Gayle Wood, DDS

Sadly, I never heard back from this office after submitting through the REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT feature on their Unilocal page. It didn’t seem like they cared about my questions, and appointment request, which was supposed to for today. Good thing I also contacted a few other periodontists in the area and received a response within 1 minute from my post.
I wasn’t really monitoring the timeline on each office I contacted, but I just received a notification today from Unilocal,which helped reminded me that I never heard back from this office, with the following message:
No reply yet from Gayle Wood, DDS.
Hi Valerie,
You sent a message to Gayle Wood, DDS on Jan 28. Just wanted to let you know that we haven’t heard anything back from them yet. Bummer!
You may want to consider calling them instead: (310) 545‑7079
This is the only office that NEVER got back to me.
Now it makes sense why they have to post a Unilocal deal, to attract more patients, as they are probably losing their existing ones with ‘bad’ customer service.
I’m not even a patient yet and they’ve already lost me.

i regret having gone to dr wood
not because she is one of the most expensive periodontists in the South Bay
not because her service is substandard
because after spending over $ 6,000, she failed to complete the implant work for which i prepaid her. neither her, nor anyone from her office, has responded to my email or calls.
why? here’s the story
mid-​2015, i broke a tooth while in thailand. in october 2015, i returned to have dr wood extract the tooth and replace with an implant. over the next 2 months, i was in her office about 4 times for follow-​up of implant integration.
in december, on the 5^th visit, i was kept waiting over an hour. then, i was presented with a bill for work performed in early 2013 and told i must pay the outstanding balance of $ 200.
i was completely taken off guard. you
how would you feel if ralphs said you owed them $$ 200 they forgot to collect in 2013?
my question: you have my cell phone, my address, my email, and, i only live a few blocks away, why has there been no attempt to contact me?.
answer: because the accounting software does nothing until we pull up your file to make an appointment.
my follow up question: you have had to pull my file 4 times for appointments, over the previous 2 months, why didn’t anyone bring this to my attention?
dr wood: if we bill you, the work has been presume to be performed. so, i expect payment.
at that point, i asked for details to be emailed to me.
i received the detailed invoice which was like a hieroglyphic — dates intermingled, impossible to determine services costs, no running balance. there was nothing decipherable in the document that indicated i owed $ 200.
i tried to copy and paste document here but cannot.
so, i wrote a dispute email on January 5, 2016.
i never received a response. so, i called and left messages but have never received a return call.
conclusion
today, per my regular dentist suggestion, i wrote a letter of termination to dr wood.
i received a referral of another perio from my dentist and intent to have the implant work finished there.
.

Dr Wood AND her office are rock-​stars in my book. I’ve had tissue grafts, emergency perio surgery and bone grafts, so I feel like I’ve really run the gamut with her and her team. She not only calls to follow-​up after surgery, but she did it more than once when I had an especially major procedure. She is especially caring while also inspiring confidence. And her team is exceptionally thorough which means no wait times and no treatment or financial surprises…

Dr. Woods is an exceptional Periodontist! Upon visiting her, I was battling recession on my upper and lower jaw. Uneasy, I setup a consultation with her staff and they were able to get me in immediately despite the busy holiday season. Dr. Woods listened to my concerns and gave me invaluable advice to treat and prevention further recession. I sought her expertise even though she was out of my insurance network! I would highly recommend her to anyone seeking an amazing periodontist. She knows her stuff!

I had a great experience here, I had to get a gum graph and everybody at Gayle Wood’s office were great to work with. If I need any more work in the future I am certainly coming back here!

Dr. Wood is the best. I had two surgeries and they went flawlessly. When I called to ask questions, Dr. Wood called me back shortly thereafter. I found the office to be professional and friendly. I would definitely refer anyone who needs oral surgery to Dr. Wood.
Jennifer B.

Received great gum care from Dr. Wood. Her and her staff were very warm and comforting, would highly recommend!

I had a wonderful experience with Dr. Wood’s office! I needed gum grafts on 2 teeth, Dr. Wood and her entire staff were friendly, helpful and informative. Her team is very through with their work, and took every step to ensure all questions and concerns were answered. I came in with a lot of fear and questions regarding this procedure Dr. Wood put me at ease and eliminated all fears and discomfort about and throughout the process. I highly recommend anyone who is in need of periodontal treatment to visit Dr. Wood you really cant go wrong you’ll be in the best hands.

If you’re seriously looking for the best periodontist look no further. I love Dr Wood. Before I went to Gayle I hated the idea of having to get a tooth extracted. I didn’t want to be knocked out or have shots in my mouth. I’ve always hated the needle & having work done on my teeth. Well Dr Wood changed everything. The experience was amazing. Painless, quick & very happy with the results. I highly recommend Gayle Wood for my family & friends & those who are looking at these reviews!!!

I’d like to thank Dr. Wood & her staff for taking great care of me. I was really nervous because I needed to have a tissue graft surgery, however Dr. Wood was very gentle & didn’t feel a thing. My recovery was painless & she even called me after my surgery to check up on me. I am definitely recommending Dr. Wood to all my family & friends.

Dr. Gayle Wood is an exceptional Periodontist. I am writing this on behalf of my father who was 83 at the time he completed his procedures. I accompanied my father to each appointment until his oral issues were 100% resolved. After one year of convincing my father that he needed the procedure and several consultations later, my father met Dr. Wood. In my opinion, her office staff was professional as well as knowledgeable, and the medical technology Dr. Wood used impressed us. More important, my father connected with her immediately and he honestly felt she had his best interest in mind. Her explanation of his condition was clear and concise. He had a severe infection behind a failed root canal which caused a rotting tooth. He required a tooth extraction as well as bone grafting which required several appointments to complete. The number of procedures required, the healing process, and the estimated costs were all outlined clearly during the consultation. We felt that Dr. Wood’s pricing was reasonable and competitive as compared to other estimates we had received from previous dental professionals. Each procedure ran smoothly and the healing expectation was exactly as described. We appreciated Dr. Wood always making herself available to us for questions between treatments and her work healed beautifully without any issues. Her patience and kindness towards my father will be forever appreciated as she nurtured him back to good dental health.
It is challenging to find an exceptional doctor in the medical industry these days, so we are grateful that we found her. We would highly recommend Dr. Wood.

Dr. Wood is very meticulous and she has done great job for my implant. Happy with the result.

As a dentist who refers to periodontists I get to see the results from lots of surgeries from many different periodontists. I can say with confidence that Dr. Wood is one of the best in Los Angeles. Periodontal surgery can be painful in the best of hands but Dr. Wood, being as gentile to the tissue as she is, has a much lower incidence of postoperative pain than almost all of the periodontists I have referred to. I used to have a practice that was closer to Dr. Wood so I saw a lot of her work. She is meticulous.

I always get scared of the dentist but with Dr. Wood my experience has always been wonderful she is beyond patient with me. That is something really hard to find in a dentist. Every time I come in I know I’m going to be ok!
R.E

I had Periodontal surgery by Gayle Wood and had a GREAT experience and my gums have never looked better as a result. I found Gayle to be extremely professional and knowledgeable, as was her staff. This was a surgery I had put off for the past 6 years but had a consultation with Gayle and she put me at ease and explained everything in detail of what she needed to do. The surgery was a much less painful process than I had anticipated due to her being a very skilled surgeon. If you want to have gum replacement surgery and want it to be as quick and painless as possible then I would highly recommend her. I had to pay a $ 120. for a followup visit, but I was so glad I did the surgery and glad I went with someone as skilled and professional as Gayle Wood.

I am «updating» my review due to some updates in regards to experience with their billing.
Although they do charge you the full amount $ 155 upfront without billing the insurance first, Gayle recently refunded my money and sent me a referral to another doctor in NY (admittedly the person is in NYC so it’s rather useless to me upstate, but still it was the thought that counts, so thank you) after I complained and my dentist contacted her. SO yes, they did «make good» on the whole debacle which is why I’ve improved the review. Thank you for doing the right thing.
«Apparently» the office manager did not properly communicate the details about the billing/​consultation thing. And she didn’t. I’m not idiot and I have excellent attention to detail. But anyway, the point is, yes, they did refund me which was kind of them.
I still do not think that it is right to bill people the full amount upfront like this, even if they will refund you. It is certainly not standard (not even for dental, I’ve been to a lot of dentists/​orthodontists/​oral surgeons in my life. I’ve got English teeth you know. Please tell me why a dentist would need to bill like this and not an MD. It doesn’t make much sense). Ask yourself, when was the last time I was expected to pay upfront for a medical bill like this when you a. have insurance and b. it is not for cosmetic surgery like a nose job. For some rich-​ass people in Manhattan Beach, maybe dropping $ 155 is like throwing a buck in the church donation tray but it isn’t for the rest of us. Yes, I am «from» that area, but I am living on a grad student stipend without those kind of funds (oh yeah, and I support myself!) so that was pretty hard on my bank account off the bat.
All in all, they have a nice well decorated and clean office. Everyone was pretty friendly, they have free water.

I had a surgery done last summer and to this day it has healed quite nicely. I’m a little upset that the medicine she prescribed me stained my teeth. My regular hygienist was able to scrape the stain off; but I think I should have been warned a bit.
I was a little upset again when I thought I was going in for a follow up and was charged for it. I thought it was a part of the surgery follow-​up until I received the bill.
She really does try to up sale everything. I don’t need any more work done for quite some time but every time I walk in… they want me to schedule a new appointment so I can spend more money.
Very nice woman and dentist; but business skills could be improved.

I had few tissue grafts and implants done by Dr. Gayle Wood. She is an amazing doctor and always on time. For real, i do not know what other people think but for me she is the best periodontics in this area.
Thank you Dr. Gayle Wood:))) and staff

I had two, long gum procedures. I found the experience to be great from the professional and friendly staff, to Dr. Wood’s professionalism and skill. It made what could have been a horrific experience as pleasurable as it can be. I would highly recommend Dr Wood and her staff. I I ever have to have this type of work done again, I would go back without hesitation. Trust me, you will be in good hands with someone who cares.

I had three extremely painful gum surgeries done by Dr. Wood. I think that her pain management skills are severely lacking.
Also, she recommended four surgeries (I only had three of them) to four different areas and I have since had several dentists and even another periodontist tell me that the area that I did not do, does not need to be done at all. And one of the areas that she did do already needs to be redone.
Otherwise, she is timely, professional and has a beautiful clean office (that I never intend to set foot in again).