Beautiful Smile Dental Care

I’ve been seeing Dr. Thomas Insoo Kim for 29 years. Prior to seeing him for dental care, I tried a few other dentists in the Los Angeles area. One main reason for my loyalty is Dr. Kim’s excellent skill in administering anesthesia shot. I have very low tolerance for pain and was always very nervous when sitting on a patient chair. But time and time again, I did not even know when the needle had entered my gum. None of the other dentists I saw before him could do that. Of course, this is not the only reason I keep coming back. Dr. Kim is also a very experienced dental surgeon. He has performed wisdom tooth extractions, regular tooth extractions, root canals, crowns, and bridges for me. I felt only discomfort, but never pain.
Today, I need two tooth implant done by Dr. Kim because one of the two anchor teeth of a two-​teeth bridge decayed. This is the most serious dental work I have experienced in my life. He had to drill two holes in my jaw bone to place the implant. It won’t be «discomfort» as usual, I thought. After about 45 minutes, my rotten anchor tooth was extracted, two implants were done and the gum stitched up. Discomfort level was about the same as a deep teeth cleaning procedure, no ouch at all.
I have recommended quite a few friends and coworkers (especially the chicken ones like me) to Dr. Kim. All of them are happy and satisfied.
I would not say Dr. Kim is the best dentist in southern California, because I have not tried all of them. But he certainly is the best dentist among those who have provided dental care to me!

I never enjoyed going to the dentist. I always had a dreadful experience. However, this is the only place I actually do not mind getting work done. The doctor is good at what he does, outgoing and professional. & the staff is always great. Everything is always clean here. They have TVs in every room (not just the waiting room) which makes it more tolerable to wait of course. Overall, I would definitely recommend this place. I come all the way from Covina and I wouldn’t dare go elsewhere.

Horrible. I was here for TMZ few years ago.
I will regret going here my entire life.
I wish I could sue him for being so unethical and saying what he did to my teeth was right when all the while it was wrong.
I didn’t know that at the time.
He just greedily stripped money off of me.
This place should be labeled as a place of moral hazard.
He never inquired further of my root causes of my problems and only threatened that if I don’t listen to him and follow what he wants to do, then he will stop all procedures and I should just go to another dentist.
… I was too little to make a bold smart choice and leave the place at once. And seek for a genuinely caring dentist.

Frightful experience. I needed my wisdom teeth taken out so I came to this place after looking at the reviews on Unilocal.Everything was going well until after my surgery. The Dentist from the beginning told me he will take out all of my teeth but after all was done, he left pieces left inside because it was too close to the nerve. WTF! Why didn’t he tell me before he began the surgery. Because he wanted money. I needed a specialist if I wanted to take the entire wisdom teeth out. Unfortunately at that time I didn’t know this and he did not inform me of this either. So If I have any complications in the future…

Dr. Kim and his staff at A beautiful Smile have been taking care of my dental needs for about 15 years now, and have taken care of my other family members for longer. We cannot imagine going anywhere else. The staff is attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. Dr. Kim is gentle and so very pleasant to deal with. Even the dreaded root canal was very quick and (almost) completely painless. I cannot recommend them further.

I brought my son here upon recommendation from my sister-​in-​law. I was pleasantly surprised at how the entire staff was genuinely friendly and highly professional. Dr. Kim is not only knowledgable and patient (answered all my questions) but also an expert on all levels. Now my entire family gets treated by Dr. Kim. I am also very happy at the results I’ve seen so far with my sons orthodontic work from Dr. Kim. But most of all, I love coming here because Dr. Kim and his staff always makes you feel comfortable and welcomed.

I’ve been going to Dr. Kim since I had teeth. That’s about 29 years now (though can you believe it — I’m only 25 — cough cough). He is the most gentle dentist I’ve ever been to. The first time I brought my husband to Dr. Kim, he ended up needing anesthesia for a procedure. When it was all over, he didn’t even realize that Dr. Kim had injected the Novocaine! When I had my wisdom teeth taken out, I experienced that same sense of «Wait, you’re done?!?» My incisions healed so neatly and with no infections or problems.
One other reviewer said she felt that Dr. Kim was trying to upsell her on procedures or dental appliances that she didn’t need. I can see how she would think that, and perhaps he really did try to upsell her. But in my experience, he just tries to recommend what’s best for you. And he gives you all the options — some more expensive and some less expensive — so you can choose one that works for you. When I was a teenager, I was getting lots of migraines and my jaw was clicking. He diagnosed TMJ and said that a retainer-​type appliance would help. It was quite expensive (even after he gave us a generous discount), and it ended up not working for me, but I do believe he recommended it with my best interests in mind. For my husband, he recommended braces, even though my husband’s teeth look straight from the front, because the crowding in the back could cause some serious long-​term problems. It made total sense to us, and even though my husband’s other dentists hadn’t recommended braces in the past, we looked it up and saw that it really is a good option for long-​term tooth and gum care.
Anyway, long story short: Dr. Kim is super well educated, super knowledgeable, super gentle, and overall a great dentist. The only downside is that there’s sometimes a long wait since he sees all the patients personally. But his skill makes it worthwhile.
Melissa and his other support staff are fantastic as well!

I have been going to Dr Kim for about 14 years. It is a modern office that is clean and well equip with the newest technology. The staff there is amazing! They always remember the patients and you’re greeted with a welcoming smile each time. I have referred many family and friends and all have been very pleased with their procedures and results. It’s so nice to find an office that makes you feel comfortable and that takes pride in their exceptional work!

I’d really like to give them a 1 ½ stars, but because the staff here are all really nice and the facility is amazing with all the brain rotting tabloids in the waiting area and the tech savviness of it, I can’t get myself to give them any lower of a rating. :T
I never minded when I had to wait in the lobby as I always had the TV to watch & tons of reading material. The receptionists here are also really nice & friendly, and not to be all «Oh look at me I’m hinting at girl-​on-​girl behavior»…there was one receptionist who was REALLY attractive, I would catch myself not just sneaking peaks, but just straight up staring at her creeper status.
For my first visit, they had x-​rays and pictures taken of my teeth, what differentiated them from any other dentist office I have gone to was how updated their equipment was. Even when viewing/​showing my x-rays&pictures they used a high quality, high tech, high def screen projection system rather than the usual back-​lit screen that you post the x-​rays onto. And the chairs, oooh the chairs… can you say plush leather? Forget the anesthesia/​laughing gas/​etc, sing me a lullaby and I’ll knock out on my own. What makes it even more cool is that for every chair there is a TV with a remote… WITH cable.
The orthodontist is a Korean man, but obtained majority if not all of his education in the States. The credentials on this man is pretty darn impressive which explains how he is able to have such an awesome facility as well as the higher than others prices.
So after all this gushing you might wonder why I’m only giving 2 stars. Well one of them has to do with the actual amount of time you end up spending for your appointments. Business is booming for this place, but for all the clients, there is only one of him. Now, his assistants can help out with some of the duties, but in the end its the orthodontist that needs to take care of the main issue. And… sometimes, you end up waiting a ridiculous amount of time to be seen by him and it doesn’t help that he’ll flip back and forth from patient to patient. Once I spent a total of 5 hours to have my teeth cleaned and two cavities removed, I have to say I spent 70% of that time watching TV and drooling from the pain killer injections.
Another issue concerned the necessity of all the procedures he recommends. There’s no doubt, he’s the expert with the education/​training/​credentials/​awards when it comes down to him and the patient, however, sometimes you can’t help BUT second guess when it just doesn’t make sense.
Example:
My teeth are naturally straight which I credit to my strange childhood habit/​obsession with pulling my baby teeth out whenever I got bored. Other than two tiny spaces in between the teeth on my lower jaw there was nothing aesthetically wrong. While other than the occasional cavity and sensitivity I have from brushing hard, my teeth have always been in good shape.
So… after bugging my Mom to get the two tiny gaps on my lower jaw fixed, she requested that the orthodontist fill and mold them with porcelain. After looking at my teeth, he concluded that using the method my Mom had requested just wouldn’t do. Instead we were told that I would need to pull out a couple of teeth and get braces. He also concluded that my tooth sensitivity was a result from me grinding my teeth at night because my jaw was not correctly aligned therefore reinforcing the idea that I needed braces.
My Mom and I were both shocked by the orthodontist’s diagnosis, all that trouble for two tiny spaces in-​between my teeth? His reasoning for teeth pulling & braces vs. filling the gaps with porcelain was that it was better to just use what was naturally given to me rather than introducing a foreign man-​made material into my mouth.
As for the teeth grinding… that was another shocker because I have never been known to grind my teeth. Not even when I went through my experimental phase with raving in high school I never had to use a pacifier or deal with my mouth being cut up from grinding my teeth. My Dad and sister who are the teeth grinders in the house were always the objects of envy when I was young because unlike them I couldn’t make *those cool sounds* with my mouth. :/​
Wanting and needing a second opinion, I made an appointment with my Dad’s orthodontist in Koreatown. When I explained the reason for my visit repeating what I was told at Beautiful Smile, my Dad’s orthodontist let out a chuckle. Asking why my perfectly straight teeth would ever need braces. She then whipped out all the necessary tools and materials to fill in my gaps. Taking her time and being meticulous she was able to perfect my smile in less than an hour. Thus, saving my parents THOUSANDS of dollars and my mouth from all that unnecessary trauma.

I needed to extract my wisdom teeth. Two were impacted and one had grown out and I didn’t have a fourth. He did me a favor and booked me as a favor for an appointment 2 days later.
I’m afraid of dentists, but he did a great job of calming me down. He’s a pretty gentle guy and clearly knows what he’s doing. They numbed me up so I couldn’t feel a single thing, thankfully! I almost had a panic attack because I felt like I was going to choke on my own spit. He took out the top one first since it was already poking out — seriously that one took less than 5 seconds to take out. In one fluid motion he ripped that tooth out. The other two were more complicated because they were still in the jaw. Each of those literally took 5 – 7 minutes. The entire operation/​extraction took maybe at most 15 minutes (versus the 30 – 45 minutes I’ve read about) Since he didn’t put me under I was able to drive right away. I went straight to rite aid for my vicodin.
I would definitely recommend going to Dr. Kim based on my positive experience.