Toothking Dentistry

I have been a patient of Dr. Kim’s for over a year. He is a very gentle and knowledgeable dentist. He explains everything that he is doing and makes sure that the patient understands. I have had fillings and most recently, he replaced my worn out veneers– he did a fabulous job on them. I recommend Dr. Kim and I am glad that I found him.

This guy is a HORRIBLE dentist, he had me waiting for over 8 months to finish a root canal. I actually had to find another dentist to complete it. He also botched some fillings and after telling him of the pain i was in he told me get another root canal because there was nothing he could do about it.
He also tried to get me to buy porcelain veneers, that were modestly priced at a cool $ 1,500 per tooth, and said i needed about 10 teeth done. After telling him that’s way too out of my price range he then tried to get me to ask my parents to apply for a $ 10,000 loan.
I should have read these reviews before going to him, so i hope you guys will because he fuck up your teeth and take all of your money!

AVOID. AVOID at all costs.
He should NOT be practicing.
I took my mom here because she was in so much pain and he happened to be the only dentist available in my area who accepted medical.
Upon arrival, he stood at the front desk describing in detail about how each part of my mom’s body will deteriorate due to her diabetes (type 1). That is not his job and what was his purpose? He said a deep cleaning costs $ 800. I effing kid you not. And instead of extracting just her two loose pain-​racking teeth, he strongly recommended taking out ALL of her teeth-​the rest of her teeth that were still good… without even taking an xray! He looks sane & even trustworthy, but if you pay attention, what he says is absolutely crazy and horrifying.
My mom, being too trusting of other fellow Koreans, did not get phased by all this and asked for a light cleaning with only two loose teeth extractions (which would all be covered by medical and therefore free). Instead of waiting in the lobby, I literally stood right outside his door to watch him. I know I sound psycho but honestly, in that office, every part of me screamed something was off.
He did not clean her teeth, just rubbed polish. Yeah, very gently and nicely in fact, like how those two other clueless Unilocalers said. That’s the effed up thing about this guy, he looks and talks like a knowledgeable professional. Without taking xrays, he was then getting ready for the exrractions… I suddenly jumped into the room and stopped him. Took my mom away to a trusted dentist down the street who has 130+ reviews all five stars: Dr Yosi P Behroozan (I knew very well they dont accept medical but I was desperate & willing to pay out of pocket. My mom was in great pain. Free dentistry was not worth being in the hands of Dr Kim)
The amazing sharp caring Dr Behroozan immediately took my mom in as an emergency case. Took her xrays to discover a lot of pus/​a seriously infected tooth and… the other tooth had a tiny broken root imbedded in her gums! If we had let
extract that tooth without xrays, do you think he would’ve known about the imbedded little piece of the root of her tooth? Hell no. Do you think someone who doesn’t bother to take xrays and who wants to extract ALL your teeth that are still good for another 20+ years (according to famous UCLA grad Dr Behroozan) will take good care of you every step of the way???
FUCK NO!!!
Dr Kim does not have a receptionist or an assistant. He does all that himself. I wonder why his schedule is so open. I wonder why he pushes patients to opt for extremely expensive treatments that they dont need. The negative reviews here ring as true as mine.
How dare he continue such a heartless practice. Shame on him or get mental help.

Some of the previous reviews scared me a bit, so I was a little cautious, but I must say I had an excellent experience. Dr. Kim gave me a Scaling and Root Planing and was gentle and thorough. He suggested other treatments and explained why I might consider them in the future but was not a hard sell. Truly: highly recommended!

I can’t believe how lucky I am to have discovered Dr. Kim!
I had a dental emergency and could not reach my regular dentist and I’m glad I didn’t go to Unilocal for this one, because I might not have tried Dr. Kim if had looked here first… I went based on my neighbor’s rave review of him.
Best dental experience of my life so far!
Dr. Kim is gentle, experienced and has a masterful technique.
It’s not the fanciest office I’ve ever been to, but substance over style is more important to me.
The office is clean and he is up on the latest dental technology /​tools.
My previous dentist had a flashy office and warm personality, but I’ll be paying dearly for the poor dental work that was done there.
Thank you Dr. Kim, I will be a client as long as you are in business.

This man is a liar and a fraud. He doesn’t bill insurance and tries to get you to pay money out of pocket that isn’t necessary. I still have not seen one bill from Delta from any of his cleanings or services for my wife.
He stopped my wife’s Invisalign service one year into it (after the factory sent some misshapen Invisalign molds, which he is required to replace). He simply just stopped returning any phone calls, and told his receptionist to tell us that the factory was just «backed up.»
This went on for about a year. A year!!! If you know anything about Invisalign, you need to keep using different molds every month or the treatment won’t work. He just thought he could get away with not returning our phone calls because I don’t know – my wife is a non-​native English speaker (like he is – funny how that works) – or because she’s a woman? Either way, he’s an unethical fraud. And a coward.
Finally fed up, we decided to move to another competent dentist and cut our losses. We found a great orthodontist that was willing to continue the Invisalign treatment. All they asked for was for Dr. Kim to sign a form to give them access to my wife’s Invisalign account. Easy, right?
Well, no, because Dr. Kim refused to sign the form. He actually refused to even look at it. He even refused to give us the Invisalign patient number to put on the form!
How can any dentist refuse to transfer medical records? Even to the faculty practice at USC (our new dental practice)? And hanging on his wall is a diploma from USC…(which I am 99.99% certain was purchased from a diploma website somewhere in South Korea – if that guy actually went to USC I’ll come back and give him a five star rating…)
Unethical is one way to describe all of this behavior, but another way is just «being an asshole.»
I wish we’d taken the time to check out these other Unilocal reviews before she got roped into going to this guy. Don’t make the mistake we did.

wow.
i’m actually adding this review about an experience i had in 2005 with Dr. Luke Kim. at the time I didn’t want to badmouth him because Unilocal was fairly new and I felt uncomfortable stringing him up, despite what I went through, because I thought maybe it was just me.
I came in for a checkup because my insurance was going to be cancelled soon. When I mentioned that to him, he suddenly «found» no less than 8 cavities that needed filling. No joke, eight. I hadn’t been to the dentist in about a year, but eight? what he showed me on the x-​rays didn’t look like cavities but what do I know, I’m not a dentist, and he convinced me that I should get them done if I am not going to have insurance soon.
We set up 2 or 3 sessions for me about several days apart to have them done. After the first few were filled, I started experiencing extreme pain and sensitivity in those fillings. I told him the next time I came in that my fillings were causing me pain and he told me that it’s just normal sensitivity, that we should continue with the other fillings. I should have listened to my gut, but I went ahead with his suggestion.
A week later, I was still in pain from the first fillings AND the new fillings. It was intensifying, not lessening. I couldn’t eat cereal or anything hard without feeling shooting sensations in my head. I was miserable. so I called and told him I really don’t want to do any more fillings until he takes a look and fixes the problem. He tried to convince me again that the pain would go away, but it had been almost 2 weeks now of not eating and I wasn’t having it.
In the end, he wasn’t able to do anything and I was so unhappy that I questioned whether I should have to pay for the faulty work. We went back and forth for a long time between him and my insurance company — he was so dismissive of my pain and kept calling me to push me for more filings to be done, even suggesting that he could backdate the work so my insurance would pay! (It had lapsed at that point)
Not that it matters, but we’re both Korean and I can understand that sometimes Koreans seem pushy and rude to Americans due to cultural misunderstandings, but I really feel like Mr. Kim was beyond normal pushy.
Tooth pain can feel really traumatic, especially when you wonder if you’ll ever be able to eat normal food again. I couldn’t bite down on anything for months.
It wasn’t until I found my next dentist that I realized the value of listening to your patients. Dr. William Harrison (who I wrote a review for) saved my mouth and restored my trust in dentists.

I wish I read these reviews before going to this dentist!
I am in the same boat as all mentioned. I went for a cleaning and he told me that he would not do the cleaning until I do a deep cleaning to remove germs inside the gums, priced at a cool 800 bucks. He then told me that my wife needs to come in and do the same thing since my germs transfer through kissing… Like I am that stupid to not see the con in that one.
Do not recommend this at all.

I went to this dentist, and yes, his office was strange. There doesn’t seem to be much business, and I think it is just him in the office (no assistant, no receptionist).
He tried to upsell me on everything from having fillings, a tooth removed, teeth whitening, etc. I was not impressed with his work at all, and will NEVER go back!

DO NOT VISIT THIS DENTIST.
Made appointment to have teeth cleaned as I have recently quit smoking. Walked into the filthiest junk packed office I have ever visited. Safety hazard! Doctor told me that regular cleaning would’nt do as he just peered into my mouth. No tool was used to review gums or periodontal condition.
He tried to sell me deep cleaning and charge me almost $ 800, some of which was to be paid by insurance. He told me it would take less than an hour. I come to understand that deep cleaning is below the gums and is not the treatment for removing smoke stains which live mostly on the teeth surface. Dr. Kim was angry I said no and told me he would probably charge my insurance for the appointment regardless. I told him if he did I would do all in my power to have him lose his Aetna relationship. I am on to the ADA for a more full scale complaint than what is mentioned here. Do not visit this dentist.
If Dr. Kim chooses to have this review removed, he must supply at least 6 client references in writing here, clean his office to his mothers or my satisfaction, explain why he recommended a treatment that I did not need and provide evidence of all your training for dentistry over the last 5 years.

This place is weird. I only went here because it came up on my dental insurance list of providers.
First of all there’s only one dentist in the whole office and he also does double duty as the receptionist. I don’ t know if maybe someone went on vacation or if that’s a permanent situation, but it seemed like they had fallen on hard times.
Front waiting area is kind of dilapilated and outdated too and not very comfortable or comforting when you’re waiting.
Dentist was nice enough, though I felt he was trying to sell me more services to make more money.
Would I go back? Fuck no.