Dr. Brian Bast - Exceptional Surgeon & Human Being. I came to Dr. Bast with a complex, 30-year-old foreign-body issue in my maxillary sinus and alveolar bone that had caused years of symptoms. From the first consultation, his calm expertise, clear communication, and genuine care put me at ease. The surgery was flawless--no complications, minimal discomfort, and the post-op CBCT confirmed 100 % removal of the material with beautiful early healing. Throughout recovery, Dr. Bast and his team have been incredibly attentive and supportive. I am deeply grateful for his precision, kindness, and the life-changing outcome he delivered. If you need an oral and maxillofacial surgeon you can trust completely, Dr. Bast is simply the best. Thank you, Dr. Bast, for giving me my health back. Highly recommend without reservation. Anya B December 2025 read more

Had Temporalis Muscle Graft as replacement of my left articular disc in October of 2024 to cure my popping when open and closing jaw (TMJ Disorder) and let me just say literal nightmare (not joking). I can't believe how stupid I was to take my health for granted before this operation. I'm thankful for the 26 years of life I had before this operation but unfortunately this operation has made me suicidal. Temporalis pain is so bad cannot apply any pressure on left side of head as it is so painful (that means yes no sleeping anymore). Can't wear over the ear headphones anymore as well and I bet you can guess how life altering of an event this is given I work as a Music Producer. Pain is so bad that I can't even do anything that requires deep thought. Anything that requires me to use my brain (I'm also an Engineer) and it pains even more because my temporalis is trying to flex but now it's not there anymore (I had no idea he was cutting away an entire cross section of my temporalis, flipping it over my zygoma, and fixing it into my articular cavity). The location of my scar and TMJ is so senstive (over 5 months later) that simply touching it hurts really bad and it itches all the time. If I also do anything that requires bending over, the blood rushes to my Temporalis and I feel like I'm going to pass out. This operation has also limited my range of motion, can't open past 25 mm without extreme pain and difficulty (previous was 50 mm) so now I'm out of breathe doing literally anything and because I can't breathe, my heart has been beating faster to compensate and so I have really bad heart pain now (I'm 6'4 170 lbs and I exercised/lifted weights regulary, now I can't exercise at all anymore). I have to literally take breaks to breathe inbetween talking because my heart is in so much pain due to lack of oxygen. Also anything I hold with my left hand and I can literally feel my heart in pain. Something as lightweight as a bowl of cereal. I literally have to carry anything in my right hand now. My left eye is also feeling the effect of lack of Temporalis Muscle and so whenever I'm really tired I'm having trouble keeping my left eye open. I'm stupid for ignoring the red flags, I had no idea it was this bad. I regret not asking more questions but he lied to me that my range of motion was going to go back to normal. If you are considering Dr. Bast, or any Surgeon that you have doubts with, I promise you, do everything you possibly can to go see doctor out of network, sell everything in your possession because your health is the most important thing on this planet. (First try to fill out DMHC form because I had no idea I could've had the state of CA force BlueShield to accept my request to be seen by out of network doctor). read more

Brian Bast, DMD MD - Oral Surgeons Near Me - San Francisco, California

My wife had an Orthognathic procedure (double jaw surgery) performed by Dr. Bast and his surgical team. The entire procedure, both pre and post surgery, has been outstanding. A careful, detailed approach was used to develop the Surgical Plan. The surgery itself at UCSF went as efficiently as could be expected. Although an extremely invasive surgery, the procedure resulted in a manageable amount of pain, with minimal swelling and bruising. The recovery period is going well, with a return of all nerve sensation, and jaw range of motion. My wife can now sleep without a CPAP machine, as her occluded airway has been mitigated. Great support from several of the Resident doctors has aided in her reocvery. The residents has also assisted with the paperwork required by EDD and my wife's workplace. In addition, Raul, the UCSF Insurance Facilitator was awesome in gathering all Approvals from our Insurance company in a timely fashion. A great job by the entire team! read more

My little daughter Mira had a gingival fibroma in her mouth. The dentists told us it was caused by her pacifier sucking but we stopped letting her use it and the growth never slowed. So we got a referral and took her to see Dr. Bast at UCSF. Mira has had to have 3 surgeries at UCSF. First was a biopsy, then to remove the fibroma. Sadly, her fibroma returned and she had another to take it out. This was a few weeks ago and things are looking fine. It's a very rare and unusual growth that she has and now she's even the subject of a case study at UCSF. Throughout it all, Dr. Bast has been great about getting us in quickly to get the procedures done, and giving us good advice. He's always introduced us to the surgical team as well, so we know who was working on our daughter. Mira has healed quickly - far more faster than we would have ever expected. Some of it is because she is young, I think a lot of it is due to the great care that Dr Bast and his staff gave her while doing the procedures. We're going to monitor the growth on a regular basis now and hope she won't have it recur again. read more

Dr. Bast has been amazing the entire time I've seen him; we had several complications leading up to my surgery, and I ended up having it in June of the COVID pandemic, so it was extra stressful. But he made everything as easy as possible. Other surgeons I've seen have seemed condescending, or too busy to answer questions, but Dr. Bast has always had time for my concerns. He is thoughtful and careful, and I really appreciate everything he's done. I also had to have some follow-up appointments months after my surgery, just to make sure everything was fine, and my insurance had expired by that point. Dr. Bast was kind enough to see me without any charge, because he really cared about if everything was going well. I can't recommend him enough. read more

At the tender age of thirteen, I asked my mother one of those questions that only a thirteen year old girl would ask: Hannala: "Mom, am I pretty?" Ma M.: "Well, sweetheart, you're not really pretty - you have a classic look." Hannala: "Uh, ok." :-/ So I've gone through life with the understanding that I was NOT pretty. * When the cheerleaders invited me to their slumber parties, I assumed it was only because they thought my jokes about the football players were funny. * When I was crowned prom queen, I assumed it was only because I was nice to the underclassmen. * When boys told me I was pretty and asked me out, I assumed it was only because they thought the pretty girls wouldn't talk to them. * When my friends told me that my assumptions were crazy, I assumed that their love blinded them to the truth. Boy, this is a sad story so far. Thankfully, I've got a happy(ish) ending for you. I fell. I broke my face in THREE places. One of those places was my cheekbone (known inside hospitals and anatomy classes as the zygomatic arch). My face was DENTED. The ER doctor said I'd need surgery. I assumed I needed surgery because my face would not work properly without surgery. Dr. Bast said I needed surgery because I was pretty. Huh? Yep, apparently, according to Dr. Bast, I AM pretty and NOT fixing such a pretty face would be awful - tantamount to negligence. Where the hell was this man when I was thirteen?! Not only does he think I'm pretty, but he's also very empathetic, gentle AND the man knows his stuff about fixing faces. (He specializes in facial reconstructive surgery and is a graduate of UCSF Medical School and Harvard Dental School) When I went in for my surgical evaluation, I was scared and close to tears. I'd never had surgery before. He led me into the exam room and, after looking over my CT scans and x-rays, clearly and carefully explained to me what would need to be done to fix my face. He invited questions and carefully answered each one. His demeanor made me feel calmer and safe. He promised to carefully return my face "back to its pretty self." He gave me his cell number, his pager number, his office number AND his email - just in case I needed to reach him before the surgery with ANY questions or concerns. The day of my surgery, he was at my bedside pre-surgery asking if I was ok. Was I warm enough? Did I have any other questions? He introduced the other surgeons who would be operating on me. He asked my mom if she had any questions. Post-surgery, Dr. Bast was back at my bedside asking if I was ok. Did I have enough pain medication? Was I warm enough? How did I feel? Would I like my mom to come sit with me in recovery? He seemed genuinely happy when he told me that the surgery went really well and apologized about me having to have x-rays taken almost immediately after I came out of the anesthesia. (The x-rays, which the technician showed to me, displayed two perfectly symmetrical cheekbones - one with titanium and one without.) The next evening at 7:30ish, which happened to be a SATURDAY, my cell phone rang. It was Dr. Bast - wanting to know how I was doing. Were the pain meds enough? Was I able to sleep ok? How did I feel? Seriously, this man has ruined, RUINED me for other surgeons (if not other men in general!). He's like some sort of medical super hero (did I mention that as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon he's a doctor AND a dentist?) who is capable of doing great surgical work while also maintaining an amazingly caring and compassionate bedside manner. Important and VERY USEFUL note: he specializes in minimally invasive surgery meaning I have ZERO external scars. My surgery has traditionally been done with three incisions - one of which is external - but Dr. Bast managed to fix me up with only ONE incision inside my mouth. Hooray to NO SCARS! And finally, the most wonderful thing Dr. Bast did was this: he told my mom that her daughter was pretty. My mother, who takes EVERYTHING doctors say as GOSPEL, said "Yes, yes she is." read more

It is nice to see the other reviews for Doctor Bast. As far as I am concerned, they are all based in reality. The man is very good at what he does, he is an excellent listener, and he explains the details well. It is evident that he is comfortable in his own skin, and is comfortable performing his craft. I broke a tooth off, requiring an extraction and an implant, and would see him again without hesitation. read more

I saw Bast for a removal and biopsy of a small gum cyst. After a horrendous experience at another doctor (I got numbed up, they did nothing and sent me home - see Dr. Grimm's review), Brian was awesome. He used enough anesthetic so that I did not feel anything, but not too much (compared to the other place where I couldn't blink my eye) and it wore off quickly. He called in an old doctor for a second opinion (who concurred), and had a nice staff. If you have to have someone slice up your face, Dr. Bast is a good bet. The hospital was good about checking my insurance and giving me the bill ahead of time. read more

My husband had a mass of inflammation in his jaw bone socket and if took six hours of surgery to remove it. Dr. Bast and his surgical team were amazing and my husband has no scars and is doing great. Dr. Bast is such an impressive, skilled surgeon with wonderful bedside manner. We were very fortunate to have him as my husband's surgeon. UCSF is a also the best hospital. read more

I saw Dr. Bast for the removal of my wisdom teeth at UCSF dental clinic. He is an amazing dentist, and an anesthesiologist as well (which was good for me because I'm afraid of needles and during the surgery I felt nothing).During the surgery, I did not feel any discomfort whatsoever and post-recovery was quick. if I had any questions Dr. Bast was quick to respond via telephone/email. I definitely recommend him!!! P.S. Dr. Bast is makes going to the dentist super fun..and no longer scary :) read more