Pasadena Dental Associates

I have been going to Pasadena Dental Associates for years. I need to have work done but, the biggest problem that I have is that it takes forever to get an appointment. The receptionist and the doctor says that we disappear but the appointments are so spaced out that when you do a quadrant of deep cleaning the next appointment for the next quadrant is two months later so, a deep cleaning will take over 8 months to do. I have asked that they just do the whole thing but, so far haven’t been successful in getting them to do it. I went there a few months ago, was given a referral to go somewhere else for root canals and then come back for caps/​crowns after the work is done. Guess what, I have not been able to get it that done because I haven’t been able to get permission for work to take the time off to do this. I really don’t have the time to be going from one place to the next. I am currently in huge amount of pain due to tooth problems but, if the doctor can’t take care of the problem right away, then what’s the use. Another issue is that my son needs orthodontia and I took my son to them and, they didn’t do a referral telling me to wait. I didn’t want to wait so I have to go out of network to seek an orthodontist that can do an assessment and a treatment plan to correct my son’s upper bite, crooked and crowded teeth. I don’t want to wait for the preteen years because then it could result in having to do surgery and at much higher cost in order to correct problems that could have been resolved without the need to remove teeth in order to accommodate braces. My wife went a few days ago and came up with a $ 17,500.00 estimate for work to remove 4 teeth and replace them with implants. However, I do have dental insurance that covers for much cheaper alternatives. I would have liked to see an estimate of how much will cost the work without the implants but perhaps using bridges which is covered. I would probably blame the wife on this one because she probably asked for implants which I would not pay or can’t afford to pay. No, I am not going to pay the price of a subcompact to put in my wife’s mouth. My daughter also made an appointment a couple of days ago for a check up and the first available appointment is not until September. Otherwise, the office personnel is nice and the female dentist is nice too. The male dentist, not so fond of him because he was doing a deep cleaning and was hurting me really bad and showed no concern regarding the level of pain or discomfort I was going through. Here is a hit and miss but the alternatives are not any better and Delta Dental is not helpful since they allow their providers to lie to you trying to do up sell on services you don’t need or are not covered by insurance. If you tell any of their providers that you want to do what the insurance pays or covers, they don’t like you anymore. I guess I’ll have to wait until all my teeth fell off, go down to Mexico and get implants there. I am just frustrated and in pain.
I just tried to make an appointment with the Doctor that I was referred to for the root canals and the provider doesn’t take DeltaCare USA. I guess it is back to square one. My tooth are killing me!

I’ve been seeing Dr. Huang aka Dr. Kelly for 12 years and she is great. She is gentle and thorough. The office staff is professional. Even since I’ve moved to Long Beach, I still make the drive to Pasadena to be seen by Dr. Huang.

Dr. Tsai is the best dentist I have had yet and I am 50 y.o. I. came upon him by accident. I have recommended him to others after finding that he is an honest, staightforward dentist that does good work.

2.5 stars, really. I have mixed feelings about the dental care I got here. I ended up coming to Pasadena Dental Associates after picking a name at random from my insurance provider. Not exactly the smartest way to pick a dentist but my insurance isn’t great and the options were limited for me. The dentist that I saw previous to Dr. Tsai had a state of the art office so I was quite shocked when I walked into the exam room at Pasadena Dental Associates. It was seriously filthy and dated. Some of the equipment looked very, very old. I’m talking decades old. The floors had not been cleaned and I could see hairballs in the corners and whatnot. Mineral build up on all over the equipment. Rusty tools. It made me uneasy. The whole time I was in the chair I was ruminating on why a dentist would allow his place of business to get into such shabby condition: is he cheap or does he just not care? I’ve never been in any medical setting that looked as bad as that exam room. I’m not using hyperbole when I say that it looked like something you might find in a clinic in a third world country, not in modern day Pasadena. *shudder*
Dr. Tsai was fine. I needed a crown and he did a great job fitting it and putting it in. Oddly enough, the work he did was far superior to the dentist in the fancy office. Not to mention much less expensive. I was so happy with his dental work that I would be satisfied going back to him… if he would just do something about the state of his office. Until that happens, I just can’t do it.

My family and I have been seeing Dr Tsai for as long as I can remember without a complaint. Recently, my husband (who has terrible teeth and hated having any dental work done) went in for an initial assessment with Dr. Tsai. There was lots of serious issues, which we expected. Dr Tsai sat down and explained everything to us, in detail, and repeatedly, when we needed clarification. And that was a Saturday! He gave us a plan of action and explained that he would work with our insurance company and with us to spread the work out so that it wasn’t too much of a financial burden. We are 75% of the way through the work and my husband has nothing but respect for Dr. Tsai.
He does do his own cleaning but wouldn’t you rather have a more hands-​on dentist than one that passes you off onto hygienists? Its like going to see your doctor but having to see a nurse practitioner instead!
His «bedside» manner is lovely. Whenever I go into the office he always asks how life is going and how my mom and dad are doing, who also go to him.
Don’t be deterred by the previous bad review.

Avoid.
I normally love going to the dentist, so switching to Dr Tsai for insurance compliance didn’t seem like a big deal, but i left in angry tears and doubt I’ll return, insurance or no. His bedside manner left too much to be desired: I waited an hour to be thrown in a chair, and Dr Tsai did the «cleaning» himself, saying that good dental hygenists were too expensive. He had three tools in there, simultaneously, the «assistant» was so generous with the water, I couldn’t believe how wet my chest was, and he was anything but gentle. I said it was bleeding, and he said, Yes, it’s supposed to. Four minutes later, he claimed he was done; Someone else came in to «polish» — ineffectually, and I was ushered back out. After waiting an hour, I was in and out in less than ten minutes, and don’t feel like I got my teeth cleaned at all. Avoid this office: it’s obvious why he can’t hire a hygenist, if he keeps his clients away with terrible dentristry. I’d rather pay out of pocket.