Columbia Dental Group

I have been a patient at this office for over a decade and am always happy to come in for my 4x a year dental work. Dr. Chang is A great dentist and hygienist that will do you right.

I went to Columbia Dental a few times before moving to the east side. I liked the thoroughness of their cleaning procedures. The main dentist performed the entire cleaning during my last routine check-​up and had good suggestions regarding toothbrushes and flossing methods.

I went with my friend for support and she has never been treated so very gooood. Her former dentist told her she had alot of cavities and guess what… no cavities at all. She told me many dentist that she has gone to in the past have tried to sell her everything. But this office doesn’t push to sell 100 unnecessary things. Good honest dentist who do the right thing. Her experience made me sign up for an appointment and I can’t wait for the same great experience. :)

Wow — am I so glad that I no longer have Columbia Dental Group as my main dentist through my insurance though I keep getting text messages from them even though I have repeatedly asked them to stop. Dr. Chang is very nice but the staff, esp the front office manager are not easy to deal with.
I would stay away if possible and if you do end up going be careful of the services they try to up-​charge you on.

So let me preface this with, I should have listened to the Unilocalers. I needed a new dentist that accepts my new dental insurance and Columbia Dental Group popped up. The office looks nice and is in my neighborhood of Santa Monica, so I made Dr Chang my primary care dentist through my insurance and called them to schedule an appointment.
Boy were the Unilocalers right, the receptionist is as rude as it gets. I was almost in disbelief. It was like I was inconveniencing her by asking for an appointment. She told me that she couldn’t even make me one until August. I knew she might say that and had discussed this with the insurance company who said that is incorrect and they can see you at their first availability. The woman was outright rude, huffing, puffing, talking about rosters, etc. I stopped her midsentence and said «the way you are speaking to me and the way this conversation is going leads me to believe this relationship isn’t going to work out. I’ll be pursuing another dentist in the area.» And she said «Okay» and hung up.
I immediately callled up my insurance company and switched to another PCD. I wonder if the actual dentists at this facility know that she is literally stopping them from getting new business.
Bottom line, don’t waste your time with this place, until she’s fired or spoken to about her attitude go elsewhere. Try Dr. Mark Taira near LAX, he’s the best, wish I could see him but he doesn’t accept my new plan.

I have used this dental group for close to 35 years. It has changed hands in the last few years as a result of retirement, but the dentists and staff are just as kind, patient and tell me clearly what procedures are occurring and explain costs to me. They also offer periodontal services, which I will probably use when my current peridontist retires. The location is convenient with parking available. This group is highly skilled, experienced and have a they great chairside manner. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a dental tech name Delores, who is friendly, kind and experienced.
P. S. Floss, brush every sector of your mouth for 30 seconds and rubber tip your teeth. Get routine cleaning every 3 months if you can. You could save thousands of dollars and much pain.

Two years ago, after breaking a tooth in half and discovering my (now ex) dentist couldn’t find any time to fit me as an emergency, a coworker referred me to Columbia Dental Group. I was able to get an appointment the next day to look and work on my broken tooth. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to find a dentist who would help me in an emergency. They put a nice crown on my broken tooth. I have been going to them ever since — everyone is friendly and they are gentle on your teeth! I love that that work some evenings so I can go at the end of the work day.

Let me start out by admitting my last dental visit was five years ago. I know! Scary! It’s hard to believe the negative reviews about appointments and the receptionist. Ida is the nicest person and so friendly! The office was incredibly accomadating with my appointment schedules. I have been paying for delta dental for over 16 years and never really used dental insurance because I hate going to the dentist! Before starting at the Columbua Dental Group, I probably visited the dentist less than ten times in 16 years. I was ready for Dr. Chang to give me a list of things that I needed done. She was so sweet and understanding, understandably I was embarrassed at my lack of attention to dental care. But she said my teeth were fine and gums were fine. That nothing was absolutely necessary. She said one of my old (very old) metal filling needed to be replaced with a crown, sooner than later. I liked her demeanor and honesty so much I did it the same week. The temporary crown bothered me a bit and they squeezed me in to take a look. I’ve had my permeant crown now for about a week. I LOVE Dr. Chang and Columbia Dental Group! No discomfort, no adjustment period. Just feels perfect. I have promise myself to see Dr. Chang at least twice a year since that is what is covered under Delta Dental. So I went from almost never going to the dentist to actually planning my next visit.
I was prepared to pay upfront for my crown. But they bill the insurance and I pay the balance. I thought that was very convenient and afforable. Overall they all the best dental group I have been to. I realized I haven’t seen many dentist but that’s because after see the dentist, I never want to see them again, I have been to six different dentist and they were all fine but a few would push too much on work being done, and push their own products. The rest were just okay and felt like a mill.
Columbia dental group and Dr. Chang and the staff, especially Ida made me feel comfortable and appreciated.
I have recommended them, specifically Dr. Chang to all my friends!

My family and I have been patients here for the past 17 years and have been with the most recent change to become clients of Drs. Chang and Chen. We have always received professional service here and will continue. Over the years, we’ve had to make changes with our schedule or other accommodations, and it may have required a little extra communication to make things happen, but we’ve been happy that everyone there has worked to give us what we need… great dental care for adults and children. We’ve had referrals to periodontist and orthodontists and have been very satisfied. No problems. Thank you.

I just attempted to make an appointment at Columbia Dental Group, after I was assigned by my dental plan. I confirmed that I was covered as of Oct 1 and had the plan send my details over. The receptionist was the rudest person I’ve ever dealt with. She denied me access to care because I wasn’t on her ‘roster’. Even with a fax confirmation from my insurance company, which has a contract with her company, she continued to deny care and then hung up on me.
After my insurance company called them directly, they had an equally bad experience and told me not to bother and would find me another provider.
I work in healthcare and this type of behavior is disgusting. By denying me access to care, my condition could get worse and end up costing everyone more money. This provider should be shut down. Do not use this provider.

The administrative staff have a terrible manner with patients. They don’t respond to the calls, you have to chase them around. Frankly, they should be fired. If you are looking for a friendly and welcoming dental office, look somewhere else. This place is a tragedy.

Love this place, receptionists are super nice, and Dr Chang is very kind and gentle and never tries to upsell services.

I had been referred to this office by one of my coworkers. He said that the dentists provided very high quality care. That may yet be true, but it’s nearly impossible to find out, because the scheduling receptionist is so rude and unhelpful.
The office is included in my employer’s DMO plan. Because of this, the secretary refused to schedule any appointments with me until she had a physical piece of paper that is only issued on the first of every month from the insurance agency, verifying my coverage. My insurance agency even offered to fax over confirmation of coverage, but the secretary refused to accept it.
So, I waited an entire month to schedule my appointment. I called at the beginning of the month, and the secretary again refused to schedule an appointment, because she hadn’t received the piece of paper yet. She recommended I call back in about a week. I called back 10 days later. She said she wasn’t sure if the paperwork had rrived yet, and be begrudgingly put me on hold to check. Then, she finally scheduled me for an 8 o’clock appointment, several weeks later.
The day of the appointment, I was running late. So, I called the office to ask if it would be better to come in anyway, or to reschedule the appointment. The secretary told me that I could come in, and they would «do what they can» before my time was up. She said they had another appointment at 9, and if they weren’t finished with me before then, I would have to leave anyway.
This is healthcare we’re talking about.
I explained that, since I am only covered for one visit to the dentist every six months, I wanted to make sure they did a thorough job. I asked to reschedule. The next available appointment was not for one and a half months. She told me the date, and then rudely said «hopefully you can make it on time.» I asked her what time the appointment was, because she hadn’t told me. Then, I told her the appointment time would be fine, and that I didn’t appreciate her comment.
She replied, «I don’t know what you’re talking about, I was just saying that I really hope you can make it on time…»
Wow! Are you like, a real person?
I’ll take the blame for running late to an appointment, but shit happens, and I think I was being pretty reasonable by calling before the scheduled appointment to discuss options. I still plan to go to this dentist, because I need my teeth cleaned, and there is a limited network of providers. But, dealing with this secretary has already left quite the bad taste in my mouth.

I tried to make an appointment to see the dentist but receive attitude from the person that schedules appointments. Beware that you can’t make an appointment unless you bring your dental x-​rays from your previous dentist. If you like a hassle see this dentist. If you like things to run smooth, go somewhere else.