Scott B Yamaoka, DDS

I feel that this periodontist's office is all about the mighty dollar. My entire experience there was very upsetting. After being referred to him by my family dentist for a dental implant, I paid $180 for a consult, then $715 for a 3D scan and x-rays. Only later did I get the quote for a dental implant, bone graft and hum tissue graft. I enquired with 6 other periodontists and Scott was the highest by far but I had already spent $900 at his office so I felt cornered.

The evening of the implant surgery and gum tissue graft, my mouth started bleeding profusely. His assistant had told me the tissue was removed from the front left where I was putting the pressure to stop the bleeding but it was actually from the back right. I had to go back to his office on an emergency visit at 11pm for 14 stitches to close up the severed blood vessel on the roof of my mouth. After this horrendous experience in which I lost about a pint of blood, I asked Scott to forego the $400 "uncovery" change that no other doctor charged for. I felt he owed me. He refused.

My mouth was a mess for weeks, taking 2 Tylenol 3's every 3 hours for the next 5 days for the pain and then developed what he called a "scab' that felt more like a giant blister on the roof of my mouth. Eating was difficult and I lost my sense of taste. My face was horribly bruised from my eye down to my collar bone on the right and on both sides of my mouth.

I had paid $145 for a palatal stent (plus the cost of the 3D x-rays to create it) to cover my top teeth and the roof of my mouth and provide fake teeth where I had 2 missing teeth. Those teeth fell out of the stent within 17 days and he refused to replace the stent (retainer) without my paying another $150. Update: At my one month visit they added composite to the retainer where the missing teeth were but then had to replace it entirely as it was rough on the edges and scratching my gums.

I found out later that a friend of mine was also referred to Scott for gum tissue implants but refused to go back because she also felt that the clinic was all about money. They are very greedy there, not kind or sympathetic (he never apologized for severing the blood vessel and showed no compassion to me that night). It was business as usual!

I really do not want to go back there for the follow-up appointments and the 4-month "uncovery" but what choice do I have.

I have nothing against Dr Yamaoka, my problem is with his staff. I was referred to him in Feb and saw him a week later in early March, his staff was then to refer me to an orthodontist. I waited 3.5 months then called the Ortho myself for an appointment, luckily they had given me his name. They had never gotten a referral for me. Then I had to wait while the Ortho and Dr Yamoaka met to discuss my case. After the Ortho confirmed that I only needed a simple extraction he then called the ortho back to tell him I needed an extra $ 2000 worth of work. Then it was the Ortho’s staff who had to tell his staff to call me! After that call, during which I asked several questions which the assistant had no answers for, I was told I would get a call back with answers. It’s been a week since and no response. I’ll not be going back to Dr Yamaoka’s office.

I’ve been to Yamaoka twice now for gum grafts. Both operations worked. He is expensive but seems to know what he is doing. Good bedside manner. He operates with a large staff — the ones I dealt with were helpful and knowledgeable. My only criticism would be that I’ve sometimes had to wait 15 minutes or so past the appointment time.