Gentle Dental -- Center City

I went to get a root canal done. Dr. Jay was really nice. He seemed experienced and did a thorough job. I had very little pain after the root canal. Dr. Charoenbanpachon, who did my crown afterwards did a shoddy job. She's nice, but inexperienced. The first time I went back it was because the tooth felt uncomfortable--she didn't shave it down enough. The second time I went back, it was because my crown felt a little loose. When I told Dr. Chareon about this, she said that there was not enough tooth to work with, but I was convinced that part of it was her fault. Sure enough, my friend (who was in dental school) told me that it was because she did not put enough material on the gum to keep the crown in place.

I agree with all the negative press. My cleaning was rushed. With the exception of Dr. Liu, the staff is not friendly. But Dr. Liu's friendliness does not begin to justify going to GD. When I had a filling replaced he rushed through the job leaving me with rough edges that required another visit to have smoothed. To this day I still have the rough edge. Never experienced that before in my 57 years. But that's not the bad news. My husband (who has a high pain tolerance) complained bitterly about the way Dr. Liu administered novocaine. Dr. Liu jammed the novocaine up his gum so fast his face hurt for days. I was willing to give GD another go after my appointment, but after my husband's experience, I'm changing dental offices.

I went to Gentle Dental back in 3/08 for a regular checkup/cleaning b/c it was close to where I lived. To my dismay I had a cavity (now in hindsight, "so they said i had a cavity"). The dentist that did the job looked like right out of residency...like a previous reviewer said, i should've jumped out of the seat and called my dentist whom i went to for 15 years and just pay out of network. So my molar was drilled and filled. Not wanting to pay the extra $50 for porcelain, i did the regular and it looks horrible when i open my mouth. Need to get it fixed somehow.... Anyways, now to the present. Moved to Maryland and found a credible and respectable dental practice. I called Gentle Dental to mail over my records and the receptionist starting spitting out all these ridiculous charges to mail over my records!!!!! $30-something here another $25 there...so the total was close to $60. I never heard of such thing! I transferred to different doctors throughout the years and no one ha... Read more

I don't really have enough time to tell you everything that was wrong with this dental nightmare. Dr. Jay is very nice, but the work that I had done was questionable at best. I was told that I went from having one cavity ever in my life to having 11, and I have gone to dentists consistently. I was also told that I would need a very expensive deep cleaning, waited for four hours, and was made to watch videos about arrestin. I had the filings done, they were done very quickly (7 in one sitting!) and the dentist seemed rushed and distracted. I went for a second opinion to a dentist that I trusted about the cleaning, and to look at the fillings which were giving me pain. The second dentist told me that two of the fillings would have to be redone, I did not need arrestin, and that they had actually missed the only cavity that she could see on the x-ray. She did not want to touch my fillings because she thought they should be fixed for free, and she was afraid that touching them would resul... Read more

gentle dental is the best; Dr. Jay is wonderful "get it done"type of Dr. The hygienist is the best: to the point, sincere, and cleans each and every tooth in your mouth. I would recommend this Dr. and hygienist to any one

I am a new patient of Dr. Liu's. Went there with because it's near my apartment and they take my insurance. I don't think I'm going to be going back. He's a nice man, and was fine on the day I had my basic check-up, cleaning, etc. But yesterday I went back to have some cracked/missing fillings replaced and some minor bonding re-done and it was probably the worse dentist experience I've ever had. He didn't numb my gums adequately before injecting the novacaine, so that really hurt (have had novacaine several times before, it never felt like this). He didn't file down the new fillings enough, so I now have rough spots on teeth, a sharp edge and my bite feels funny. He re-did bonding on two of my front teeth and while one looks good, the other (now that I've looked at it more closely) is not acceptable at all. hey are also rough and feel like he didn't smooth them at all. And last, without telling me what he was doing, he either sanded down or shaved off the enamel on one of my c... Read more

I've gone to Gentle Dental for 3 appointments so far. I agree with what most people are saying. Dr. Liu himself is very friendly, took the time to answer a couple of my questions and greets me everytime i've come in. The receptionist is definitely far from friendly and condescending but that seems to be the case of many customer service people in Philadelphia. My one other semi-complaint with this office is that the hygienist is done with the cleaning so quickly (often within 15 minutes) that I wonder about the quality of the work. And they don't give you a free toothbrush either!!

I was also scheduled for unnecessary dental work. I was told that all my teeth needed fillings, but I got a bad vibe so decided to get a second opinion. A number of the fillings recommended were unnecessary.

Dr Jay Liu is a great guy and very good at what he does (I'm in the medical field myself and you can get a sense of who is smoke and mirrors and who is actually clinically proficient). Went through two other dentists in the area before settling on him since moving to the area. Highly recommend him. His rates are right on par with others- unfortunately dentists are expensive though. No way getting around that. As far as the person below saying that Dr Liu claimed there were 6 cavities when there were not? Get real man, that story could not be any more bogus. There is a hygienist right there next to him while he is examining you. I might fathom a dishonest dentist trying to rip you off for one cavity and getting that by the hygienist without her realizing it, but 6. How can this guy still be in business if he was that greedy/crooked? And are you saying that all his hygienists are in on this scam, because he has more than one. I can however echo the comments others have made ab... Read more

Went to Gentle Dental for the first time and I was told by Dr Jay Liu that I had 6 cavities! I rarely have had cavities my entire life so I obviously thought something was terribly wrong. I was also told that I had gingivitis. It turns out this is a common practice by offices that don't get highly compensated by lower paying insurance companies. If they say you have gingivitis then they can bill more for a cleaning under a different code rather than a regular cleaning. I immediately got up out of the chair and called the office I had been going to for years (they are out of network but I didnt care and thought it was worth paying out of pocket at that point)...I got to see my regular dentist that afternoon and it turned out I had no cavities!! If I can save anyone from unnecessary dental work then I would feel vindicated. This office seems to take advantage of people just to bill more...its all about the dollar bill. Its extremely discouraging especially when you see his University of ... Read more

Dr. Jay was really nice, and did an okay job on my root canal. The staff in the back (assistants and nurses were kind), but the receptionist when I called to make an appt. was terrible. She asked me questions that didn't even concern making an appointment. I just want to make an appointment! Don't tell me I should've made an appointment 2 months ago. Anyway, I'm taking my money elsewhere.

I had a bridge replaced and a root canal done here. Both had to be redone elsewhere. I actually like Dr. Jay. He's a good guy to talk to but he's a poor manager of his staff and time and he will inject you with novocaine, go do four other procedures and then come back and screw up a root canal taking only 10 minutes to do it. This office is probably fine for cleanings and basic checkups but don't let them come near you with a drill.

Dr. Jay Liu is such a nice dentist and he is extremely good, his hygienist is also very good, nice, and patient. I had been going to Gentle Dental for three years. I recently switched dentists for two reasons. The are not open on Fridays or Saturdays which is inconvenient if you work. But this was not enough of a reason for me to switch. The receptionist at Dr. Jay's office so evil, nasty, and condescending I could not stand it anymore. She talks down to the clients, and reprimands them for various "infractions". I have enough stress in my life without that nasty women.

I read a terrible review the day before I was to go see another doctor, I promptly cancelled my appointment. I read a good review on the Gentle Dentist so I called up Gentle Dentist in Center City, they were able to get me in that next afternoon as a new pacient. Dr. Jay wastes no time and is to the point. The cleaning I had was different and a little painful while done, but not later. They clean in a new way which the pic has water shooting out of it, so it shoots under your gums a little. I had very clean teeth, and they didn't hurt later, but while being done it was tough. I ended up needing a lot of work done, Dr. Jay was willing to combine as much as he could in appointments. This is nice because if I'm going to take time off from work it might as well be worth it and not very often. They provide understandable documentation of the work that needs to be done and how much it's going to cost you. Also the receptionist is very nice.

Small dentistry chain provides cosmetic services, crowns, bridges, teeth whitening, extractions and general maintenance care; emergency appointments available.

Great office staf and friendly professional doctor. i would definitely recomend Gentle Dental to my friends!