.