Hengsheng Lin, DDS MSD

This is an update for a longtime review. I had Total of 2 visits in this clinic back in 2014. After I just saw their reply from my previous post, I’m glad I didn’t had my treatment there.
During my first visit, I got the x-​Ray and some lab work. We paid $ 150 for the office visit and another two hundreds and something for the lab works. In my second visit, I was told that my case was «complicated» and required a mini-​implant. The length of treatment would be 2 – 3 years. I didn’t want to have that surgery and didn’t agree with their treatment plan. Of course, I didn’t signed the contract and treatment as what they accused me on their reply. I had a loss bracket that day. The assistant roughly fixed it and changed the wire; however I had a whole lot of gel left in my mouth because she want to go home early that day. As I was ready to make my payment for the visit, I was shocked that they asked for $ 800 for this visit which include the setup fees (I still don’t understand what it is for), the one bracket and office visit. Long story short, they charged me $ 425 at the end.
Now, I had my teeth perfectly fixed at somewhere else at much lower rate, no surgery involved, and much shorter treatment time than what I would had in this clinic. My experience with their clinic was absolutely an nightmare and I could still remember everything even 1 and half years later.

My family really trust this office so far. My daughter is Dr Lin’s patient since she is 2 years old. Dr Lin had done a great job to fix all the cavities for my daughter without sedation and gave her 2 beautiful front teeth.
My husband, my sister and myself also have Dr Lin do our braces. So far we are very happy with the treatment. I strongly recommend Dr Lin office for pediatric and braces treatment because Dr Lin has been a dentist over 20 years now. Not only Dr Lin but also his staff are very professional and care about patients. I believe his experience will give u a peaceful in your mind when u need a real good dentist!

Very dishonest dentist — BEWARE!!!
Effective December 2014, Dr Lin is no longer a contract member of Delta Dental, which means that if your insurance is with Delta, then you will incur a big out of pocket expense. Dr Lin failed to inform us that he became out of network and we ended up paying over $ 400 additional cost on a dental procedure.

I have been thinking this review for 1.5 years, wanted to post this review after I remove my braces. I was hoping my opinion may change after I visit the clinic more times so that I don’t have to give them such low review. Unfortunately, my feelings remains the same after 2 years of visits (Dont ask me why didn’t I just switch to another orthodontist, I’m just too lazy).
1. Dr. Lin always set up 3+ patients at the same time. He can’t spend too much time on a single patient. He has 2 assistants to help him do the «actual work» after he checks on you. Needless to say he doesn’t have enough time to explain your questions in detail. there’s one time I waited for more than 40 mins and no apology receives.
2. They only accept CASH. No credit card, HSA debit card nor CHECK. I am very suspicious on the purpose of doing this. This cause patients extremely inconvenience. Esp when the down payments is like over $ 1000. I remember one time they even asked me the claim the insurance by myself! I couldn’t believe what I heard either. This is not the way I experienced in other «professional» hospital.
3. The clinic is too cost conscious overall. You can sense that they are trying to reduce their costs in many ways. Like what I just mentioned a) accepting multiple patients at the same time. b) cash only. (to save the 3% transaction fee charged by credit card company. may have other reasons) They are providing their service in the most «cost effective» way but are not providing the «best quality» service.
My suggestion is that do more comparison before you chose your orthodontist because this is the decision that’s gonna affect your 2+ year in life.

I’ve been moving from dentist to dentist for as long as I can remember, but not anymore! I’m super happy to have found Dr. Lin through a referral. He is super nice and the costs are very good compared to everywhere else that I go. So far I’ve had teeth cleaning and cavity fillings here. I’ll be doing braces here as well, as he’s also an orthodontist. Pretty impressive, IMO.
Staff is super friendly and I’ve enjoyed every visit so far. I’m pretty surprised that he doesn’t have many reviews, but then again most of his clients are Asian families with kids and I doubt they really use Unilocal.:P
Either ways, if you are looking for a cost friendly and knowledgeable dentist or orthodontist, I’d highly recommend checking this place out.

Dr. Lin runs his clinic like a small hospital. Benches lined up in tight space so he can attend to several patients at the same time. Needless to say this is not a benefit to his patients/​clients. He has mostly teenagers and children as clients who are brought there by parents. The parents usually receive recommendation from friend and go to Dr. Lin for the convenient location. Dr. Lin and his staffs are friendly to their patients, he provides dental care for children as well as orthodontics service for children and adults. The young patients don’t really care for the lack of quality and attentive service, since this is not somewhere they want to stay for long time.
Dr. Lin manages everything in his clinic including ordering of supplies and office repairs. Yes, no joking. He is the actual office manager. In several occasions I was there on the bench waiting for Dr. Lin to look at my teeth, I heard him instructing his staffs on ordering stuffs or on administrative matters. I used to think he is a «superman» who really takes care of every small details in his operations, but one would question sooner or later is this what your orthodontist supposed to be worrying when attending you.
The clinic is crowded most of the time when I was there. Waiting area is spacious but cleanliness is below average. Dr. Lin schedules his patients tightly in each time window so he can be very «productive». He would spend few minutes with you in most cases and then switch to another patient. He is too busy to discuss details or listening even though he appears to be very nice. There are always children playing and parents chatting in the waiting area or inside, very noisy for a dental clinic. The turnover of staffs is high, I believe it is due to the micro management style of Dr. Lin. I observed at least twice there when a new and inexperienced assistant just came onboard and Dr. Lin would tell them what to do with a patient while he was attending another patient — another multitasking example.
Dr. Lin is very knowledgeable and experienced in his field. However, he is being overly cost conscious at the expense of quality care to his patients. When I started to realize I deserve better service especially Dr. Lin’s attention were deteriorating vastly from my initial visits, I switched to another orthodontist. Dr. Lin’s focus was more on quantity but not quality. The friend who recommended me there has also switched her kid to another dentist, even though we both live near by his clinic. All his patients should check out other dentists and orthodontists for comparison.
It was a good thing that I made the move as I found what I was missing: a professional, pleasant environment, consistent standards, and attentive service every patient should receive from her/​his dentist or orthodontist.

My first visit was in 1997 or 1998. Dr. Lin replaced a top permanent retainer for me. It was a few years old, and the original SF ortho had retired. I asked around the community and Dr. Lin was highly recommended for his pleasant personality, quality work, and reasonable prices.
Well, as of 2012, that top retainer is still going strong. Dr. Lin added some dental cement to it on one side at my recent appointment. At that same appointment, I had my lower permanent retainer replaced by Dr. Lin. The original one was made by the aforementioned retired SF ortho. Dr. Lin’s office was able to get me in the next day to remove the retainer and have an impression made. So now I have a complete set of permanent retainers from Dr. Lin. He used a thicker wire than the SF ortho.
The office is totally packed, and I am surprised Dr. Lin doesn’t have more reviews on Unilocal.I was there twice in a week (first to get a dental impression made for the retainer, the second time to get the retainer bonded) and it was extremely busy each time.
Dr. Lin takes the time to explain exactly what going on and is very thorough in checking the work. His assistants are friendly and so is the receptionist.
There are two treatment rooms; one large room has three dental chairs and the other room has one dental chair.
The appointments start on time, which I appreciate. The parking can be challenging (they are in a big building surrounded by other big buildings and they all share the same parking), so I park on the street a few blocks away and walk.
Dr. Lin also has an office in San Mateo. Most dental insurance does not cover adult orthodontics. Dr. Lin’s rates for cash patients are very reasonable. A good ortho with reasonable rates is quite a find!

My mom has wanted me to get some teeth pulled and to get braces for the longest time. I’ve always been really hesitant about this because I’ve had braces already for three years in middle school and I didn’t want to get them again. Also, the orthodontist I had before was really pushy and insisted that I should do it because it worked for everyone else, but didn’t treat me like an individual.
My mom insisted that I get a second opinion, so I agreed and we went to Dr. Lin’s to get his opinion.
Dr. Lin was really nice and saw me on Friday, despite the fact that he’s not usually open on Fridays, and was really thorough with the whole check up. He took x-​rays and pictures and said that he needed to study the pictures to make sure that it was the best thing to do.
After doing the calculations (yes calculations) he told us that he thought that there would be a vast improvement if i went through with the procedure, so I decided to do it.
I was really scared to get my teeth pulled but Dr. Lin was really nice about it and made everything a lot better.
Overall Dr. Lin is a great dentist/​orthodontist. I haven’t seen results yet, because I just got my braces on, but I will definitely write another review with the results!