TL;DR: Amazingly friendly, accommodating staff and very clear approach to dentistry with good explanations from Dr. Chu and a personable approach. Minus 1 star for being rather expensive...though honestly periodontology is probably just like that, and for most folks hopefully most procedures will be covered by insurance.
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Seriously, fantastic staff. Jean at the front desk makes most of my calls and appointments, and she's pleasant, remembers small details about me, and is also very flexible when needed to reschedule or shift things around. Enisa, who manages insurance and payments, is fantastically clear and responsive, helpful, patient, and open. These folks are always ready to answer a question with just a quick phone call, and they use every method known to modern dentistry to remind you of appointments, which I like - get the card, get an email, get a text, and a phone call on top of all of that. Dang! It's an impressively smooth ship over there.
Dr. Chu is wonderfully approachable, skilled in his craft, and able to clearly explain options, tradeoffs, and procedures. He may have a small tendency to sell you towards his common procedures just because it's what he does all day - I honestly don't think he's got an evil bone in his body, but the nature of the business is what it is and it can be sometimes useful to advocate for yourself (i.e. "I want to wait a year or two to monitor these gums" or "no, I don't need to be sedated").
Procedures - I've had both the gum graft surgery and the pinhole collagen injection surgery to treat my receded gums, and each time I've been thoroughly impressed - with no more than local anesthetic, there is seriously no pain during the procedures (just the normal discomfort of having a bunch of hands in your mouth). Unless you have especially bad fears or anxieties around dental work, I'd skip the heavier drugs and sedation - local anesthetic is perfectly effective here and you can get yourself home safely after 90 minutes or so. For me, post-op recovery has been (lucky perhaps) smooth sailing (expect lots of swelling and bruising, but that's fine...just make up stories about the other guy). You'll need to follow a delicate regime of soft foods for a few days and avoiding anything which could injure the freshly-worked area, but again, that's just normal for the procedure.
Cost - Before insurance covers its part, gum surgeries run in the ballpark of $1200-2000 and cleanings $200-400 depending if it's the deep cleaning or not. Not cheap, but certainly worth it for your mouth health. With these numbers, pay attention to what your insurance does and doesn't cover and when the limits reset.
Logistics - Parking is easy enough for bike or car but other transit options are few (rather far from Caltrain and any frequently-served bus lines) and car traffic in the area is pretty congested near rush hour...if you're lucky enough to plan those midday appointments, you'll thank yourself for avoiding the trouble.
PS: If it matters to you, as of this writing, videos and photos posted here are quite accurate, showing the office and its staff in true colors. read more