Gentle Dental Mililani

This is my second review. My first one is rated as «Not Recommended.» Gee, I wonder why? If you want an honest account of what happened to me at this location, just scroll down and look under the «Not Recommended» section.
Here’s the short story: Gentle Dental has owed me some money for over six months. My calls have gone unanswered. I have been blown off. I have been ignored. They have promised to get back to me and never did. And, they asked me to take down my Unilocal review, which I almost did, but then thought better of it. No big deal, because to Gentle Dental, it doesn’t matter whether you take down a bad review or not, because they will simply place you in the «Not Recommended» folder.
Earlier this week, I sent them a last-​chance message. I told them that whomever is sitting on my check had better consider whether or not they want to do this. I also told them I would take my voting dollars elsewhere if I wasn’t paid within 48 hours. So it’s been about that much time, and I’ll be looking for that «check in the mail» very soon.
Their customer service has gone from Excellent (with Quentin there, before) to OK, to bad, to the worst I’ve ever experienced — downright rude «service». If this location is circling the drain, now they know why… if it’s not, just wait awhile longer… this situation will take care of itself. Remember Gentle Dental, smiling while you’re being disingenuous will get you nowhere fast. Good luck with that way of doing business in the future.

I wish I had paid more attention to all the bad reviews for this dental practice. Bills were improperly submitted to insurance; contracts were falsely explained and copies not provided; care plans also not provided; we have spent months trying to resolve a billing problem and despite calls every month asking for a proper itemized invoice and related paperwork, nothing is ever produced. The problem is always blamed on some anonymous staff person who is never available to speak on the phone or who no longer works there. When I was referred to ‘corporate’ I got a phone call from a hostile person who literally yelled and hung up on me. Some of the techs may be nice people but it doesn’t make up for being insulted, lied to, and ripped off. Find another dental practice!

Once again the awesome Dr. Darryl Nishihara saved the day for my dental issues. He takes the time to listen to my problem, does a thorough check to see what is going on then explains my options in easy to understand terminology.
In my lifetime I’ve been to many dentists but Dr. Nishihara is a perfectionist and I always leave feeling that I’ve had great dental work. He has seen me on the same day for problems yet I never feel rushed.
I recommend Dr. Nishihara to all my family, friends and colleagues!

I’m pretty sensitive when I go to a cleaning, so I tend to not go the twice a year cleaning back when I lived in Texas. I’ve gone to Gentle Dental 3 times the past year and I’ve been nothing but happy. The front office usually greet me with a smile. I read the review of their behavior of one’s early arrival– I’m usually 15 min early to my appointments and the front staff haven’t treated me any differently. The 2 dentists I’ve met have been kind, and the hygienists are GREAT! They take into consideration my sensitivity to some of the tools that are used on average when cleaning. When I check out, they usually escort me to a small office for whatever I would need to pay, and to schedule my next appointment. I think they did it differently when I was last there weeks ago, but the staff then was just as nice and professional.
OH! When my friend was having tooth ache and her dentist office was closed, I recommended them. Unfortunately they didn’t take her insurance, but they were nice enough to give her names of other dentist that DO take her insurance and listen to her problems as to whether she may need to go to an ER or not. I think that was going an extra mile for someone who was not even their patient.

I have been thru many dentists thru my 29 years in the military. Dr. Nishihara is by far the best. He made an exception for my daughter on last minute notice during this hectic week 3 days before Christmas. He was very easy going and made my daughter feel at ease. Mahalo for your professionalism, you my friend have found yourself a new family to take care of our teeth. Thank you Gentle Dental and Merry Christmas.

Amazing work and customer service. Especially Donna, the tech. She cleans teeth like no other. You walk out wondering if your teeth are yours. Very smooth and clean.

Dr Nishihara is very knowledgeable and easy going. I recommend Dr Nishihara and his assistant Shori. They will take good care of you. I also like the waiting room. The staff are always friendly.

Dr. Nishimira is the absolute BEST! I went in for a dental implant completely terrified but he made me feel at ease during the whole process. Michelle and Chelsie were so friendly and helpful. I definitely recommend Dr. Nishihara and staff for all your dental needs!

I came in for my final root canal procedure and had yet another horrid experience here! I had a horrible dental assistant who seemed to lack experience in both mannerism as well as follow the tasks that fit her job description!
This dental assistant was not only rude and made me feel uncomfortable, but she didn’t seem to care when I kept telling her that the metal piece she was using to keep my tongue from touching my tooth that was being worked on was being pushed down too hard!!! I told her at least 3x that she was hurting my gums with that freaken metal stick and instead of apologizing she just said «OH.OKAY»! She also didn’t seem to know how to use that little water suction dental tool, because she suctioned MY CHEEKS SEVERAL TIMES. the worst part is she actually giggled about it! Again without a single apology!
I not only came out with a bruised gum under the tongue, but I also had to pay $ 750 out of pocket! I then proceeded to call the higher up who still hasn’t gotten back to me, mind you this happened in June of this year! I’ve left countless messages and emails and still haven’t heard back! I’m very upset with how this company handles discouraging incidences like this and I just don’t get how some of these ratings are able to get more than 2 stars!
Please proceed with caution when setting up an appointment with this company, at this location!!! There are plenty of valuable reasons for the low ratings and rants on here!

Let me start by saying that I am a 60-​year old man. I believe in being fair and honest. I generally write reviews only after having at least three experiences with a business, as is the case with Gentle Dental in Mililani, to give a fair and balanced review.
Modern dentistry has come a long, long way since I was a child being forced into the dentist’s chair and held down by my mother while a dentist smoking cigarettes and humming off-​key show tunes would come at my mouth with a hammer and chisel. Gentle Dental in Mililani is a modern facility updated with state-​of-​the-​art equipment and a professional, fun, dental staff. I have found everyone in the facility to have a great sense of humor. I say this honestly as I was a union crane operator in the heavy construction industry for 45-​years so I can have a gruff and rather dark sense of humor at times and they seem to tolerate me really well. I have also witnessed young boys and girls laughing and giggling in the dentist’s chair while undergoing procedures.
I have had everything from fillings to multiple root canals and porcelain crowns done at this business and, without fail, they have been perfectly executed and completed flawlessly so that the finished product is both aesthetically pleasing to the eye and natural looking as-​well-​as designed to last a lifetime.
My initial dental appointments were handled by Dr. Ing who has since transferred to the Aiea facility. Every appointment since then has been performed by Dr. Darryl Nishihara and his team. They work smoothly together with fluid movements and leave you feeling comfortable and relaxed. In the most recent case of a crown installation, Dr. Ishihara noticed that I needed a filling replaced and rather than making me get another appointment to come back, he took just a few minutes more and filled my tooth while I was already there in the chair. Dr. Ishihara is a short man but I won’t deduct points for that. I’ll just bring in a phone book for him to sit/​stand on in the future!
I have read the previous negative reviews of this facility which mostly focus on customer service and billing procedures. I can tell you honestly from my personal experience that the front end staff has always acknowledged me with a smile the minute that I open the front door. The appointment and insurance coordinator, Michelle, has the insurance pre authorization, billing and appointment facilitation down cold. Indeed, this last appointment to get a porcelain crown installed resulted in michelle calling me 2 full days early to see if I could come in early to get the crown installation done since they had a cancellation; now I have the entire weekend to have a great time without having to wait for a dental appointment!
I wish there was a way to give more than 5-​stars to offset the bad reviews for this dental practice as they are truly a great place to have your dental work done. I highly recommend them to everyone.

Just like the other person with the billing staff. I am having problems. I received a quote for a procedure for my kid. over $ 600 dollars I ask them again they told me $ 600. I ask them to make sure they have both insurance on the bill, they said they did. I told them I wanted the office manager to call me. A couple of days later the new quote is for $ 82.00. But I had to pay $ 169 an 100% over there estimate. This is a statement on the billing charge BASED ON A REVIEW OF THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED, DELTA DENTAL HAS CHANGED ONE OR MORE OF THE
FOLLOWING: THE TOOTH NUMBER/​AREA OF ORAL CAVITY, PROCEDURE CODE, TOOTH SURFACE, DATE OF SERVICE OR SUBMITTED FEE. The insurance would not pay for this charge. I am looking into the other insurance to see if they double charged this tooth.

I’ve been here for my intial x-​rays and teeth cleaning and have been extremly happy with the office overall. The office staff was very nice and welcoming and I didn’t have to wait long. The technician who took the x-​rays was very good and pleasant. The dentist was very nice and asked if I had any questions.
My next appointment was a cleaning and it was the most pleasant one I’ve every had. The dental hygenist was Donna and she rocked. I told her my upper teeth were a little sensitive in the back before we started and she put some topical analgesic to numb my gums. She was very gentle and I did not feel a thing the whole time! Usually I jump or cringe a few times with the scraping hitting a sensitive spot on my gumline, but she did a great job and it was actually relaxing. They use a tool that is electric with water instead of the hand held tartar tool. My teeth felt noticably clean and I never really felt a difference before. She even squirted the water on my tongue, so it wouldn’t hurt my gums — other places it shoots out so cold, right on your gums and makes you cringe.
I have been extremely satisfied with the office for me, my husband and my three young children. The children’s dentist is great too — I can’t remember her name. Thank you Gentle Dental!

I am only sending this review and providing this rating now because I really had faith in this Dental Care Establishment. After all, I’ve been with them for over 12 years now. Let me first start of by saying that the dentists and dental assistants are all very professional and do a really great job of taking care of my whole families dental needs. Don’t have a single bad thing to say about them. I enjoy and trust my families care to them. However, that doesn’t hold true for their office staff and billing personnel. In January, I came in for my 6 months teeth cleaning and checkup. During my visit, my dentist told me that one of my teeth was in need of a crown. Of course I know that a crown could be quite an expensive procedure and when the person who does the billing gave me the estimate, I was kind of shocked. I asked her to review the estimate because I knew that I had 2 insurances and asked her if she had them right. She said «Yes». She did not show me her computer screen so I had to assume she knew what she was doing. When I got home, I checked my coverage and found out that I should have been quoted a far lower amount so I called the insurance companies to verify. I was told that the procedures I quoted were covered far more than the billing person had quoted me.
The next day, I called the office manager Quentin who said he would look into it and I told him what I suspected and that my file was not probably updated when I provided the quote. He went over it and sure enough, they did not update my files that I had provided them with. In fact, they still had insurances that I told them was no longer current (over 4 years old) still showing up in my files. That Infuriated me because I make it a point to always provide the front desk with any changes to my account. He said, he would look at it and square it away.
At the end of the month, I got a bill still asking for payment with the old insurance information. I called Quentin and he said that he was still working with it and that not to worry. I decided to come down and visit Quentin and provide him all the paperwork. When I sat down with him, he pulled up the files and it had still not been updated with the new information and the old insurance information was still in there. I really can go on and on with this but after I showed him all the paperwork showing what was covered and how much the insurance was going to pay, it turned out that I should have had it fully covered. He again apologized and said he would take care of it. He kept saying that the woman who does the insurance claims had been doing it for over 20 some years and he trusted her. I told him that maybe he should really get someone to take a second look.
Fast forward almost 3 months now. A new office manager has taken over for Quentin. I told her about a month ago about my problem of not getting the insurance claims to the insurance companies in a timely matter and she said she would take care of it. She called me back a few days later and told me she filed all the claims with the primary insurance company and it would take up to 30 days to process. It’s been almost 30 days now and the primary insurance company has only received the one claim for only one part of the procedure that was filed back in February. They said they had not received another claim since. The other insurance company received a claim in February but asked for the x-​rays and was sent back the wrong ones. Gentle Dental has not yet responded to them so the claim is not being processed until they do. Today, I just got a bill that said if I don’t pay up in 10 day, Gentle Dental is going to turn this over to collections. I called the new office manager who said she would look into it again.
As you can see, I am very frustrated with this. I don’t mind paying whatever is left over after all the insurance claims have been settled. However, if the insurance companies don’t get the claims, they will never pay. Thus, here I am doing something I rarely do. I will give this new office manager some time to correct the wrong here and fix what needs to be fixed. She hasn’t been in the position long enough to know exactly what has been going on in this office. I just think that with all the issues that have been brought up here on previous reviews, someone from a higher level would realize that someone or someones may not be doing their job. I have faith in this office manager but will see what happens in the next few weeks. I told her that if I do get a call from a collection agency, that I will file a complaint with the BBB and whoever else may be appropriate for me to notify.
Once again, the dental staff is top notch. My bad experience may lead me to take my business elsewhere if I don’t get help.

I have a fear of dentists, many people do and if your one of them, don’t go here. The front desk staff was nice to me and so was the general dentist who saw me. After I had my consult he recommended me to see the denture specialist who was horrible. He was not sensitive to my fears at all. As he was poking and prodding around my mouth I was continually telling him it hurt. I had a lot of pain before hand which is why I went to the dentist in the first place, he proceeded to tell me «I’ve been doing this for years, I know when I’m hurting you». I sat in the exam chair and cried for the rest of the exam. They are lucky I didn’t contact my lawyers.

I read the reviews and was shocked. I am the biggest chicken when it comes to the dentist. Mililani Gentle Dental is great. As for the comments about the staff, I was always treated good. Dr. Nishihara and his staff are the best. The front desk staff always greets me when I walk into the office.
As for all the dental work I needed, I was always comfortable and treated well. I recommend Gentle Dental in Mililani.

I used to come here for xrays and teeth cleaning when I was in elementary. Now I go somewhere else. Last week my mom and I brought our grandfather in to see why he was having teeth pain. I’m sorry, I have to agree with the other post about the receptionist being less than helpful. I wanted to schedule a teeth cleaning for my grandfather and she just looked over the counter at the other lady who wasn’t at her counter who took payments and scheduling.
This visit just irritated me because they were not able to accommodate these elderly people to add on an xray and teeth cleaning in this one visit! We had to schedule a separate visit for xrays, then another for cleaning! Rediculous! Especially for the elderly who needs time to get ready, be picked up and driven from the North Shore to Mililani for SEPARATE treatments!
At least the teeth extractions were quick.

I was a potential customer, just coming in to ask questions. The receptions had no customer service whatsoever… She seemed to care more about saying just enough to get me out of her face… Decided at that very moment, I will find a dentist somewhere else… Somewhere that’s more welcoming and cares about their patients.

Gentle Dental was selected based upon location. They expect you to arrive 15 – 20 minutes earlier than your appointment but end up being seen 30 – 40 minutes after it was scheduled. The receptionist and those that answer the incoming calls seriously need an attitude adjustment. I felt like my appointment was rushed. Needed an appointment for cleaning and the next available appointment was 5 weeks out. I have chosen to go with another dentist office. Hope this helps…

Not a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, from the reception who was mean to the Boss who cared about $$ rather than the customer.
then, the long waits apx 30 – 45 min wait time to see the Dr.
They also over charged our acts.
Not reccomended.

I’m not sure what is wrong with this place… the Dentists and Hygienists are great… but the office administration is TERRIBLE.
They can’t seem to schedule properly. This week, I called in 3 times to verify my appointment time. All 3 times, I got a slightly different time. It really didn’t matter, since I still had a long wait once I checked in.
I’ve been coming here for over 2 years, but I’m done with this place.
****Update**** While I was waiting in the lobby, Quentin came over to chat with me, apparently the mainland home office saw my review during the time I was having my cleaning done. Quentin came to apologize, and said the text messaging reminder system was less than perfect. I showed him the actual message that I received that was the source of the confusion. I appreciate Quentin coming over to apologize. I still wish they’d fix that text message system, since most of the other Unilocal reviews all revolve around poor scheduling