The Gelb Center

My local dentist gave me Gelb’s info. I should have read the other reviews before I went. The service and follow up here is VERY poor. Went in and had a consultation, all seemed great the day of visit. Never heard another thing from them and even email the Dr whom I saw and said how lack of follow up was beyond poor, never got a reply. Called in 4 times and was told they would let me know and never called me back. Asked for office manager to call me, never happened. I have never posted something like this but do yourself a favor and stay very far away.

I can honestly say that Dr. Gelb is my hero.
I never had TMJ problems before and I was never aware this type of issue existed. I was diagnosed with a form of Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 13, so when my jaw started hurting, I attributed it to that. However, one day I bit into a peanut butter sandwich and everything changed. My jaw locked in place and I felt the most excruciating pain. At first my jaw would lock once every few weeks, but it quickly increased to locking everyday, multiple times a day. My jaw locked for up to an hour at one point. I was only 15 and it was occurring while I was in school or hanging out with friends. My mom brought me to a total of 8 different doctors who either had no idea what/​why this was happening, or prescribed me pain killers that would just knock me out and prevented me from doing my best in class. One doctor even thought I was lying about my jaw and asked if I was just Depressed. He laughed at me. I gave up all hope and then one day my mom discovered the Gelb Center and brought me. I had no expectations and thought I would have to live with such horrible pain for the rest of my life. Dr. Gelb changed everything for me.
He was extremely thorough and took photos and x-​rays of my jaw, muscles, and teeth. He was so nice and really took the time to listen to all of my complaints. His assistants were also incredibly nice and thorough. He fitted me for two bite plates, one for sleeping, and one for the day time.
By leaving them in and following his instructions, I can say with complete honesty, that my jaw has not locked since the day he helped me. It has been almost 5 years since I have been seeing him and I have no more clicking, locking, pain, discomfort, my headaches decreased, and my face is not as round as it used to be. My muscles are no longer tense and I have a clear jaw line. Dr. Gelb even helped me in determining my sleeping problems. He sent me for an overnight sleep test and recommended I go see Dr. Rickert, an ENT. My tonsils needed to be removed and afterwards, my sleep got so much better.
My insurance does not cover his visits, which is the only downside, and recently there have been some problems with the staff at the front desk. In the past few months, there was a constant back-​and-​forth with my insurance, me, and his staff in getting me a new bite plate. Dr. Gelb is doing his best in hiring better staff and giving his patients the care they deserve. He gave me three new bite plates free of charge due to what was happening and is making sure that his staff properly helps.
He is the only doctor I will ever trust with my TMJ, and the only doctor who seemed to really care and want to help me. Dr. Gelb made sure to assist me in finding me a Rheumatologist, Physical Therapist, and ENT.
By far the best doctor in NYC. I highly recommend people see him because TMJ can be solved and linked to so many daily problems!

First time as a new patient and; this is probably not frequently said (about dental visits) but what a WONDERFUL experience! Their staff is warm and welcoming, the office is state of the art and my Dr Gelb was very engaging and patient; taking the time to explain things until I was comfortable. Can’t believe that I am «saying» this but after over two decades of looking for a solution I no longer have TMJ!!! Thank you, Dr. Gelb!

I paid thousands of dollars for nothing

Dr Michael Gelb is world renowned and extremely knowledgeable in disorders of the TMJ. He is also well versed in Sleep Medicine. He lectures locally, nationally and internationally as he is the «go-​to-​source». He is a friend who is always willing to give a helping hand no matter what the situation. Though his fees are reasonably priced, it is well worth going to someone who helped write the book on TMD with his father and has a patented oral device that he created and bears his name When I have a challenging case that I cannot handle, I refer them to the last source, Dr Michael Gelb because if he can’t help them, no one else can!!!
By the way, I would not pay attention to the hate speech from people that are not necessarily patients. In fact they might even be the competition. I highly recommend The Gelb Center.

I went to see Dr. Gelb because I couldn’t open my mouth more than a ¼ of an inch from how bad my TMJ problem had become, Dr. Gelb did a great job alleviating the pain and readjusting my jaw, my face is even looking better (one side was caving in from the misalignment caused by my grinding)!! I had seen other dentists in the past who had made me mouth guards to help protect my teeth from grinding, but not addressing the underlying problems (arthritis in jaw, for example).
Now that I live in California, I trek across the country every few months for him to adjust my appliance. I love Dr. Gelb’s energy, efficiency, and ability to make me laugh. His staff is great, very professional and always kind.
Lastly, his hygienist is amazing! First time I’ve had my teeth cleaned without pain from my overly sensitive teeth. And she’s incredibly sweet and a joy to be around.

Let me start off by saying that when I met Dr Senderoff I knew right off the bat that he was going to be my doctor! I went to go see plenty of other doctors in NYC and I knew he was the one. He is professional, confident, and superrrrr talented.
His work is just superb and flawless! I just knew i could trust him to give me the results I was looking for. He is a true artist if i can say. FYI: his consultations are also free. Bottom line, I couldn’t be any happier, THANK YOU DR. SENDEROFF!!!

I thought I just wanted my front teeth straightened, but Dr. Gelb showed me what was happening structurally that was causing/​affecting the teeth. My bite was completely off, causing not just chewing but airway problems and snoring.
As we talked, I realized I had stopped using the right side of my mouth after previous gum surgery, but I hadn’t really focused on it. So the first step was to fix the bite, which he did with a night appliance that looks weird but not only straightened my bite but also stopped my snoring. Better sleep quality has increased my energy and improved my breathing. (I had no idea I snored — I thought my husband was exaggerating. The take-​home sleep test they administered proved me wrong.)
Once my bite was in the right place, it became clear that the crooked teeth in front were keeping my bite from closing. So now, after the initial bite work, I’m doing invisalign to straighten the front teeth, which I completely love. And in a couple of months, I’ll not only have straight teeth, but they will function correctly!
All of this is also breaking bad habits I had of chewing, pushing, grinding, jutting — all kinds of constant movement I hadn’t been aware of that was moving my teeth every whichway.
All along the way Dr. Gelb has listened and been really thorough in teaching what he’s doing. I pushed back on upper and lower invisalign and he heard me and figured out how to do just the part I need most.
He’s probably not your guy if you just want to walk in and self-​prescribe a quick solution (which I originally did), but if you have a little faith, he knows what he’s talking about, he’s looking at the architecture of the entire breathing and chewing mechanism, and in the end, everything he said has happened. I feel 100% better, sleep better, have more energy, breathe better, was able to stop taking an anti-​depressant, and will soon have very pretty teeth again. He’s not cheap, but this is a major health component that most people pay zero attention to, and I’m confident this is going to keep me in better health for the rest of my life.

I had a perfect experience with Dr. Gelb. He was patient, listened carefully to my issues and then fit me for a new appliance. When the appliance arrived in the mail a few weeks later, it fit like a glove and was much more comfortable and effective than my last one. I thought his staff was courteous and cooperative and I would see Dr. Gelb again in a heartbeat.

While I do agree with a lot of the reviews in terms of cost — my bite plate for $ 3000 was not covered by insurance (OK this was a few years back and they have gone up like crazy) The bite plate did and does the job it is supposed to. I am a nite grinder and instead of having horrible migraines in the morning — most of the time I wake up pain free.
I don’t use Dr. Gelb as a dentist, I probably couldn’t afford to — but the bite plate works and if you have the money — I recommend it.

Saw Dr. Gelb in White Plains, NY, after meeting him at an event and his insisting he could cure my TMJ and migraines. After the initial consultation and a recommendation for 2 appliances at a cost of $ 5,000, the office manager informed me that she had spoken to my insurance company and it was all covered. LIE!!! The appliances were made and not one penny was covered. My credit card was already charged, and Dr. Gelb refused to refund anything given the lack of insurance coverage and false claim by his staff. The appliances didn’t even help. Scam artist. Avoid at all cost.

AWFUL! Dr. Gelb CONVINCED me I needed an appliance to sleep with, which cost me $ 3,000. He also told me I needed to go on a medication to «relax» my jaw which made me sick after 3 days. I remained in pain after use of this appliance and called his office several times, as well as his cell which he told me «was the best way» to reach him. I remained in pain and had left word that something wasn’t right, but he never returned my calls. I went to an endodontist who took the time and diagnosed my problem — i needed a root canal on my wisdom tooth. Immediately after that my pain disappeared. She too tried calling Dr. Gelb and he ignored her calls as well. I agree with every bad review I’ve read on this page — he comes across as nice and charming, and all he wants to do is get you to spend money… and then he ignores you. I think he is awful and a total disgrace. STAY AWAY FROM DR. GELB!!!

Pretty bad experience here– I was encouraged to go through the works and nearly promised a cure for my tmj pain and dystfunction and the oral appliances that I wore for over a year did not help. I still have the same problem I started with and felt the office staff got tired of me calling with questions as soon as they got the chunk of money I paid them. I paid over 5 thousands dollars to be treated by the Gelb center and felt like they lost interest in me when my problem was not easily quickly resolved and or they werent getting more money from me.
The person that takes the payments was rude and so are other assistants that work in the office.
I was excited at first about finding a «cure» but now I just fell like I got the old run around. Mostly upset that I felt the staff became impatient and disinterested after they got their moneyl. I would have hoped they would have been more interested in simply helping me.
Its really hard to know where to turn when your in pain and its easy to believe anyone who tells you they can fix your problem but I have learned through this process that you have to be a skeptic and also realize most of the «tmj specialists» In NY (all the ones I have met atleast) have been in it for the money first and foremost.

When called the Gelb Center, I was assured that my health insurance will cover the dental appliances because I was diagnosed with TMJ. I paid over $ 5000 for two appliances! It helped a little. I wasn’t able to go to any follow ups because according to my insurance company none of the proper paperwork was submitted. The follow up visits were $ 250 per visit! I couldn’t afford that especially since I had not received anything from insurance. When I called Dr. Gelb’s office to find out about my insurance claim, I was told the person that I was dealing with left and someone would be calling me back. NO CALL BACK. Long story short, after numerous calls, I could not get anyone at the Gelb Center to help me. This has been since July 2010. TERRIBLE!!!

I wish I had never been referred to Dr. Gelb to address my moderate jaw clicking and discomfort. My experience was good initially, but extremely bad over the long haul. He is very charming and impressive in the beginning with his credentials, spiffy equipment, and expensive digs, but rude and not helpful when you come back for help when his bite does not work out. And his staff is very aggressive at selling his services. At the initial visit, they pushed me into signing up for an approximately $ 8,000 treatment plan and said that my medical insurance would cover most of the cost. (Insurance didn’t cover a dime because no surgery was required, but I paid up-​front) They really discouraged me from seeking second opinions and portrayed my case as very problematic and intimated that Dr. Gelb was my only real hope. I really wish I had gone elsewhere because I learned subsequently that there were many other approaches available to me that might have been better, less costly, and less painful. (Some other experts think that I needed fairly minimal treatment.)
The treatment plan was to put me into a special splint to center and open up my bite. At the end of the treatment my teeth were totally out of contact (due to a jaw re-​positioning) and he referred me to his in-​house dental colleague to do a full mouth dental reconstruction at a proposed cost of $ 55,000+. That was a shocker. You see, Dr. Gelb does not do dental work, per se, but leaves that hard dental work to others after he puts the jaw into the position he wants with his «Gelb device». I certainly didn’t realize up front that I would be spending so much money to address my moderate clicking and discomfort. And I was not successful in coordinating the work between Dr. Gelb and the dentist doing the reconstructive work. No one wanted to assume full responsibility.
I’ve now spent several years and more than $ 110,000 (cash) with risky and invasive follow-​up dental work in trying to capture Gelb’s idealized centered bite, with huge problems along the way that are still not resolved. The centered bite simply did not work for me. I am trying to re-​build it back to my original bite now. The whole process has been a nightmare and ruinous experience. As you can imagine broke me financially as well as physically and emotionally. Maybe he has helped some others, but not me. If you’re thinking of going to him, do yourself a big favor and seek numerous opinions and get the whole picture in advance. And get it in writing.

Avoid. Believe all the negative comments on her as they are exactly as my appointment went. Dr. Gelb is a complete rip off and if not even a good Dr. Dr. Gelb looks at photos of your mouth rather than actually examining your mouth thoroughly, he then cons you into a scan x-​ray that costs a couple hundred dollars claiming it is the only accurate way he can see your jaw. He does not know how to communicate and dictates to his staff rather than talking to you directly and then tries to sell you a mouth guard for a couple of thousand dollars. He will make you think you are in a dire situation. He is out of network with insurance and requires you pay upfront and his staff does not process the full dollar amount you paid cash out of pocket when they file with your insurance resulting in you not being reimbursed as you were told you would be and then the money the insurance does pay, his office keeps and you end up not being reimbursed for your out of pocket expenses.(I can’t begin to tell you how many people contact me on here because they too have had a problem with this place and want to start a class action law suit. I settled my beef with them and my insurance company got me my money back so I’m not interested in joining in people but I suggest you file a claim at small claims court as a start with this place)

Simply stated, Dr. Gelb is stellar! I have suffered from TMJ disorder for years on end and am currently under his care. He is a the pro when it comes to all matters related to this disorder which can be quite debilitating to say the least. He is highly focused and attentive as well is his staff. I can’t recommend him enough and can’t wait until I am free, with his help, from dealing with this chronic health issue.

I’m surprised to see such a terrible review for Doctor Gelb here. For me, he’s been soooo helpful. The appliance made my TMJ much, much better. And they actually helped my insurance pay for it, and were nice about providing a lower price for me for the stuff my insurance didn’t cover. I almost feel like previous reviewer went to a different doctor. Or maybe Lisa’s experience is the exception to the rule or something. All I know is, before Doctor Gelb, I thought I needed surgery. After, I don’t. So… to me, that’s really important.

Totally does not listen to what patients have to say about their own past experiences dealing with TMJ. He has a product he wants to sell and so will do anything to sell it, whether you need it or not. His appliances, worn religiously, actually made my TMJ worse. Also, very unhelpful in following through on accurately filing insurance claims on your behalf.