Richard Lyons, DDS

Its such a shame to rate Dr. Lyons based on his staff. My brothers and I had braces 20 years ago and our results were great. Hes a great dentist, and even my uncle who is a doctor has seen his work. But his staff is just so horrible. We are not in a supermarket and we are definitely not begging this office to help us. Being in the healthcare field, I understand how important it is to have bedside manners. We are coming to you because we need your help. When patients seek help from healthcare providers, we are somewhat vulnerable because we are not in the same expertise so we become dependent on the expert. The staff is not just unhelpful, but was not informative at all. Firstly, they told us that they do not make appointments and to come whenever. So we went for X-​rays, but was rudely turned away simply because the technician didn’t want to turn on the machine. They then told us that they do not work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is fine, but let us know that the whole entire staff doesn’t work on that day as well. There are plenty of dentists in NY, but we choose to come back to Dr. Lyons after so many years because his work is very reliable. Its just a shame that now I have to look for another dentist because his staff.

Ive been coming here since i was in middle school for braces and overall experiences were fine. Dr Lyons would talk to me sometimes when i come for check up but let me tell you… He is so rough with his hands. I believe one time my lips were kinda dry and he ripped my mouth open like damn girl ouch. He is rather sloppy from time to time since he chats while looking at my teeth. When he took my braces off i noticed glue left from the braces left like … Ok. ive also lost my retainers so i went in and for the mold and stuff. I was really upset to have gotten such a crappy retainer like i did not have to pay 200 $ for this type of bs. One area looked like someone fell asleep and accidentally cut too much of the plastic off. 200 $ for a piece of shit. Sorry not sorry but you know … Stuff happens. Some of the staff are nice tho c:

This place and its staff rivals the efficiency, care, and quality of that of a medieval practice of the same caliber and genre; unfortunately, whereas the latter practice can boast mighty lure of the providence of God, the former cannot.

Never EVER go here. I went here for the first time in September on 2012 with my gums receding and some tooth aches. 10 fillings later, I asked them about these two marks on my gums. The «hygienist» (I don’t think he’s a certificated anything) told me not to worry about it and it will go away. I went a few more times for check ups and they told me to stop brushing my teeth so hard as that was what was affecting my gums. Well… I recently found out I had a tooth abscess that now has spread into my bone and face because no on at Dr. Toothy is professionally trained. The dentist I saw (Mr Diaz) is defensive and I’m skeptical about his education as well.
DO NOT GO THERE. It’s expensive to go other places but you will end up paying more in the end (with serious health damage) because no one at Dr. Toothy is trained/​skilled enough to work on dogs, let alone people.

I came here for a check up and the doctor suggested for me to get white fillings to prevent cavities in the future for 8 of my molars despite the fact that I currently do not have cavities! He then took out one of my silver fillings and replaced it with white filling. I had 2 molars done on the visit and he kept insisting for me to come back to get the other 6 molars done. Well… the white filling was really uneven and rough because he did not polish it. I could not even bite down straight because my teeth became uneven after the procedure. Furthermore, the filling broke a few hours later even though I had not eaten any solid food. Instead of filling in the spot between my teeth, he covered my entire tooth with composite filling and now my tongue feels like its rubbing on cement. He also didn’t fill one of the teeth in right and there’s a depression/​large crack on the side of my tooth. When I mentioned this to him, he dismissed me and told me I wasn’t speaking properly and then ignored me and walked in with another patient. Save yourself some time and don’t bother coming here. You will only get your teeth ruined and be disrespected.
On a side note, there are actually two Dr. Lyons. The son took over the business. Thus, the good ratings may have been from the father, but the service there now is terrible.

It’s a dang shame that there are so many negative reviews about Dr. Lyons… he’s a really nice, witty man and does the job! I went to him a few years ago for Invisalign and had a great experience from start to finish. I recommended a friend and he even gave me a Tiffany’s pen to say thank you. He knew i’m a Mets fan and would play Lucas Prata’s mets song everytime i went into the office haha
His assistants (Susan, Snake, Stan, Jennifer, etc.) were all very pleasant too. I usually only waited a few minutes for him to see me, then i’d be in and out with Dr. Lyons in about 5 min. He just has to make sure the aligners are working correctly which doesn’t take that much time.
I went back last yr to get a new set of retainers since mine broke and since i’m a klutz, it looks like i have to go back again since they snapped again LoL oopsie.
Chinatown was really out of the way for me to make bi-​wkly visits but i dont regret it. My teeth are straight now and Dr. Lyons still remembers me from 4 years ago and that i am a Mets fan! :)

I remember back in the 80’s I used to go to this dentist for my braces. If there’s one word I can use to describe his operation is «inefficient». His people would schedule my appointment at 9am on a Saturday. So I go in at 9am and I wait around for 2 hours before he spents 2 minutes looking at my braces and then tells me to come back in 2 weeks. This happened all the time and to everyone that I knew that went to him. Hopefully by now, his office uses better technology to better manage the dentist and patients’ time.
There was another thing that I remember about his practice which I hated. Lyons hired this muscle-​bound goon named Dat to work as an assistant. The guy would use the smaller patients as punching bags when the doctor wasn’t looking. I was a small kid back then, 5’6″ and 110 pounds and this guy would land a punch straight into my chest. Thirty years later, I’m 6′ and 190 pounds and bigger than this guy ever was. If I ever see this guy again, I will punch his lights out and I hope he is reading this.
In addition, years after I left NYC. I went to another dentist. The first time I went to see this new guy, he looked at my teeth and asked «you had braces before, didn’t you? you still have the cement stuck on your teeth».

The only dentist I recommend is Dr. Lyons. The other dentists there are crap. I went in to check on my wisdom teeth and this random dentist taking care of my case tells me I need some fillings. Like, I went for a main reason and he wasn’t even aware that my wisdom teeth were growing after checking my teeth. At least let me know what I should be doing. Later on I told the receptionist what happened and she referred me to another place across the street for the wisdom teeth. I had to literally TELL them what to do. Maybe I really needed fillings but it sounded more like a way to make $$ off me since they prob don’t have a specialist to help me remove wisdom teeth.

If you value your teeth (or your child’s) at all, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT go here. After reading all these other AUTHENTIC reviews, I am convinced. And no, Dr. Toothy, those 5-​star reviews written by you and/​or your minions do not count.
I came here for braces as a child, which wasn’t too long ago, mind you. Let me tell you, whoever described this office as a «little shop of horrors» is correct. I remember having to come back here a few times per month (and sometimes for consecutive weeks). Each time I would have to climb ten flights of stairs or so to the patients’ waiting room (what’s up with that?) and then asked to wait even more right outside the examination room with five other kids. Then after a 5-​minute check-​up, I would receive yet another yellow slip telling me to return the following week.
I agree with the other reviewers who said he is rough when working in your mouth. I once visited another dentist who was horrified by the wires left uncut at the back of my mouth, which were digging into my cheeks. These wires were almost a centimeter long. As a so-​called dentist, he doesn’t bother to examine anything but what concerns him. Don’t expect him to see or tell you that there’s a massive cavity eating away at your tooth. Because that’s what he did to me. The consequence? Massive pain for a week before being told by another dentist I would need to have a root canal done. Numerous times, I’ve been left sitting at the dentist’s chair with the spotlight hitting my entire face. While my eyes were tearing up from the brightness, where was he? Turned away chatting with a colleague. Once, the colleague even pointed out that I was getting a «suntan» before adjusting the light.
I actually had to get braces twice – once to «fix» my overbite, and another to «straighten» my teeth. After a total of about four years of braces and four teeth extractions, I can’t say I’m even remotely satisfied with the results. First of all, he cemented the brackets on unevenly so my teeth are not vertically aligned (i.e, one front tooth is higher than the other). Second, he never bothered to straighten my back molars so they remain completely crooked. Third, I suspect my bite is misaligned – an issue he never addressed, nor mentioned. Fourth, right near the end of my procedure he decided to tighten my braces further, causing my teeth to tilt noticeably inwards. The list goes on. To this day I still have cement residue on my tooth…
I’m just glad that I made it out of here alive, without having to shed blood, as some unfortunate reviewers have. But his treatment of my teeth did nothing for my self-​esteem. I don’t have the confidence to smile in photos, or even in general. Any real orthodontist wouldn’t have let me leave their office with a smile like that. Sometime in the future, I will have to get braces for a THIRD time. I feel sorry for those who have been cheated of their time and money, including my parents. I could write a whole essay (oops, I already did!) on this place, but I’m leaving it here… for now.

Okay… I am actually very surprised at all the negative reviews for Dr. Lyons. I have been seeing him since before this summer, and he was also my dentist when I was a child. I have never had a problem with him being mean, scolding, berating, or anything of that sort. These people must be delirious or have rewritten their memories from childhood/​adulthood. I can’t see that he and his practice would be in business for so long if this kind of behavior upheld. The office’s prices are very competitive (I’ve gotten several quotes from offices in midtown and uptown and his were by far the best) and I like the service. The staff is attentive and sweet as well; we always converse in the office.
I really don’t understand some people… they want the cheapest price in town, but then they don’t want to wait at all, want to complain about non-​relevant details such as décor… where was there ever a doctor or dentist’s office in which there was virtually no wait and the décor was so superb you had to tell your friends? Patients are there for an appointment, not an architectural discussion. People are not supposed to be in the waiting area that long anyway, which by the way, I never wait more than 5 – 10 minutes. I usually go on weekdays. Weekends I could imagine would be busier, but what place isn’t on a Saturday or Sunday?
Dr. Lyons has never been rough or aggressive. He has a great sense of humor. He can be contacted by e-​mail as well… which is great because I tend to have a zillion annoying questions. Free travel toothbrushes and toothpaste upon request. And finally, my teeth look great!!! Oh, and last week, I unfortunately couldn’t get an appointment with him… and before people misjudge, it’s because he was away taking courses to expand his dental knowledge.
/​end rant.

Still not convinced anything has changed based on the way Dr. Lyon’s rebuttal to all the negative claims has been to just call us liars and point us to these filtered reviews which have obviously been planted or pushed by you, your staff, and probably associates.
I have nothing against the staff or people working there, but with an owner that can’t accept criticism or reassure customers that you are a professional dentist, I don’t see myself recommending this place to anyone except my enemies.

Being a long time patient there, I’ve never really had a problem with Dr. Lyons. But after a recent traumatizing experience, I realized my mistake of going there, the HARD WAY. On whatever circumstances, AVOID, AVOID this place even for a last resort.
The dentist they assigned me was a mixed hispanic dentist by the name of Diaz who is every little child or even adult’s nightmare to say the truth.
I was only scheduled for 1 filling. ONE. This guy gave me 3 extra ones on teeth that were ABSOLUTELY FINE. This not only made my teeth extra sensitive, but I was unable to eat for a week because there is a recurrence of a sharp pain whenever I bite down on food.
I came a week later to get it fixed and he kept cutting me off while I was trying to explain. He said he’ll fix it and worked on my other side. Naïve as I was, I trusted him to fix it but guess what? I only ended up with twice as much pain as before but not only on one side, but BOTH. He also poked around one of my tooth that had a crown and injured it.
I complained again and came back the day after because I could not eat on both sides. Iris, the main secretary sympathized with me and tried to persuade Dr. Lyons (who was heading my way) to get him to look at it and he just flipped me off saying, «Give it a week and come back so I’ll look at it». I pleaded him to look at it because I was about to bawl from the sharp pain and he refused and walked away. Then Dr. Lyons still had the audacity to tell me to come back. And so I did and the news? HE WASN’T EVEN THERE. Hello? Emergency tooth pain and he’s not there to look at it? Is not being able to eat for 2 – 3 weeks good enough?
On that same day, they tried to give me another dentist and then gave me the same Dr. Diaz who had screwed up my teeth in the first place. When he first saw me, he had the «Oh my god, not this person again» look. What kind of a dentist would treat a patient like this?
So I complained angrily to him and of course, he looked frustrated at me in response and said, «What? What do you want me to do?» And I was frustrated to the brink of tears from the pain and he heaved a look at me before saying, «Why do you look like you’re about to cry? Huh?» in a menacing tone.
I’m in pain and all they do is give me a look like its my fault? Absolutely just horrible. This is the epitome of all dentist nightmares.
Not one dentist cares about their patients here. Their assistants do, but definitely not the dentists.

If you want your kid to get mouth raped, then by all means go to this guy. If you don’t want to traumatize your child then go to anyone else. Is is rough because he is fast. He has to be fast because he crams in so many patients into one day. Not sure how it is now, but he use to verbally abuse the crap out of some of his interns in front of the kids.
I do remember clearly getting into his office early on in the day, waited about 2 hours on the chair before he came in and proceeded to rip and pluck out each and every brace on my teeth. 3 minutes tops and another 5 minutes to clean off the residual. I didn’t realize how quick that was until My friends told me that their process took about an hour.

Wow. I would never forget this place. I finally have time to make an update. All I can say is, stay away from this place. The people who are giving 5 stars probably work there. This guy stuffs his waiting room full of people such that you’d have to stand. Like the other people say, it’s a 2 hour wait and it’s like a money factory. I’ve went to other dentists since and I can tell you, this guy does NOT give a crap about your teeth. He is all in it for the money. I remember how he gave me a half as**d cleaning one time and nicked off a piece of my gums with a sharp tool. Guess what, it never healed and he should be glad I didn’t sue.
So some people may wonder why he has been in business for so long yet have such horrible reviews, the reviews must be fake right? Wrong! When over half the reviews are 1 star, you know something is wrong. The only reason why they are still in business is because they are cheap. It’s as simple as that. Many people in chinatown don’t have insurance and they bring their kids here. They don’t know about reviews, they just know he’s the cheapest guy in town. Oh and he has video games!!! Well guess what, I don’t care about the games, I just want to get my teeth checked and go home. I don’t want to have a garbage bag put over me when my teeth is cleaned.
How does he top this all? After a 2 hour wait, he looks at my teeth (at the time I had braces) and says go home. All of that took 2−3minutes. When I needed a cleaning, it was a whopping 5 minutes. He just wanted you in and out. He didn’t care about quality; there was no quality. Every person he gets out the door is more money for him, it’s his strategy. I don’t know how his staff schedules appointments either, because they seem to think cramming dozens of people in the room and having them wait is ok. As long as there’s no «dead time» right? Maximize profits!!!
Don’t go here if you care about your time or your teeth. Having been to other dentists since, I’ve NEVER EVER had to wait more than 10 minutes for a cleaning. And on top of that, these people use numbing gel for the cleaning so it doesn’t hurt AND it they take about 30minutes for the cleaning. These other dentists take their time and MAKE SURE they do a thorough job.
Take the advice from the people who gave one star, you don’t want to take the risk with your teeth.

Horrible! While his staff was pleasant, the doctor (Dr. Lyons) himself was horrible. My work switched dental insurance providers and I sadly ended up with «Dr. Toothy». The X-​rays were quick and simple, although, I felt really out of place in the office. I did have to wait 30 min. or so for x-​rays even though I had an appointment with the General Dentist. Then the assistant brought in the doctor, who stated I needed to see the General Dentist. THAT’S WHO MY APPOINTMENT WAS WITH!
Then, I am informed the GD isn’t even in that day and I would have to leave work early (AGAIN), to see the dentist. Dr. Lyons actually said «Your teeth are in horrible shape, thanks for coming in, we can use the money». No questions about my hygiene or pain, all he wanted to do pull teeth which my previous dentist (as of 3 months ago) said were just cavities or needed a root canal. He also wanted to give me more root canals than necessary!
Now, with a dentist telling you that it looks like you need 2 root canals, you would think he would schedule you to come back in quickly… but no I have to wait 2 weeks till there was any time with the General Dentist, and that’s not even scheduling my Root Canals.
My advice, is stay far away from this dentist. He has a nice staff, but has horrible personality and interpersonal skills.

Dr. Lyons is the WORST DDS in NYC!!! He IS basically the Little Shop of HORRORS!!! Back in the 80’s, when I was a iddy biddy kid (fine, I wasn’t that iddy I was more chubby… haha), anywayz he was the only available dentist in the chinatown area.
I remember waiting 2 hours or more just so he can see me and say «Come back in 2 weeks»…I come back in 2 weeks… he’ll say «ahhhh, Come back in another 2 weeks»…this was done MANY MANY times… I think i’ve lost a few years of my life waiting in the waiting room! (and that was before he got the cool game room that was used to CON kids to go there willingly) Pure genius EVILness at work!!!
finally one day I replied in my pre-​pubescent voice «you told me that last time!!! are you ever gonna work on my teeth!!!»
(ok, fine I don’t remember if those were the exact words but you get the gist, i always came out of that place full of hate & frustration)
anywayz, to cut a long story short…
my cavities grew from 1 to a MANY…
geez doc, thanks for all that waiting!!!
I didn’t know cavities can spread!!!
oh, and when you actually get the «work» done.
He’ll just YANK & JERK your mouth around like it was a toy…
I def think someone should do unto him like he does to all the innocent kids in ctown…
His license should get YANKED!
thats the only way he knows what it feels like to be on the other side of the chair!
but I’m glad there’s so many other better qualified pediatric dentists now in ctown!!! Hallelujah for that!!!
You’re going down Lyons!!!

wow, im so surprised i found dr. toothy on Unilocal!i’m so glad i can finally have my input here now as an adult!
i came here when I was a little kid for several years because I needed braces. Reading other people’s reviews sparked up some memories for me.
my mom was referred by her friends because she didn’t know any English. and this was the place to go. the staff did the translating.
Mirrors cover every wall, and it’s like a maze in there. Not that the place is small, but it’s so inconveniently designed. There so many unnecessary walls. lots of lil kids line up at the tiny hallway. Anyway. They have an upper floor where MORE kids wait. The building is SO old. I don’t know if they did renovations then. All I remember are the classic movie posters. i would always go on a weekend, the place would be packedddd. the place is so small. longest waiting time was 3 hours. usual is an hour.
Here’s a horror story. there was a time when i was told two of my teeth had to be removed. i was a kid, i just thought okay since i’m told by my dentist, then that had to be done. The third teeth counting from the back on each side was removed. my adult teeth. when i came back out and my mom was like ‘omg what happened to you??’. Turns out no one told her my teeth would be extracted. richard L told my mom that space would close up as I grow up. Now I’m all grown up. they weren’t closed up, there’s still a gap there. true story.
while i had my braces it was the worst time ever. my friends who had braces, had their lil rubberband thingy replacements. i never had those. so imagine how disgusting it was for a whole month. they collected plaque.
it was also because of getting braces i got a chip in the middle of my right tooth! Right smack in the middle! It wasn’t until recently I found out you can fill it in, which he NEVER mentioned by the way.
when i had my braces off i asked for some other services for my teeth which he did casually nod and agree to, but he’s the type not to listen to kids and what they want. and what i asked for was never followed up with.
He was SO rough. Imagine how small a kid’s mouth is and how big a man’s hand is. you have to be gentle. he was just barging his way in there. so rough and so rude! don’t even make excuses for this. go to another dentist, you’ll know the difference.
he has a lot of business though. but then again im not speaking on half of what others experienced. i have some mere memory of him being a decent guy. but those mistakes that were made on me, were really just… really messed up. that was ten years ago. i’m over it, i can say.
i bet the lyons brothers never thought the day of
would ever come.

He isn’t my dentist, but I went for a free Invisalign consultation.
Not only did Dr Toothy berate me for not doing enough research before seeing him, he also pulled me into the exam room while an 11-​year-​old boy and his parents were in there so that he could scold both of us at the same time. Moreover, his receptionist was really vague in answering any questions I had about payment. The procedure costs roughly $ 5,000, so I wanted to know exactly how much I would have been paying. Overall, I wasn’t comfortable with the experience at all.

Dr. Toothy’s (Dr. Lyons is the main orthodontist there) has been my dentist joint since my teeny-​bopper-​brace-​face days. Everyone’s real nice here– if you catch ‘em on a good day, you get free stuff and then some. A fine example: I get floss and a toothbrush every time I go for a cleaning. I’m not sure if that’s routine for other dentists but yeah, free stuff! As you can see everyone can use floss and toothbrushes versus cheesy keychains. They’re pretty darn quick too; I was in and out for a cleaning appointment in a matter of 30 minutes. Super.
My only compliant is the numerous mirrors they have there and yes, I did walk into one… once.

I had my braces done there a year ago. He’s SUPER busy and the office looks like a Chinese New Year party being held in an amusement park fun house. You gotta go see it! Mirrors are everywhere with red carpeting and gold accents everywhere. It took me 2 months to get used to where the right doors were and stop bumping into mirrors.
He did an ok job but he’s so busy that he doesn’t take the time to go over things or answer questions, he has the constantly revolving orthodontist chair. He’s a great guy, and very reasonably priced I must say, and he has great hours (even on Sundays) but I would have preferred a more attentive orthodontist.