Richard Bialick PhD, DDS

Dr. Bialick is the best he always explains what his doing from beginning, middle to end! The staff is great it feels like family! Laura is always so welcoming and she always explains to me what my insurance is going to pay and what I’m responsible for so there’s never no surprises. No one likes coming to the dentist. I don’t mind coming here at all because I know I’m well taking care of.

Nobody likes going to the dentist (me included) and I needed a lot of work. Dr. B made me feel comfortable and the office was nice. He saw me for an emergency on a weekend, which was a shock to me as I was expecting to have to wait until Monday.
I started going there because it was super close to UCSD and they took my student health insurance. I now live in San Diego and still will drive to see Dr. B because I know that he does good work and can complete most procedures in 1 – 2 visits.

I have always had a great experience at Dr Bialick’s office. He is honest and straight forward, I never feel like I am being pushed into having unnecessary procedures. The office is clean and updated and the staff was friendly and helped me with my insurance. Plus he gives out nice toothbrushes.

Bialick was the first dentist my partner and I saw after moving to San Diego. If you have great teeth and only need cleanings, his office is probably okay (although cleanings were terribly painful with two hygienists in particular!). But my overall impression of his work is that it’s sloppy.
He replaced a few old fillings, which would seem to be pretty straightforward, but I had to go back to have adjustments when something wouldn’t be exactly right. And then, I decided to have a tooth crowned, which I had known would need to be done for awhile, but it certainly wasn’t urgent.
It was quite involved, had to be completely redone, and still isn’t quite right. After the first crown had been replaced and I was still having issues, he decided to write me off. But he didn’t explain that he couldn’t do anything in person. He sent his hygienist in to relay the message. I was infuriated. I told her that it wasn’t acceptable that he didn’t stand by his work and that he couldn’t explain himself why he couldn’t do any more. He finally saw me and I politely but directly told him the same thing.
At that point I was done and decided we would be finding a new dentist. The new dentist is great. Made adjustments to the replacement crown Bialick did, but it still has issues and will have to be replaced again (!). And my partner already had to have replaced a sloppy filling Bialick did. So, yeah, … sloppy.
Is it possible to file a complaint against a dentist for sloppy work? I’m still considering it.

After 10 yrs. as a patient with Dr. Bialick which I thought the staff and front desk gal were great then the front girl left and they hired an uncaring twit. I since left and found a great dentist. At my new Dentist they do all the leg work for me when it comes to the insurance stuff. But my favorite thing is the Doctor actually does most of the work he doesn’t pass his work to his hygienist.

Dr Rick is the best and kindest Dentist in all of San Diego. He explanaes everything so well. Is über sensitive to your comfort. I reccomend Rick highly.

Dr. Bialick is professional, friendly, and very knowledgeable. We had to see another dentist for a while through our HMO plan and we were very dissatisfied. I went to Dr. Bialick for a second opinion one time, and I was accommodated for a reasonable fee. We are now back with Dr. Bialick and very happy.

I hate going to the dentist, but I love Dr. Bialick. He tells it like it is and will walk you through exactly why he does or does not recommend a course of action. Friendly staff and I’ve had no problem getting the early morning appointments I prefer.

Dr Bialick is an awesome dentist. It had been a number of years since I’ve been to the dentist, and a few months ago I came in to get an oral evaluation. Dr Bialick was very patient and comprehensive in going through my xrays tooth by tooth. Recently I was at a concert and was elbowed in the mouth chipping my bottom tooth. I called their office the next day and was able to get an appointment the same week, preventing any further damage. He was able to repair my tooth completely and it literally looks like nothing broke off. Their staff is very kind and attentive as well.

I would not recommend Richard Bialick, PhD, DDS. This is my first negative Unilocal review, and for the most part I find these negative reviews to be worthless, and too opinion based to sway my methods as a consumer. But I felt compelled to write this review because of the absolute lack of customer service demonstrated by Richard Bialick, PhD, DDS office.
I had booked an appointment 2 months out, and was told there were 2 main reasons for the delay. 1 — the facility has little to no flexibility for people with 9 – 5 jobs, and the 6 PM appointment was blocked out for months. 2 — as a new patient I would need to be seen by Dr. Richard Bialick himself.
Despite my apprehensions that this was a long time out to book for a simple check up and cleaning, I accepted the appointment went to their website filled out all their paperwork and was ready to go by my appointment day. But Richard Bialick, PhD, DDS was not.
When I showed up for my appointment time the receptionist (who I found to be rude and inconsiderate) starred at me blankly and asked, «didn’t someone call you to cancel your appointment? The Dr. is on vacation.» At first I gave her the benefit of the doubt, thinking this had to be a rhetorical question… but as her blank stare continued I realized that she actually thought that I had shown up to the dental office to confirm that my appointment had been cancelled! When I explained to her that I was not notified — she treated me as though I was the one to blame for her office’s lack of communication. She suggested I re-​book for the next day at 3:00 in the afternoon. An option that I had already expressed was not possible because of my inability to leave work during the day. And after her one suggestion, her brilliant problem solving skills were «tapped.» My only option was to walk out, and find a new dentist.
If you are a new patient — do NOT waste your time on Richard Bialick, PhD, DDS. Their office is unorganized, the receptionist is rude, and they do not value your business. Even if, hypothetically speaking, I were to have been called over the weekend notifying me of a cancellation I had booked this appointment 2 months ago!
Any way you slice it — dentists are extremely expensive and a hassle as you are needing to get your insurance provider involved. Give your time and money to someone else… obviously Richard Bialick, PhD, DDS has enough of both given his propensity to go on last minute vacations.

Great dentist… you don’t get to see him that much during annual visits, but for heavy duty procedures. he’s there. you’ll get to talk to him and get to know him. He’s wonderful. has a great set up… walks you through everything. Great overall!

I just came in for a tooth cleaning, and while the X-​ray technician and dr Bialick were great, the dental hygienist was extremely heavy handed. She was nice enough person, middle aged with a slight accent, but my teeth ached after her cleaning. She had no qualms using power tools on my teeth and went over sensitive gums. My mouth was bleeding profusely during the entire cleaning and my gums have been swollen for 2 days. When she went over my teeth manually, it was an equally painful experience. She also picked at one of my old fillings for a while saying I might have a cavity, which dr Bialick said was a chipped filling afterwards. I’m pretty sure her «cleaning» chipped my filling and now I have to go in to get it refilled. I will only come back to this dentist if I can get a different hygienist, this was a very unpleasant experience!

If your teeth are fabulous and you just need the routine check-​up/​cleaning, you’ll find Dr. Bialick great. Nice & neat looking office with TV on the ceiling for you to pick your fav channel while they work on your teeth. And I love my hygienist, who is definitely very personable and professional.
BUT — — — — -
Let’s see, ever since my crown work started, it’s been HELL. Nothing’s gone right! Temp crown kept on breaking. Permanent crown kept on needing adjustment. I was very skeptical and thought I needed a root canal before this new crown. Dr. Bialick said it wasn’t necessary. Well, after multiple attempts of fixing the permanent crown and «let my gum get used to it», Dr. Bialick finally admitted defeat. He referred me to see an endontist, who IMMEDIATELY informed me that I should get a root canal ASAP. Wonderful. I just used up all my dental benefits! Thanks for nothing, Dr. Bialick!
Oh and they for sure over charge for the Zoom — at least the refills. They previously gave me the impression that I could get free refills for a year as part of the Zoom I already paid for. So I totally didn’t think to look for somewhere else to purchase the refills. I think they charged me $ 45 for 3 syringes of ACP 9.5%. Then I found out I could get something like 8 syringes of ACP 22% (what’s in my original kit) for $ 25 on Amazon!!!

The appointment was easy to get, the receptionists are friendly and quick. Jackie was my hygienist and she was really nice. They have CNN on a TV to keep you entertained on the ceiling. After I got my teeth cleaned, I met with Dr. Bialick, he was very friendly.
My teeth are in good shape, so I don’t have any experience with him diagnosing anything or doing anything beyond the norm. I just thought the experience was pleasant and efficient.

Lovely group of staff and definitely easy to get an appointment. I work right downstairs from them, so it’s in a convenient location too. Dr. Bialick doesn’t seem to be present much, he kind of just checks in with you after the hygienist are finished with you.
A bummer was that I didn’t get any toothbrushes/​toothpaste/​floss, which would have been nice. Only after I left did I realize that I didn’t get it. I called them up and was able to pick up 2 toothbrushes and travel floss.
Overall, pretty standard dentist’s office, as the other reviewers have mentioned, all procedures and questions are answered in a patient way, so you always know what’s going on when they’re prodding around in you mouth. Nothing awesome though. I think my dentist’s office back in San Jose is much more enjoyable to visit.

I came here a few days ago for a new patient exam (full set of x-​rays!) and a prophylactic cleaning — so the scope of my experiences here is pretty narrow. However, I thought that everyone I met here made an excellent first impression by being very professional and friendly.
The hygienist (Jackie) did a very thorough exam and cleaning. I only saw Dr. Bialick for a few minutes after she was done, but I really appreciated that both were took the time to ensure that I understood their procedures (e.g. why they needed to measure gum pocket depths and what they were looking at in the x-​rays), and even answered some random questions I had about dentistry.
They take SHIP, so they are used to UCSD students.

First of all, the receptionist they replaced a couple of years ago was a big step forward. The previous one could have scheduled my appt. for the following month and saved me hundreds because my insurance renewed in 2 weeks. It was my wife’s plan (teacher w/​San Diego) and I was unaware, but she should have known, but did not mention.
Anyways, Bialick had to have me come back 3 times for a crown he could not get to fit right after taking his mouth moldings and grinding down the new crown. Finally after getting it in place I have a big gap between it and another tooth I have named after him, «Bialicks Gulch». It is an expensive place, but what do you expect in La jolla.

Bialick is the best dentist I’ve ever had… Very professional, friendly, never seems rushed or impatient, and always, always, answers my questions and explains procedures thoroughly and in a way I can understand. He also never seems to push me to have things done unnecessarily — he’s quite cautious and tries to address the problem first before sending me off to a specialist.
Also the hygienist who usually sees me is very nice, personable, warm. I do not remember her name, but I think she is Persian.
And they have cable TV on the ceiling and they give you the remote control.

dentists: you love ‘em or you hate ‘em. i’ve hated my share of them, especially the sleazy, failed-​male-​supermodel dentists who can’t pay the bills on their new high-​tech equipment unless they scam you into unnecessary laser treatments or fancy accessories (why couldn’t they just pose for a dentist pinup calendar or something? geez).
dr. bialick’s office is small and modest. it’s just a regular dentist’s office, kind of like the place you probably used to go as a child — which is pretty comforting. they do all the things a dentist should (and none of those worst nightmares situations… my last dentist took one look at my decent, cavity-​free teeth and asked with gravitas if i was a smoker!): the hygienist gently chastised me but also made sure to compliment my «cute teeth» (this motivates me to take better care of them, right?), she made pleasant small talk; they gave me a quick and painless filling on my second visit, and plenty of free goodies (floss, paste, brushes), etc.
dr. espinosa is my favorite (hooray for female dentists!) but the entire staff is surprisingly warm and friendly.
***they take UCSD SHIP (student health insurance)***