DDS Group

I have been doing to DDS group for several years, even though they don’t take my HMO dental insurance. Years ago I got a quote from a dentist on my plan, who said I needed a huge amount of work – a root canal & crown for a broken filling and many other fillings replaced. When I went to DDS Group for a second opinion, they said I needed much less work and the cost would be about the same (without insurance) as the other dentist was quoting me, and much less invasive. They fixed the broken filling and I did not need a root canal. I ended up dropping the insurance and staying with DDS Group.
I pay $ 400/​year for their in-​house plan which covers an annual exam/​x-​rays, 2 cleanings, plus 10% off any dental procedure. Since I have pretty decent teeth this has been a good value for me. Since the beginning, my «team» has been Dr. Handler and Barrie the hygienist, both who have been marvelous and so friendly. They’re always happy to discuss what needs attention and what can wait, especially when budget is a concern. You do have to be quite assertive about asking what things will cost up front before scheduling a procedure if finances are an issue – like a lot of doctors they don’t seem to want to get too specific unless you press them. This is somewhat understandable because a procedure could change in the moment if something surprising comes up, but when you only have a certain amount you can spend it’s important to make that clear before you’re back in the chair with instruments in your mouth. Also if they advise something really major/​expensive (like Invisalign) I’d recommend getting a full explanation of all available options for your issue, and also getting a few other opinions for due diligence before making the decision (I decided against it and they haven’t brought it up again). Overall I think they are very skilled and value giving proper care, both medically and personally, and I recommend them!

They charge for missed appointments but when you call to cancel they «forget» to log it and you get billed anyway

Horrible place! Stay away from them!!! I went to DDS group for a cleaning about 6 months ago and the cleaning was ok. But what they are really good at, is pushing you to buy things that you don’t need. For example, I bought a very expansive whitening product that they convinced me to and at first the dental hygienist told me that the products was supposed to be used for 30 minutes a day, after I bought another person from the office that gave me the instruction told me the whitening product should be used for 6 – 8 hours a day without being removed. Anyways, that was not what I was told at first but I still got the product, I used it as instructed and it didn’t work at all, my teeth were still te yellow after finishing the product that cost me almost $ 300,00. At the same appointment, thy scheduled a cleaning for 6 months later, and of course I missed it, how the heck am I supposed to remember 6 months later? They should have called me 24 hours prior to my cleaning to remind me, right? But they didn’t. Yet, they charged me $ 75,00 for missing the appointment.

I got a Unilocal account specifically to write about my amazing experience with DDS Group. I recently moved from California to New York, and needed a dentist to complete a tooth implant procedure that had been going on for 2 years. I was recommended to see Dr. Lisa Handler, and she has been nothing short of amazing. Friendly, considerate, and an excellent practitioner, Dr. Handler personally made sure that my tooth was taken care of. Unprompted, she called me (not a staff member) before my move to tell me she had received my files and prepped me on what she would be doing. After she took the initial impression of my tooth, she was completely accommodating of my very busy work schedule and came in to fit the tooth in my mouth on her day off. In her office, she is super friendly, has a warm personality, and genuinely cares about her patients. Her staff is friendly, and the mood in the office is very upbeat. All told, Dr. Handler makes going to the dentist an enjoyable and strangely fun experience. I highly recommend her — she will take great care of you!

Unfortunately my experience with DDS group has been consistently bad. They seem more intent on selling you Invisalign than providing any kind of sound medical dental advice, and their customer service is terrible.
A few examples include: them mistakenly booking me an appointment with the root canal consultant instead of the dental surgeon (I only discovered this upon arriving for my appointment), telling me they’ll call me back and never calling me back, not responding to voicemail messages (you can never get through to an actual person), leaving me on hold for up to 15 minutes at a time, canceling appointments at the last minute, and the latest is telling me they have no record of a CAT scan CD request (I have email proof of my request) and that it won’t be available because they’re unable to access patient records at this time. Also in a consultancy with the dental surgeon about possible wisdom tooth removal, he seemed unable to advise on the level of risk, finally committing to a nonchalant «you’ll definitely lose some feeling in your face, but it’ll probably come back at some point… maybe after a few years.» Very reassuring!
All-​in-​all, if you need a cosmetic dentist, I’m sure that your experience with DDS would be very different. But as somebody who just wants to check that my teeth are healthy and take sensible steps to preserving my dental health, I don’t seem to be a priority for them as a patient and will be taking my teeth elsewhere!

Love this place, it’s super convenient to my office (5min walk from Wall St), and it’s clean, organized and friendly. I love my dentist, Dr.Park. I have been going here for 2 yrs for my regular cleaning, Jennifer the hygienist is great too, super cheerful and sweet. I have also recently gotten a root canal there with Dr. Liang, he’s very nice. I don’t think I’ve met anyone there who’s not nice, they’re all just super helpful.

I absolutely love Jennifer (Au-​Yeung). She has been my hygienist for one year now and I have recommended her to all of my coworkers. She is gentle, very thorough and turns traditionally hated cleanings into a pleasant experience with her positive energy. My teeth are already much whiter and I look forward to my next visit!

I have been going to DDS for over 10+years, and recently switched to a new dental hygienist. I was nervous at first to be seen by Jennifer Au-​Yeung, as I was so comfortable with Barrie. Jennifer was so professional and explained every procedure she was about to do. She is friendly but gets down to business at hand and offers excellent preventative advice. She is a great addition to the practice.

This is the best dentist I’ve gone to in NYC for several reasons:
1. The staff are all very attentive.
2. The dentist filled my cavities with no pain, and my bite was not «off» afterwards, which has happened to me with several other dentists.
3. The office admin people are polite and patient and follow up with me when I ask them to, but aren’t over-​intrusive.
4. My dental hygienist (Jennifer) took a real interest in ensuring I was comfortable, getting the appropriate treatment, and gave me several recommendations to fit my budget.
I recommend this dentist; it is a high class facility with people who really care.

A new patient and so far very pleased. Had a cleaning with Jennifer and an exam by Dr. Handler. Both pleasant, professional and skilled. I am looking forward to my next check-​up!

Probably the best dental office I’ve been to.
My history with this office, for reference:
* treated a single cavity
* regular cleanings
* nightguard
Nothing serious, but they have been fantastic for all of these things. Aside from the cavity, I did not even need to deal with my dentist. I usually get seen by my Dental Hygenist, Jennifer.
Jennifer is pretty stellar at her job. She’s friendly and offers good preventative advice.
Also, I never have to wait more than a few minutes to be seen and they stick to their appointment times. Very professional.
I’d recommend DDS Group to anyone looking for a reliable dental office in the NYC area.

Doctors and technology in this practice are great, but I really don’t want to have anything to do with them any more after I’ve been having the unresolved bill situation over the year (!) since my last visit…
It’s a long and boring story, which is still going on, but it’s been really such a mess. It really has changed over the years and I’m switching the office — thankfully I live in NYC and there’s not shortage of good doctors.

Today, I had another very positive visit to DDS and my dental hygenist, Jennifer.
She is top-​notch and it readily shows that she cares about her patients’ well-​being.

Let me start by saying I think they do an excellent job cleaning your teeth here. I’ve gone in for routing cleanings twice with two different hygienists and I thought both times they got my teeth much cleaner than I’ve experienced with other dentist offices.
My frustration with this office though is that they try to push cosmetic procedures a bit more than I’d like. Both my husband and I have had them comment on teeth whitening options and braces repeatedly, even though we’re both happy with our smiles.
This past visit I was also really frustrated that my hygienist pushed an Arestin treatment on me. I have never been diagnosed with gum disease before and have never had it discussed with me as a problem here or at other offices. This time, the hygienist commented that my gums were bleeding more than usual on the lower back left molars. She told me at the end that I should have an Arestin treatment since that area was inflamed. She said it’s not typically covered by insurance, but she presented it like it was necessary, so I said okay. Turns out, it does not appear to be standard practice to give Arestin in a case like mine. It’s used for more severe problems with gum disease, but in a case like mine (e.g. I floss and brush regularly and have never had bleeding there or noticed a problem in that area prior to my visit). was probably just a way to pad their pay check. So, just be aware that you might want a second opinion if they push something like this on you.

The dentist came in. Dr. Elliot Schreiber. He was hasty, ego-​driven and sarcastic. And he was clearly more interested in the attractive hygienist than in me (the patient).
He looked in my mouth briefly with a pen light and told me I needed three crowns. Based on his bedside manner, I was not impressed.

AVOID AT ALL COST
First let me state that I waited to post this review until after I had obtained not only a second professional opinion but a third as well. I hope this serves the Unilocal community.
My experience:
1. As a new patient, I went in for a routine cleaning. The hygienist was friendly but seemed aloof, and it was the quickest cleaning I’d ever had. Like she brushed my teeth for me. Thanks…
Afterward the dentist came in. Dr. Elliot Schreiber. He was hasty, ego-​driven and sarcastic. And he was clearly more interested in the attractive hygienist than in me (the patient).
He looked in my mouth briefly with a pen light and told me I needed three crowns. Based on his bedside manner, I was not impressed.
So I decided to get a second opinion before committing to the thousands of dollars of work he prescribed. (let alone having good teeth ground down to a pulp).
2. I went to get a second opinion from a highly credentialed dentist in Brooklyn. «Your teeth are fine — you don’t need any crowns. And by the way, the cleaning was terrible. They left tartar on two teeth.»
So here I was, left stranded with two opposing professional opinions. Not knowing which way to go. Do I really need crowns or don’t I???
3. I decided to get a third opinion from a dentist up in Midtown that was highly recommended to me by a close friend. An expensive clinic somewhat outside my pay grade (they do dental work for the Rockefellers). All I was looking for was a very high end opinion, so I justified the cost of a consultation.
This dentist told me the same thing: you don’t need crowns; your teeth are fine; and by the way, they did a crappy cleaning.
And the X-​rays done by DDS Group were of such low quality that he had to take new HD ones.
In conclusion, DDS Group is not to be trusted. It’s a big, impersonal operation. A free-​wheeling business as far as I’m concerned. So don’t get suckered by them.

I needed to do my yearly check up so I went Dr Park YooKyung. She has excellent bed side manner and is one of the kindest and sweetest dentist I have ever seen in my life. She correctly identified a problem with my old root canal crown but didn’t pressure me to complete the procedure and offered to let me wait it out. Lo and behold, a week later my old crown cracked. So I went back to schedule an appointment with her. She’s extremely thorough, explained everything she was doing to me as she was the procedure.
She’s very patient and very comforting so if you have a fear of dentist like me, do yourself a favor and book an appointment with her! I really like how she is able to empathize with the patient and did everything she could as painless as possible.
Honestly, my hygienist at the start Isabel was also a gem. Everyone from the front desk to the billing department was polite and efficient. My appointments were scheduled easily and effortlessly.
I finally found MY DENTIST in NYC, after a few failed attempts. (Refer to my horrible experience in my other review!)

I have been going to DDS group since 2005. I actually initially saw Dr. Schreiber and I was not a fan. He seemed quick and dismissive and I found myself in a chair having serious oral surgery (reconstructive gum something…) 2 days before I was going on vacation to Thailand. Needless to say I was surprised by the lack of communication about what was to happen and the first week of my vacation was ruined because I was dosed up on pain killers and couldn’t eat. OK rant over.
Because of the convenience factor to work I went back but requested a new dentist and this is when I found Dr. Handler. I have serious (like anxiety filled sleepless nights before my appointments) dental-​phobia. I also have problem teeth so the two don’t mix very well. She has been so fantastic. She is so patient with me even when I have tears streaming down my face (I’m not in pain… just anxious). She is friendly and just a really easy going personality. Perfect when you don’t want to be there.
My hygienist Barry is also so great. We chat about life, kids etc. and it takes my mind off what is really going on.
So I am completely happy here. I have continued to visit the office even when I started a new job in New Jersey.
I took one star off because the wait times can be long. Especially if you go around lunch time. But… when you are in the rooms you never feel rushed. I think my appointments have run over more often than not so I’m willing to take the waits for this level of comfort later.
The office is nice, windows in the dental rooms and they are pretty good with communicating by the patient portal/​text etc.

Dr. Elliot Schrieber is a great dentist. I have a low threshold for dental pain and he did an amazing job making sure I felt absolutely nothing during my last visit to get fillings.
I had to cancel another appointment due to a severe short staffing situation at work; they generally employ a $ 75 cancellation fee. I wasn’t aware of this. I asked if I could speak with someone about it, the lady put me on hold and came back a minute later saying they would waive the fee due to the circumstances. I appreciated this. Most places stand by their cancellation fee policies regardless of the situation, despite those that are out of our control.
The staff is usually very friendly.

Everything went very smoothly for my appointment, which was my first here. It’s a pretty large office for a dentist, but it all looked clean and well-​kept.
Nearly all the stars are going to Olga, who was the sweetest dental hygienist I’ve had in a long time. She explained what she was doing with every step and was very gentle and nice. I specifically made my next appointment with her because I really appreciated her methods during the cleaning.
The only reason I’m giving four stars instead of five is that when the doctor came in to do the final check-​up, he kept trying to up-​sell me on Invisalign or teeth whitening (both of which have prominent posters all over the office, so these were obviously services they provide), even though I’d mentioned I’m currently on a budget. However, I just kept saying ‘no thank you’ until we were all done. That won’t stop me from coming back as I only saw him for a few minutes, and the majority of my appointment and cleaning were with Olga, who I can’t say enough good things about. Never thought I’d say I had a nice time at a dentist’s office, but I did here!