Western Avenue Family Dental, Oral Surgery & Implant Center

My service at Western Family Dental in San Pedro was outstanding today. The office admin communicated clearly, dental assistant Roxana is very safety oriented, knowledgeable, kind, courteous, respectful during the visit and made sure I understood my follow up actions by priority first. Dr. Nazila Bagheri is very light handed with injections and focused with staff support. You could see she knows exactly where she’s going with your work for the best results. She was also clear with my follow up maintenance plan and made cost effective suggestions that I greatly appreciated. I really respect the dedication and kindness here at Western Family Dental in San Pedro.

I had a wonderful experience with Arlene and Billie Jo. They are both friendly, professional, and genuinely care about making things go smoothly. Their teamwork really stood out — Arlene’s attention to detail combined with Billie Jo’s warm and approachable manner made everything easy and enjoyable. I truly appreciate the effort they put in and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for reliable and kind support.

I wanted to edit my review to reflect that management did reach out to me and was very nice and apologetic and covered the cost of the work that the front office had told me was covered by insurance. It’s unfortunate that I had to write a scathing review to get the attention of the manager because the woman at the front desk was gatekeeping communication with management and accounting. I had been a client with this office for years so, hopefully, they have re-trained their front desk person. Western Avenue Dental has been my dental office for years and years and I love Dr.Aldwin (who is not the owner of this practice FYI), but there is no way in hell I would recommend that office after my recent treatment by the front of house. In fact, I'm embarrassed to say that I have referred over a dozen FAMILIES to the office that I have now had to contact and let know that they shouldn't return to that dental practice lest they too are grossly overcharged and unprofessionally dismissed when attempting to dispute the charges. I recently had a crown that I was told was pre-authorized as covered by my insurance and my portion would cost $128 (All of these details were actually left on my voicemail, so I know I am not mistaken or imagining things because I have the recording!). Upon arrival for my initial appointment, I paid the $128 and was prepped for the temporary. Now, initially, before the first appointment, I had made it very clear that I did not want the crown unless it was covered by insurance because it was not an emergency situation and could wait until 2026. That being said, a couple weeks later I arrived for the delivery of my permanent crown and was told I owed almost $500! I told the receptionist that there had been a mistake and I would need to speak with the coordinator (that would be Billy Jo who initially left the message) and I was obviously not going to pay an additional almost $500. She said she would have her contact me. When I received no contact, I assumed that they had sorted their mistake. Lo and behold, several weeks later I received a bill for almost $500 in the mail. When I called the office to again try to speak with Billy Jo to discuss what the heck was going on, reception was very icy and rude as soon as I told her who I was and just would not allow me to speak with Billy Jo or any other person involved in management, repeatedly shut me down when I tried to explain that I had been over-billed, told me to contact my insurance, and ended the call after accusing me of cursing at her and "getting out of hand" when I calmly said "look, I don't see why I'd have to pay an extra 500 when your office effed up the billing." To add insult to injury, before the big bill arrived, they had called me in for a cleaning that they said was covered and, after speaking with insurance, was informed that it was not covered! So basically this office is just making Willy Nilly appointments without checking for coverage, telling clients they are covered, then billing them and refusing to admit they have bad practices. All of this being said, I behoove you not to go to this office. No one needs the unnecessary grief and, frankly, there is just too much money at stake if the front office is dysfunctional. It is such bad business for an office to repeatedly tell a client that something will be covered, assure them that work is covered, give them an agreed upon price, charge them the agreed upon price, then send them a bill for hundreds and hundreds of dollars that has warnings about late fees/collections and disallow any communication with billing or management. Heck, they could send you a bill for 5k out of the blue, after the fact, and what could you do about it? Ruin your credit? It's Kafkaesque! Insanity! I was a business owner for years and I would never ever have given a client a service quote, accepted payment for quoted price, performed the service, then send a bill for almost four times as much and refuse to discuss it with them. Madness.

I’ve had a really disappointing experience. I was referred for extractions three months ago, and the surgeon has repeatedly given excuses for not completing my treatment. The first appointment was canceled because he had a party to attend, and the second time he said the office didn’t have any anesthesia available. It really feels like the priorities are completely off. I’ve also tried calling the office several times, and no one ever picks up.

Carol and Arlene are always welcoming !! Making the process at the dentist easy 10/10 recommend. Dr. Kim and staff is the best!!

This place is shady. I think this office is committing insurance fraud. They asked me to sign proof that I’d read their privacy notice without letting me read it. Once I read it, I noticed several problems with the legal language; when I confronted them about them, they just whisked it away and said "fine you don't have to sign". They clearly weren't expecting anyone to read it. When I asked if I could skip the x-ray because I’m pregnant, they said if they didn’t x- ray me they wouldn’t clean my teeth. I said ok fine and signed the waiver; as soon as I signed it, they denied me service and asked me to leave (???). I think they're still planning on charging my insurance. The staff was rude and the environment was insane- TV and music blasting at the same time, kids playing games with the sound on. I searched the Dental Board Web site and couldn't find their dentistry license. Shady shady shady. I also think they give a discount for positive reviews which explains all the short good ones

Arlene was soo helpful over the phone she helped me with getting my insurance information sorted out and was very thorough! Ive also taken my son here multiple times and the staff and dentists are very very kind and made it soo easy for his first visit! 10/10 would recommend especially for childs first visit