Yvonne Goff, DDS

So to sum up the Dr. Goff experience I’m gonna say it’s terrible. I was ripped off with hidden fees, had old techniques done and a bit of insurance fraud. So RUN!
I went to Dr. Goff because of 2 GREAT recommendations. One being from a person who used her for a TV show and the other from a friend of mine who has next to perfect teeth. Well the first few visits were good. They have the older x-​ray machines that you have to use a huge camera in your mouth vs the more modern full had x-​ray that spins around your head.
I needed a lot of work done to prep my mouth for braces. All of my old amalgam fillings needed to be replaced with porcelain. We started one side at a time due to how many I had. Yeah we’re talking about out 22 of my 28 teeth had fillings. So that was a few appointments.
When it came to do the lower left side of my mouth I was zoned out with her fancy movie video glasses and kept cracking up to the funny movie «Mean girls» Then shortly after she became the mean girl herself. All of a sudden I FELT the drilling! ouch ouch! She gave me more meds and STILL it didn’t work. She kept drilling and said we gotta finish. I was screaming so loud, as if I were a victim in the movie saw. As she’s drilling and I’m crying she then says you need a bridge, do you want to do that now? I said huh? what is a bridge wait what? She says if you do the cost is $ 900 and you have to pay now.
Wait a minute… you want me to get up with a hole in my mouth crying and get my purse to pay you 900 bucks for a procedure midway? I don’t understand HOW did you not see my need for a bridge from the start? Okay well I just wanted to be done with tears and the pain, we’ll discuss this later. That was the last time I went for 2 years. I was petrified of any dentist and didn’t go at all. No cleanings, checkups, nothing. :(
So for the first year, Heather the office manager would call me daily for the first 2 months asking me to come back in to finish my dental work. The daily calls dwindled down to weekly and then monthly. I didn’t want to even THINK about seeing a dentist so 2 years later when I was tired of my gap being a problem with my lip getting stuck in there and bleeding, I went back to Dr. Goff to finish the work I had started. I REMIND her of the screaming pain I went through and how I was very scared, her response was yes I remember and was glad you were the only patient in here because if there were other patients they probably would have left. Oh really? Dental humor gone bad. So now since it’s been 2 years, I need a root canal. I schedule for the root canal and she can see I’m shaking and uneasy. During the procedure I start to lose it, cause frankly I’m so scared and embarrassed that I’m crying thinking about what MAY happen. So she asked if I wanted some Nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to calm me down. I hesitated… laughing gas? I was so confused and she said it’s 75 dollars, do you want it? At this point I’m thinking something might be better than nothing. So we get through part one of this root canal and I’m just relieved it is over.
I get to the desk and they ask how will I be paying for my nitrous oxide. The nice lady Heather was no longer there and I had to deal with another woman. She tells me the cost will be 375. Wait! how did 75 bucks turn into 375? Ohhhh okay, so Dr. Goff failed to say 75 for every THIRTY minutes. hmmmmm great! Are you kidding me?! So I just pay 75 bucks and make additional payments later.
My last visit to her I asked what could we do about my discolored teeth? She said that I would need professional whitening. Now here I am with a temporary cap that I was never told I would have and was headed on vacation for 10 days. She told me well just don’t eat on that side. The temporary cap was horrible. It had a huge gap in it and was very uncomfortable when eating. I came to Unilocal and I picked a new dentist. He said you don’t need a bridge, you don’t have missing teeth can’t justify a bridge. And as far as the root canal after seeing the temporary cap he was disgusted with it and was surprised I wore it for 8 months. He took it off and put on another temporary, and the work was great! No gaps and you could not tell it was a temporary tooth.
When I had my FIRST cleaning my teeth were bright white! Yes, so Dr Goff was wrong about the teeth whitening being the ONLY fix. So after all the drama, I found out Dr. Goff had charged my dental insurance upfront for the entire root canal procedure when they told me she should have charged in parts. Since I didn’t have the final permanent tooth in the dental insurance reversed the fees and I still had more dental coverage to use for the year. When she got the reversal she then sent me a threatening letter to charge me for the balance. eventually she did something to charge back the insurance company, but if they want to pay her and my new dentist that’s on them.
Just STAY AWAY form this nightmare!

The absolute worst.
Agreed to utilize my two insurance plans to cover my oral surgery — only to renege on her offer and threaten to send me to collections. She is a complete and utter con artist with zero integrity. ZERO.
AVOID.

About 8 years ago, armed with a new HMO, I chose this dentist due to location and her website. I needed a cleaning. This was apparently was too small of a job for a new patient. She found that I needed all 4 of my white fillings replaced because she said they were breaking down. They were only 5 years old as I had my silver fillings replaced by a very competent dentist. To prove it, she poked a small hole in one of the fillings with a dental tool to show me how they were breaking down and told me they don’t last more than 5 years. My insurance only covered a small amount so I decided to do only 2 at that time, She had a new fancy Cerec machine and I was impressed and was very nice and professional so I trusted her. BIG MISTAKE!
The end result was a very sensitive, painful molar. My bite is off to this day, even after I came in 2 additional times for her to adjust. And then she was finished with me as she could not do anymore. Additionally, It took about 6 years for the sensitivity and pain to subside. I had to either drink from a straw or place my tongue on my molar to even drink room temp water. I still feel like a have a fake tooth. It doesn’t feel right. Possibly damaged my nerve.
Needless to say, I never proceeded with the other 2 teeth, including the one she poked a hole in. And guess what… they never needed to be replaced. They are still in perfect condition with the exception of the hole she made, which is still there. I am angry that she had the nerve to perform unnecessary work on my teeth, take almost $ 2k from me and cause long term pain. I have not had a single procedure besides cleaning done since. I don’t need it. I never needed it. Just beware and get a second opinion if you need to get work done. That probably goes for all HMO dentists. Oh and her front desk staff were like sales people.
Why did I decide to post a review today after all this time? Because sometimes, I have this dull ache that I feel up my tooth into my face. And today I feel it, so here it is.

First of all this 5 star system does not do this rating I am going to give for this individual. If I had my way, I would give this incompetent excuse for a dentist a –5 stars. In short my mother, was swindled by this dentist to have a ton of work on her teeth that she did not need. Neither was she informed of most of the work done until getting out of the dental chair. I wish everyone is inspired to take their business elsewhere before this woman takes advantage of more senior citizens.

I began procedures for 3 implants in August 2012. I had been a patient of Dr. Goff since January 2012 and was very happy with her work. Although a yellow flag appeared when I went back with a fitting discomfort in one of the crowns she placed. She checked my tooth, said she couldn’t see anything, there was nothing wrong and sent me home. A day or so later I again had to go back because of the pain, she took another look and found that some cement had been left. I felt my complaint was not taken seriously the first time. A year-​and-​a-​half after the original surgery for implants, the crowns were ready for placement, as well as a crown on the canine tooth. It was an exciting time, to finally finish a long 1−½ years, expensive, time-​consuming process. I was disappointed with the look of one of the implants, but even more so on the canine tooth. Dr. Goff said I should live with it for a bit and then come in the see what can be done. The canine tooth is bulky and the color does not match the front teeth she also crowned. More importantly, I couldn’t chew properly — the upper and lower teeth do not touch. I went back because little piece at the front of the canine tooth came off. She smoothed it out, saying it’s normal. I’ve been told by another dentist that this happens only when the lab doesn’t heat the crown enough. Dr. Goff also said there was nothing wrong with my bite — it’s the way it should be; that with implants the top and bottom teeth are not supposed to touch anyhow. She said that canine tooth looked great and it was me. I had changed dentists by that time and the new dentist confirmed that my teeth do not touch and it is impossible for me to chew properly, and that’s I’m ruining my front teeth by using them for chewing — she wrote a report to that effect. I again went back to Dr. Goff who said there was nothing wrong with my bite and that she would not change the crown on the eye tooth because she might damage the small bit of original tooth that was left. Had a longer pin been placed originally it would not be an issue. I had also developed an infection in the implant area; she said I should see a dental surgeon, she couldn’t do anything. I am now having extensive, expensive work done to give me a bite.

Another reason to avoid Dr. Goff, the other crown I had done by her is shoddy and like the other, needs to be redone.

This too is long, but worth reading… I feel like she went to a seminar on how to make more money…
The only reason I chose her is because she takes out the old silver fillings a special way that is supposed to make it safer and less toxic. (My dentist did not use this procedure.) YIKES, what a mistake. Aside from totally having NO record of my appointment one time and then making me sit a half hour in an empty waiting room another, her work was not impressive. (She also called me once and told me she needed me to come in much earlier… on know this is LA, but some of us work until 3.) She took out two fillings and put a cap over one (which my current dentist, who I AM seeing again, told me I did not need) and filled up the other… OVER two cavities. The pain was so bad, it hurt to drink room temperature water. The cap also hurt and although I told her so when she fixed it, she refused to file it down more at that time and told me to come back another time for an «adjustment.» I went from NO pain, to both of my teeth hurting so much that eating was painful at most bites, and don’t even get me started about chewing anything like a chip or crackers. OUCH! Although I was not happy with her work, it seemed wrong not to let her fix whatever it was that she did wrong. I called for an appointment and was told they could fit me in…8 days. Come on, this hurts or I would not have called. When I went back to my previous dentist he said the pain was caused because she not only put the new filling over a cavities, but that she put it all in at one time and it shrunk a bit. (Think of how caulk must be put on a little at a time or it is not sturdy.) Therefore, not only was this new filling over a cavity, but it was trapping moisture that hurt like crazy anytime there was pressure of ANY kind. NEVER again… and she is not much in the area of a bedside manner either. She has the «bells and whistles» in her office space, but seems to lack the knowledge and experience. I wish her luck for the future, but I won’t be going back there again. (…and to park in the suggested ramp cost as much as 12 dollars on some visits… NO validation.) AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!

After each of my 2 visits I left crying — not due to any sort of physical pain, but rather because I felt taken advantage of. (As a point of reference, the only other times I’ve left a medical professional crying were when I found out I blew out my knee and when I was told I might have cancer.)
While putting off a very nice, caring vibe, Dr. Goff insisted I need a ton of work — none of which was covered by insurance because it hasn’t been proven effective — & actually insisted that I take out a credit card through their partner to pay for it. I told her I was unwilling & asked for a standard teeth cleaning (no antibiotics, no post-​cleaning whitening trays, no anything that was not covered by insurance), which she wouldn’t do. I returned to have a cavity fixed, for which I was quoted at $ 75 out of pocket. After, I was charged nearly double & am still unsure why. My tooth continued to hurt so I went to another dentist who did x-​rays & found that she hadn’t pushed the filling in all the way, leaving a pocket of air. There was also another small cavity on the same tooth (different groove), which she completely overlooked. I had to have the entire thing re-​done.
I am now going to a dentist who does NOT accept my insurance. Why? Because I’d rather pay more out-​of-​pocket for someone who cares, who does an excellent job, & who I trust than stay with someone like Yvonne Goff.

My dentist of several years could no longer stay in my HMO dental plan, so I hunted for a new dentist. I found Dr. Goff in Santa Monica.
I have amazingly good teeth and over the years have only needed bi-​annual cleanings which I have done without fail. I transferred to Dr. Goff and before making an appointment for a cleaning, I needed to come in for an initial exam.
After my initial exam, I was told there were several teeth that required «deep cleaning». I had never heard this term before, but was told this was a procedure that required general anesthetic and cost about $ 1,000 per tooth.
I was deeply surprised because I had never had any indication from my previous dentist over the years that the gums beneath these teeth would require such drastic attention.
I got a copy of my dental records which was a detailed graph and assessment of each tooth/​gum recession for each of my 6-​month cleanings over 8 years. Not only did my previous dentist’s records not show any dramatic recession requiring «deep cleaning», but three of the teeth Dr. Goff highlighted as needing this invasive attention WERE NOT EVEN CLOSE to needing it — in fact the gum recession on those teeth was minimal.
When I sent these records to Dr. Goff to review, after several attempts she finally responded that she had given her opinion based on her experience and review of my mouth.
After less than one year with Dr. Goff, she decided to get out of the HMO plan. I requested 3x to get a copy of my dental records for my new dentist, but I was told I would have to pay a fee to get her notes about the extensive work she recommended!
I believe that Dr. Goff was trying to bilk me and my dental plan for extra money for work that was unnecessary. She does after all have lovely offices in Santa Monica to maintain! Although she has wonderful staff (except for the rude receptionist, Heather), I found Dr. Goff — who did her own cleanings — to have a very heavy hand, so in my opinion besides being unscrupulous, she’s not a great dentist.
I would under no circumstances recommend this dentist.

Okay. This review and low rating is mainly about «the hustle» and the vibe in Dr. Goff’s office. If based just on her office staff, I would give her 0 stars, but read on.
Dr. Goff is a good dentist. She is pleasant enough, a nice lady, but not a good communicator. She just does the job (well) and moves on. She gave me very little advice about after-​care for the dental work I received — I had to look that up on the internet. BUT, she did my major procedure quickly and relatively pain-​free.
However, Heather, her financial person, is quite the hustler. BEWARE of Heather. She is NOT nice. She is NOT clear. Every time you go to the office, she will try to charge you EXTRA money (beyond what you were quoted, or beyond what you’ve pre-​paid, etc.) She’s shady, and make’s Dr. Goff’s office an unpleasant place to visit. AND her hustler demeanor makes you question whether or not you need all the procedures suggested. I was so skeptical that I almost passed on getting work I really needed. Luckily, I got a 2^nd opinion from another dentist, and was told that I really needed the work. Unfortunately, that dentist did not take my insurance.
The office staff also seems like they JUST graduated from DeVry or something. Not all of them, but you know what I mean. I don’t want to be cruel here, so I’ll just leave it at that.
Good Dentist. Horrible Team. If she had an authentic, capable, intelligent, team, I would give her 4 stars, maybe 5.

I decided to see Dr. Goff because she was in my neighborhood. I admit I am a very nervous dental patient, and if this is the case for you, I would not recommend her. I knew going in I would need a fair amount of work done, but the feeling I got was «Here’s your list of problems, here’s the bill, how do you want to pay?» In the chair, I got a lot of backhanded comments, like, «You must eat a lot of sugar, or drink a lot of soda» (I don’t — I just have problem teeth, and a history of bad dental work, what can I say?). She didn’t make me feel comfortable at all and when I told her I wanted to get a second opinion, she got somewhat defensive. Her receptionist (or whoever handles the billing) make the remark that my insurance «would probably charge me a lot for a second opinion» — they did not, in fact, charge me at all.
It may the case that she is a good dentist, but for someone like me who needs a little reassurance, I would look elsewhere. I’m now seeing a new dentist who has been very flexible with payments, and I feel very at ease with — I don’t feel pressured in the least. These are the things that are important to me as a patient.

Unfortunately, for my initial appointment they were running over an hour late. I sat in the waiting area for that hour, having no idea what was going on, as no one apologized for making me wait or told me how much longer I’d be waiting.
The receptionist was weirdly rude… insisted that I give her an insurance card even though my insurance doesn’t have them. And again, she never acknowledged the fact that they were running over an hour behind schedule.
Once I got into the chair, I had to wait even longer, since they only have equipment to do one person’s X-​rays at a time.
I don’t know what Dr. Goff is like — by the time she was available, I had to leave. I had to schedule a second appointment because of how late they were, and again, no acknowledgement of how they were treating a brand new patient.
And then after that, I got an automated e-​mail pushing me to make another appointment and use up my insurance money before the end of the year! That really rubbed me the wrong way. I can’t say anything about Dr. Goff because I didn’t have time with her, but the experience there made me feel like a dollar sign rather than a person, and I will not be returning.

They are very patient and Dr. Goff has awesome chair side manner. Especially for scary adults!

I’ve been seeing Dr. Goff since I moved to LA over 4 years ago and have never had a bad experience! Dr. Goff is really nice and knowledgeable and has always done an excellent job, whether it be on a routine cleaning or more intensive procedure. In addition, the staff is very friendly and helpful and has always promptly answered all of my questions. I definitely recommend Dr. Goff without any hesitation!

Dr. Goff is awesome! As a very anxious patients, it has taken me a long time to find a professional and honest dentist. Dr. Goff has given me the courage to get the my dental work done with a reasonable cost. Her office is spotless and is equipped with the latest state-​of-​the-​art-​equipment, Her staff is very friendly and welcoming, they offered me a blanket and a movie to watch through eyeglasses. The hygienist, Irene is very gentle and really cares about her patients.

I recently switched to Dr. Goff from my old dentist who was in Torrance. I switched for 2 main reasons: recommended by a coworker and close to my work.
I was so sick of fighting traffic to go to the dentist and with Dr. Goff I can make it to my appointment during my lunch hour! Very prompt about starting my appointment on time so I could be back at work really quick.
The first thing I noticed is that wow, this dentist is actually living in the 21^st century unlike my old one whose office and equipment seemed stuck in 1992. This was much more comfortable and open.
Really surprised by the negative reviews, my experience was great with the hygienist, reception staff, and Dr. Goff herself who was sweet and very professional. No problems taking my insurance, either. I’m a happy new patient!

I have never felt the need to post on this website until this horrible experience. I had a great dentist where I used to live and had my last visit about 8 months ago so I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary.
Dr. Goff was nice at first, but she did not treat me like a respected patient. They took x-​rays of my mouth, which was very uncomfortable. Then, she examined my gums and bluntly gave me a list of problems I had with my mouth: cavities, gum problems, etc., and rattled off a list of treatment procedures I would need. She spoke using dental terms that the average person would not understand and did not explain what she was talking about to me. I asked clarifying questions, but she did not make me feel like I knew what was going on. Then, she said they had to look at the x-​rays and that they’d be right back… except they never came back. The receptionist came in and asked if I could come to the front desk to discuss my insurance plan and used the excuse that the book was too heavy to carry over to get me to leave the chair. She said she couldn’t find my plan information in her insurance booklet and that she’d have to have them fax it over the next day. She was being very vague and I did not feel informed. Meanwhile, the dental assistant was cleaning up the chair I was sitting in and no one ever told me my appointment was over! I thought I was going to go back over and talk to the dentist, but apparently, the check-​up was over… after them telling me I had dental problems, they didn’t even clean my teeth!!! The receptionist said that since my gums might bleed they would have to wait to numb me for deep cleaning (.I’m not a dentist but it seems pretty shady that a dentist wouldn’t clean my teeth and the dentist isn’t even the one to tell me). Then I asked the receptionist about the procedures the dentist recommended and for one of them, instead of getting the dentist to explain it to me, she told me that I could easily google it!!! Absolutely absurd. Then instead of telling me she’d let me know after she talked to the insurance company about my plan the next day, she told me I needed to call her! I left feeling used and violated and I have no clue if I can trust their recommendations. I immediately looked into switching dentists and I went in the next day to get the x-​rays since my plan only allows for x-​rays once every three years… but they would only give it to me for 25 dollars so I didn’t buy them yet!!! Absurd. Absolutely incompetent.

This is a long review, but if you are thinking of going to this dentist, READ IT!
Dr. Goff is without question the worst medical professional I have dealt with in almost 40 years of seeing doctors. She came very highly recommended to me, so she seemed like a very credible provider. What has happened over the last 8 months has been nothing short of infuriating.
At my first appointment for a normal annual checkup, I waited in the lobby for over 1 hour. There appeared to be only one other patient being treated. I asked if it was common for this to happen at this office and was given no answer at all. During this checkup, I was told I needed some minor work done.
Next appointment to get the work done was a train wreck. While putting some type of ceramic in the pits of my teeth, Dr. Goff apparently applied it across several teeth. This hardens into something like cement. By essentially spilling it in my mouth, my teeth were covered such that I could no longer floss because the «cement» blocked the gaps across several teeth. It goes without saying that my mouth also felt uncomfortable because this material was now covering several teeth.
I ended up having to back to her office to have it fixed, during which time she laid me down on the table, positioned herself over my face and used her weight to push floss between my teeth and break the cement. When it broke, she basically ended up slamming the floss and bits of cement into my gums. Not only was this excruciatingly painful at the time, it still causes pain to this day (roughly 7 months later).
It doesn’t end there. After paying something like $ 500 in addition to my insurance’s payments (who is a major, credible provider that I have very good coverage with), I get a bill from Dr. Goff saying that they made mistakes and I owe them almost $ 400 more. Upon calling they said it was their mistake, but if we did not pay we would be sent to collections. While discussing this with the person at Dr. Goff’s office, she said that she was simply a contractor brought in to fix a lot of office/​billing issues and that virtually every single patient she has talked to is angry and pissed off.
I end up paying so that I don’t go to collections (this was in late summer) and figured I would simply use my flexible spending account to pay me back. It’s still not over though, as I have to submit bills to my insurance to be reimbursed from my FSA. In reviewing the half dozen bills, all of which cover similar, same and different things (making it impossible to know where one bill starts and ends). Over the course of the last few *months* I’ve tried to have Dr. Goff’s office explain the billing because my insurance says they are doing non-​standard treatments, such as using composite materials instead of ‘amalgams’. That’s all fine and good, except there is no language on the bill articulating such things, thus the insurance company doesn’t know what the bill is for and Dr. Goff’s office says it will not clarify it.
So at this point I can’t tell if I am being defrauded or not. Worse is that while having mundane dental work done (pits getting filled to prevent future decay), my mouth gets damaged to the point I have chronic tooth and jaw pain.
I wouldn’t send anyone to this doctor if she was the only dentist on earth.

Dr. Goff seemed great when I went in for my oral exam. She was very kind and so was her staff. Little did I know what I was in store for. After an initial oral exam, which turned out to be $ 236, I was told that I’d need 17 caps. Yes, 17 caps. They said it would cost me nearly $ 20,000. My teeth have been ground down from years of grinding my teeth, but I didn’t think I’d need to cap 17 of them. I told them I couldn’t afford this treatment and they replied «It’s Christmas time, maybe you could ask your mom».
I set an appointment to go in and get my teeth cleaned and when they called to confirm I asked if I was getting my cavities filled. They told me that they weren’t able to do that since I needed to get all the caps. I told them that I couldn’t afford the caps and that the hole in my molar needed to be filled. The receptionist told me to talk to Dr. Goff about it when I went in to get my teeth cleaned. I got upset and canceled my appointment.
I went in to get my x-​rays for my new dentist and paid $ 25 to get them. They told me that was all of my payments. However, on 2÷18÷09 they billed me for $ 47 (apparently my insurance only paid $ 188 of my oral exam).
Dr. Goff and her staff were very pushy and I would avoid going there.

Awful experience. I went to see Dr Goff when a molar that had been filled as a child suddenly cracked in 2 and I had to get a crown.
Terrible experience getting prepped for the crown– I was not given enough novocaine, there are no headphones or anything offered to distract you from the drilling sound. Dr. Goff cut the inside of my cheek quite badly and did not seem overly concerned.
When I came back once the crown had been made, Dr Goff spent 5 painful minutes trying to cram the crown on my tooth before she realized her assistant had brought her someone else’s crown. Ugh.
Flash forward 2 years, and as I am in for a regular check-​up, I am told the crown I have only had for 2 years needs to be replaced. WTH?
So I go back to have another horrific experience with Dr Goff and the drill. This time, when fitting me with my new crown, she tells me that she sees a massive cavity in the tooth behind it. I ask her why this wasn’t mentioned at my check-​up 2 weeks ago, when I was told aside from needing the crown replaced, everything was perfect. Again no answers.
Really really bad quality of care.