Jack M. Levine, DDS, FAGD

I am happy to say my experience was great. I took my 8 yr old daughter to Dr. Levine because her teeth were bothering her. She immediately was comfortable with the staff and the doctor. She was able to identify the area that was bothering her and a small cavity was present. Dr. Levine was very gentle, he explained what needed to be done and the treatment was completed in know time. She stated when finished «That was easy I want to come back here Again» The Doctor and his Assistant made the visit pleasant so I know she will not ever fear going to the dentist. I highly recommend Dr. Levine and Staff to both adults and children.
Melissa A Branford CT

The only reason to ever go here is because the dental hygienists are amazing and sweet.
Here is my biggest complaint… after being overcharged and trying to call and politely ask to have my charges reduced (since part of the fault was the office’s), Dr. Levine told me himself…” If you go tell 10 friends about us, I will give you the student discount to lower your charges.” The first problem with this statement is that I was already a student and they knew it… so shouldn’t they have offered me the student discount in the first place? And then they wanted me to advocate for them after they «overlooked» my insurance and hugely over-​charged me? It felt like a cheap car-​salesman type move. Also, while getting a cavity filled I was told that they weren’t going to use novocaine since it was very small. I would have really appreciated it if they had posed it as a question instead of a statement. Don’t I get a choice in the matter if you are going to be drilling in my mouth? It was small… but still very uncomfortable.
Lastly, the receptionist was just flat out unfriendly… the least of my worries but it certainly didn’t help my experience.
Note: This all happened 1 year ago so I promise this isn’t a heated review written in haste and anger. I got my bill today and, since I promised them I would spread the word about their business, I decided to fulfill my word…

I don’t mind going to an expensive dentist. Originally, I would have given Dr. Levine 4 stars, despite the prices, because that office was the best dental office I’d ever been to as a place of pleasantness and good feelings. I’d name names, but they’ve since let go of the best assistant.
Other reviews have raised the issues of overcharging and overdiagnosing. I can’t speak to the second, but I can certainly speak to the first. I ate the costs because, well, who can put a price on being comfortable at the dentist? (This was before I started going to a better dentist elsewhere who charged normal prices.)
I went to the office for the last time after having been a customer for almost 5 years. I traveled all the way from New York because I liked this dentist that much and feared change. Meanwhile, I had a small stye on one of my eyes, a side effect of some severe dryness/​corneal issues my eye doctors were helping me manage.
The dental assistant shrieked in horror when I told her about my eye (why oh why did I do that?), started googling my condition _​while I was lying in the chair waiting to have work done_​, and then informed me that I could have STAPH and that I was potentially contagious. I told her I didn’t have a staph infection and that styes were not contagious. Whatever she found on the internet told her otherwise. Made to feel like a leper, I was summarily dismissed without having been seen and told to leave the office.
Dr. Levine was there, as were all the other assistants I’d been seeing for almost 5 years. All of them just said, grimly, that I should come back when I wasn’t contagious. No one apologized. People didn’t want to look at me; perhaps it was possible they could catch «staph» by sight? I called back to complain, after, and told them (after consulting real doctors) that I had been right and styes were not contagious. Still no apology.
So much for holism and caring. This dentist may not be a phony dentist, but he sure seems like a phony human being – and not a great dentist.

Awful. I should have read all the negative reviews first. Dr. Levine’s practice is all about the bottom line. I was quoted $ 19,000! I think he took complete advantage of my situation and saw nothing but dollar signs. In his meeting with me he wasn’t able to answer how many mercury fillings I had, but had no problem telling me that I would definitely need 10 crowns, he was impersonal, not a shred of compassion and the persona he tries to create doesn’t truly match with the reality there. They were very eager to rush me in to their car salesman– here– apply for financing– and the words, so we can be paid in complete– were even uttered. I am so dismayed. Absolutely read all reviews first. He may have a few people that have had positive experiences, but all in all they are negative. I myself was fooled by the office and holistic materials there, but after a second opinion, I don’t need $ 19,000 worth of dental. This practice would rob the food out of your child’s mouth. Save yourself.

Dr. Levine is literally the best dentist I have ever had. I have been his patient for over 6 years and first found him when I lived in New Haven. Even when I moved over 30 min away to Newington, I continued to go back to him. My husband switched dentists to go to him, and I recommend him to everyone I know. I always know my costs, he explains what is going on, is not condescending like other doctors can be, and is natural leaning which I find to be very important. I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed by him, and my husband has had multiple dangerous mercury fillings removed and replaced with the safer alternative. He is a genuinely nice and good person, and a great doctor. The service is unparalleled and even after moving to Brooklyn, NY over 2 years ago, my husband and I have been unable to find someone comparable. We now travel the 2 hours from our new home to see him because he is that worth it.
It is a shame that others had these issues, but they sound so foreign to my experience that I am shocked. It doesn’t help that all his good reviews are filtered and cannot be read on the first page. When looking at the other reviews that the others complaining here give to other establishments, it seems that all they do is write negative reviews. I sincerely hope MY review does not get filtered and that Unilocal will do the honorable thing and stop filtering all the positive reviews away. This man and great doc deserves to not have his reputation tarnished by selective online review practices.

I was going to write a whole unfortunate story about how I ended up in the situation that I am right now with missing my front tooth after over $ 8,000.00 worth of work done by Dr. Levine but I feel like it’s unnecessary and the whole thing is way to long. I’m just gonna tell you what I’m stuck with now and how I feel about the whole situation. I’m currently walking around with a plastic piece in my mouth holding a tooth in place where is should be anchored into my jaw. I’ve been like this since November of last year and it has been one of the most horrible and humbling experiences of my entire life. I used to love the smile that Dr. Levine made for me that I’m still trying to pay off but I bit into the wrong sandwich and it cracked. Now with no contingency plan and with a $ 650.00 plastic piece I can’t eat with in and I have to worry about sneezing or laughing out all the time. This plastic piece is made for a temporary fix because smells, its gross, and extremely uncomfortable. I have to unfortunately use this as a more permanent solution till recently when I found a dental student that has taken pity on me. It’s funny how the dental student that I found makes these expensive plastic Dr. Levine pieces for free which he has for me very recently because of embarrassing sanitary issues with it. I just thought that maybe because I’ve spent so much money on these teeth that maybe an unemployed guy that bit into the wrong sandwich would maybe get some kind of special care or assistance in fixing this problem. I have a huge gaping gap in the middle of my face and all I get is a quote for over $ 6,000.00 more dollars to get it fixed. I don’t know about anyone else’s financial situation but right now I can’t even fathom paying that on top of paying off the work that he’s already done. It has been so hard going to job interviews hoping that the person interviewing me doesn’t notice I have this plastic mouth guard awkwardly and barely holding in a tooth in my mouth. This has been a total nightmare! I just was hoping that he in some way insured the work that he has done for such a high price. He does all if this pro-​bono charity work and for a guy with a huge problem I was left out to dry. I didn’t now how to express my anger and frustration over this but this seemed like the only way I could let other people know. I hope by reading this you will make a better judgement call in who you have do your expensive dental work.

Dr. Levine is by far the most extraordinary dentist I could ever imagine. He was my dentist in New Haven, and provided the most exquisit care, the most thoughtful and pain free experience. If I were not 600 miles away he would still be my dentist. My next dentist has a high bar to reach as a result of my experience under Dr. Levine’s care.

missing: human touch
i visited Jack M Levine DDS after moving to CT and looking for a new dentist. I was with the last dentist (Phillip Halper Dds, Yardley PA) for 20 years prior to that). Jack came recommended from a good source, and specifically seemed like a great choice for replacing amalgam fillings. He was also an hour away from where i lived, but i place more importance on quality than distance.
*bad cleaning experience taken out due to length limit*
In addition to the amalgam fillings i wanted to replace, Jack also found cavities in quite a few places (although with my old dentist i had one new cavity in past 10 years, the other places were just watched closely but he didn’t feel it necessary to drill). But that’s not the point of this review.
I made the mistake of trying to get 4 teeth done in one shot (including 2 on left and 2 on right side). What followed was a month of agonizing pain. Still not entirely sure what went wrong but most likely they were deep feelings, that were packed very tightly, with a new filling pressing on the nerve. Let’s keep in mind, that the point of that work, was to replace amalgam fillings with ceramic. That’s it. I did not actually have ANY problems with the teeth that were being worked on.
Jack was leaving for one of his trips to Africa (I believe it was Africa) and told me that if i have any problems with these fillings i should see a root canal specialist.
Well i did have problems. with just about every one of them. So much so, that i had to eat advil every 4 hours in order to stay sane. I would literarly wake up in agonizing pain every night, and i’d need to eat something small (not to destroy my stomach), take some advil, and wait until it starts working so i could go back to sleep. This happened 3 weeks or so before christmas, and continued throughout christmas and new years. I was not able to eat anything but the softest of foods that were available.
Certainly i’ve called Jack’s office in his absence to get some advice in what i could do. I was mainly met with unsympathetic (and sometimes downright annoyed) receptionist (although that was the woman that is in charge of figuring out how to finance the work so not just the receptionist). She offered a phone number of another local dentist (who only suggested giving me a prescription for stronger pain killers and got me off the phone quickly).
I ended up having to get a root canal done on one of the teeth (which cost $ 1350 at the place recommended by jack, on top of the $ 1000 or so that i was charged for the filling/​crown replacement), and i stil have at least one root canal to go. After about 1.5 months i was able to stop taking advil, and now (9 months later) i can still only eat hard foods with one side of my mouth.
Here comes the worst part.
While i was in such pain, i was told there was no way to reach Jack, but when i inquired about maybe emailing him his office did thing that was a worthy idea and offered his email address (
). I sent an email to Jack with the subject line «deep fillings not doing so great, need your advice». In this email (still have it) i described in as much detail as i could what was going on, the type of pain and frequency of it i was experiencing, hoping that he could advise me on what to do next. or something, anything.
There was no response. To make matters worse, when he came back after christmas, i finally scheduled a visit. It has been a month and i was doing a little better, but i still expected some insight into what went so horribly wrong.
As usual, i took 3 hours off from work in order to make the trip to New Heaven. I arrived together with a girl, who was met with warm welcome and ushered in one of the rooms. I sat in the waiting room for half hour. We were obviously booked at the same time. Finally i was ushered into one of the empty rooms. Jack came in, and he had absolutely no idea what i was even there for. He said something like «so you have a chipped tooth?»… !!! After all the calls, well thought out email, and all the suffering, there was not an ounce of awarness of empathy about my condition. I gave him a 10 second explanation of what i went through (as he seemed to be in a hurry), so he said he’ll do an xray, and walked back to the other appointment. I was given an xray by his assistant (she was great btw), and SAT IN THAT CHAIR FOR ANOTHER HALF HOUR. After that i was told to just go to the waiting room.
Finally jack came back, handed me the xray, and said that i’ll need a root canal for the remaining painful tooth. This was followed by a blank stare.
After this, he took me to the finance lady and urged me to start on my bottom teeth ASAP. To which i replied that i don’t want to start anything new until my upper teeth are finished and pain free. He said «ok but you don’t want to wait more than a few weeks for the bottom». that was it. he didn’t care about existing problems anymore

I had a broken tooth that needed attention but didn’t know of any dentists in New Haven. A friend of a friend recommended that I go to Dr. Levine’s practice. It was very easy to set up an appointment and they saw me the following morning. Dr. Levine is *the nicest* guy, and he was very attentive and walked me through all the steps we’d have to take to repair the tooth — took three visits total, for a root canal, crown prep, then crown fitting. I warned him that I tend to take a while to numb up, and he didn’t rush me at all, he waited for the Novocain to take effect as long as I needed.
I really like the setup that they have for patients; there’s herbal tea in the waiting room, photos of his work in Jamaica and Nepal everywhere, there’s an encouraging note on the ceiling that reminds you to «just breathe» when you’re in the dentist chair… They offer you headphones with music stations so that you don’t have to hear all the tools at work… by far the most effort a dentist has gone through to make sure I’m comfortable. Before doing any poking and prodding, he would ask «do you feel that? Ok I continue?» He really made a dreadful process more than bearable. Also, Yale students get a 20% discount, which is pretty sweet. And since I’m a student and didn’t have all the money to pay for all this work up front, he let me finance it. I don’t have any complaints.

I decided to try this dentist after I moved to New Haven and decided that it would be more convenient to have a dentist here than one back home. I didn’t choose this place because someone recommended it; it was just the closest dentist to my apartment and looked nice enough, so I decided to try it (at the time, Yale didn’t have dental insurance). I had a positive first impression from them, and then they took x-​rays. They came back to let me know that I had 6 cavities. I didn’t understand this since I had never had a cavity before, and I make sure to visit the dentist every 6 months, and I brush and floss regularly. Then they tried to pressure me right away into getting all 6 cavities filled and told me the crazy expensive costs for this. Luckily I didn’t agree to anything and decided to discuss it with my parents first. I ended up going to a dentist in nyc as well as my dentist back home, and both dentists were horrified. Did they get two different set of x-​rays mixed up? I’m not really sure what happened at Dr. Levine’s office, but I’m glad that I have not been back, and I would recommend to anyone who goes here to be cautious and to get second opinions (or just go to a different dentist).

Jack Levine is the worst dentist I have ever seen. You know how people recommend that you should always get a second opinion when a dentist says you have cavities? Well, they’re not kidding. Jack told me I had three cavities and wanted to charge me over $ 1,000 to do work on my teeth (including filing down my two front ones for god knows what reason). I went and got a second opinion at another student-​friendly dentist in New Haven, and they indicated that my teeth were perfectly fine.
Jack also charges $ 95 for a simple exam, while other New Haven dentists only charge $ 45. Not really sure why — he must be especially good at poking people’s teeth with a metal pick or something.

Let’s start with the positives. The patient is treated as royalty (or so it seems). A few days after I made my appointment, I got a very inviting brochure in the mail, as well as some paperwork. Smart. On top of that, I got a checkbox list for me to indicate my preferences… (am I extremely sensitive to pain? do I need to be aware of all costs up front?) Wow, a doctor that actually will tailor the experience to your needs!
When going in for my appointment, I was taken to a small cozy room where an elegant Welcome sign was placed (it even had my name on it). I was feeling pretty pampered right now.
Then, after the doctor gave me a brief overview of what we were going to do at my visit, one woman came to do my bitewing x-​rays. The whole time, she was mumbling, «this may not work…». I wish that then and there she had told me what the implications would be if the x-​rays didn’t work, but she didn’t.
After the entire grueling process, of course, the doctor came in and said the x-​rays didn’t turn out well, and I would need a panoramic x-​ray. The office didn’t have a panoramic x-​ray machine, so I was given a printed blue slip referring me to Dr. Tagliarini’s office down the street. «Dr. Tagliarini will perform a panoramic x-​ray as a courtesy for a fee of $ 125, payable up front upon entry.»
On my original preferences checklist, I clearly indicated that I wanted to be aware of all costs up front. They certainly didn’t tell me about this $ 125 before my x-​rays.
So let me set this straight. They knew fully well that my insurance would cover only the bitewing OR the panoramic. They had a hunch the bitewing wouldn’t work, but they put me through it anyway? I’m a student, not a millionaire, and I can’t afford to pay for things that end up in the trash can. The fact that they have a very standard printed blue slip for the referral seems to indicate this happens more than just on rare occasions.
I ended up taking my business elsewhere, but not long after, I got a letter from Dr. Levine’s office billing me for all of the expenses without submitting them through my insurance first. (A quick call to the office resolved that issue.)
At my new dentist’s place, I did have to do a panoramic x-​ray, but the cost was around $ 90, not the outrageous $ 125. Makes me wonder whether Levine is cashing in for each person he refers to Dr. Tagliarini.