A dentist must foremost be caring, compassionate, and competent. When any of these are lacking, one must think carefully.
I had a consult with Dr. Gim (July 2021). After his assistant took the x-ray of my tooth and I sat waiting, he ordered a CT x-ray without even waking in to look at what she took (maybe he viewed it from another room). He sauntered in approx. 30 minutes after my appointment time and did not apologize for being tardy. He just picked up my paperwork, and started to speak without even looking at me. We had never met. To him, perhaps, I was just a number. He rushed through his recommendations, and after I said I did not have questions, he disappeared around the corner in a flash leaving me to find my way to the front office to pay for the appointment. Needless to say, I would never trust such a rude, uncaring, arrogant person in my mouth. But it didn't start with him.
In 2015, another dentist in that same office, Dr. Han, had done a root canal on the same tooth for which I found myself back in the office in July 2021. Since that root canal, my gum had never felt or looked right but I dealt with it over the the years because I did not want my gum cut open again after the awful experience I had had. Here is what happened: While Han was friendly enough, I found him to be unprofessional. With my gum flap cut wide open while stuck in a chair, he and his assistant talked over my mouth the entire time, about an upcoming weekend vacation to Big Bear...I can't recall which one was going. I remember hoping they were paying attention but I felt very helpless while they planned their weekend over my mouth agape. In addition, He gave me so much Novocaine all at once that my heart was racing out of control. When I told him, he just said it was normal. I disagree. When I went back for him to remove stitches, he noted that he was "surprised" my gum flap had not come back all the way down over my front tooth. I didn't even care, I just wanted to be done.
My dentist recently referred be back here, and I must be a glutton for punishment to have gone back for a consult, but I hoped Gim would have won me over. What in fact happened was that his poor bedside manners and what I felt was advice that was not honest, sent me the message loud and clear. I care about my health too much; therefore, I will look elsewhere. It's fine that others had good experiences but my criteria as stated above are quite stringent.
One positive note is that the girl who took my x-rays was friendly and sweet. The girl in the office however seemed to hate her job. While she wasn't rude, she could not have cared less whether my visit was great or not. read more