Stephen E Needle, DDS

Was recommended to Dr. Needle by my dentist for two wisdom teeth extraction. The consultation visit was fast and straightforward. The surgery itself took less than 30 minutes and was completely painless. It seems like an excellent job was done as I was pain-​free without medication within 24 hours!

Was just there yesterday, what an ass! He didn’t believe I have a sulfite allergy and have a doctors note but he told me I had to go to an allergist and spend over $ 400 so they can tell me that I have a sulfite allergy, before he would remove my tooth! What respectable healthcare pro would be that way. I even offered to pay for the epinephrine that didn’t have sulfites but was told no. The worst is I wasted $ 90 on a consult (that I shouldn’t have paid for anyway) where I told him I had the allergy. So after waiting two weeks and thinking I’ll be treated, I was told there are no sulfites in epinephrine when it says on the box, potassium metabisulfite! Key word being SULFITE! He says they are different and if you really have the allergy which I DO, they give you the same reaction! I have had the allergy for 10 yrs and know what it does to me, who would tell me I’m wrong when I’ve been to 5 ER’s for it! Unless you’re rich and are not allergic to anything he won’t give you any respect! The only good thing they did was send my X-​ray to me. Stay away!

bad, bad, bad oral surgeon. Did not have Unilocal back when he treated me, but I looked him up because I will never forget him and how I was treated. I have a constant reminder of Dr. Needle to this day since I have had nerve damage on the one side of my tongue from his removing all 4 of my wisdom teeth. After my procedure I experienced a common complication of dry socket, I called his office many times saying the pain was getting worse, each time they just kept prescribing me more narcotics. I continued to take these pain meds for 3 wks, at one point he switched me to a stronger pain med thinking that would do the trick. Pain still was there and I was sick of being drugged up for 3 wks. During these weeks I asked to be seen, they denied that and said I probably just had food stuck back there and to wash out my mouth better. I then asked if he could just take a look because I couldn’t live with this pain anymore and I did not want to keep taking narcotics for pain. He finally agreed after 3 wks and did not even look in my mouth when I came in, gave me something to inject water into my mouth to remove any food particles stuck back there and sent me home. I left his office and called my dentist for help. He told me to come straight to his office, where upon examination said I had dry sockets and they needed to be packed with medicated gauze. I felt better that night and was sent for a follow up to another oral surgeon in the area to have the gauze removed later. Off of pain meds right away. My dentist said he was shocked that Dr. Needle didn’t take care of this issue sooner. When I had asked Dr. Needle if I possibly had dry socket because my symptoms had matched the description of possible complications of dry socket, he just laughed at me and said I did not have that. I then had questioned the lack of feeling on the one side of my tongue to Dr. Needle and he said it would probably come back. My follow up with the other oral surgeon came and I told him my story. He said that Dr. Needle was probably having a bad day. I asked him about the loss of feeling on my tongue and he said that is a possible complication as well from wisdom tooth extraction that hopefully it would come back, nothing they really could do about it. It has been several years now and I still don’t have the feeling on that one side and have learned to live with it. Do NOT Go To This Doctor! Uncaring, Egotistical Butcher!!!

This entire operation is top notch. Rarely do I interface with people across the board at an organization all whom are personable and knowledgeable. Oral surgery isn’t fun and never will be, but my experience was a very good one and I’ll be back for my future needs. I recommend them 100%, and I say this 1 hour after a tooth extraction.

Do NOT go to Dr. Needle. The staff is super unfriendly, and they charge you more than anywhere else. All this guy cares about is making a profit and ripping off his patients.

If I lived closer, this is where I’d be. He is an excellent surgeon and has many years of experience. Sometimes things happen that would happen anywhere you go. There’s no guarantee how your body is going to react to a particular treatment. He’s very kind and good at explaining what’s going on and doing the procedures he does. If you have insurance, which I don’t, just rejoice and be glad in it and the fact he takes insurance, which some don’t. People, get a written statement ahead of time with your treatment and the cost and there won’t be any surprises. The docs don’t do the billing. They are busy doing what they do, which is surgery of some kind in the case of an oral surgeon.

This is a follow up to a previous review I gave Dr. Needle. I finished the dental implant procedure and everything went very well and the price was below my expectations based on discussions I have had with friends and family who have also had this type of work done. I found this oral surgeon to be highly skilled and reputable. He has the most up to date and sophisticated equipment available and the staff is very kind and pleasant to deal with. Dr Needle is a kind, skilled, and personable dental surgeon. I feel lucky to have been referred to this office for my dental implant. I will be back again the next time I knock out another tooth.

Believe the negative reviews. The front office people tried to significantly overcharge me for an extraction. Little did they know that I had checked my out of pocket cost before I came in. When I told her that I was being charged way too much, she said that my insurance didn’t know the «exact» procedure. Then she went away to consult and came back with a lowered cost giving me some doublespeak bs about my deductable. I left, because I honestly feel that if the front office is doing this to people, they must have their bosses permission to do so. This time they got caught and I left them telling them that even though I’m in a lot of pain with an infected tooth, I wouldn’t have this work done by people who do business this way. I also gave them a strong admonishment to get their act together and to not do this to other patients. I can’t speak to Dr. Needles ability – because I never let it get that far. But be on your guard if you are going to this office! Call your insurance and get an estimate of what your out of pocket costs should be.

beive in the negative reviews… dentists and others who get nothing but positive. i think have their friends write these reviews. anyway. went to see this guy… he didnt even look in my mouth. took some panoramic x rays, charged me like 200 bucks even tho i have dental insurance. then they billed my insurance and i just found out my insurance gave him 145 dollars, too. they dont even send me the refund!

This guy is a total butcher! The red flag should have been hearing other «patients» groaning down the hallway while I sat in the waiting room. He forcefully hacked my wisdom teeth out as if he was trying to break a Guinness speed record and when I ended up with dry sockets in the huge holes he left, his condescending receptionist made it sound like I treated the wounds incorrectly at home. The Endodontist that eventually cleaned up his mess was thoroughly disgusted at the carnage he left after what should have been a simple «extraction».

I really never think to write reviews for things other than restaurants, but I just had to. I too am really surprised by the 1 star reviews and all the filtered 5 stars (don’t get me started) I have had my wisdom teeth pulled by Dr. Needle, My daughter had her 4 wisdom teeth pulled by Dr. Needle, my son had some baby teeth removed and 4 wisdom teeth puled by Dr. Needle. We have never had anything less than an exceptional experience (as exceptional as getting wisdom teeth pulled is). I stumbled across the Unilocal reviews looking for his phone number to schedule JAW SURGERY CONSULTATION for my son. That’s some pretty serious surgery and I wouldn’t HESITATE and actually didn’t even think about going elsewhere. He came very highly recommended from several dentists and our orthodontist. He ALWAYS takes the time to answer our questions and give direct instructions. His staff is pleasant. I have never had a problem using our insurance with him. I’m totally baffled by the negative reviews. Oh and just FYI it really only takes about 15 minutes to yank those wisdom teeth out and I’m pretty certain there is NO doctor that charges by the hour.

I was referred to Dr. Needle because I needed an oral surgeon. My regular dentist referred me to him and I was hesitant because I fear the dentist (that’s an understatement) and I just don’t like to go to anyone. His name, Needle, is enough to scare you away! However, I knew I had to get the work done.
Without boring with countless words I will keep this short and sweet:
Dr.Needle and his ENTIRE staff– Beth, Marilee, Rocio, Lindsay, and Yeva created the BEST dental experience ever. As soon as I walked in the waiting room they were welcoming and helpful. I look forward to going back to them. Dr. Needle is the total package; knowledge, skills, manners, experience, professionalism. A+++.
So much so that I am writing this review, which is the 1^st review I have ever written on ANYTHING. I thought it was that important for people to know that if they are shopping around for an oral surgeon, Dr. Needle is the way to go!!!

I totally agree. This dentist does not care AT ALL. I had my wisdom teeth pulled by him over a year ago and they gave me no pre-​op instructions, so I showed up and they sent me home b/​c I had drank water in the AM. He said to me «well don’t you know you cant eat». No I don’t know b/​c I have never been put under! I came back the next day and he was an hr late from driving in from Malibu in the AM. I was not given a syringe to fill with water and flush the gaps out, I ended up in so much pain and then lectured me about keeping the area clean… you I would have had he given ANY instructions.
The front desk lady refused to ask him to write me a prescription on more than 1 occasion — she assumed me my pain wasn’t that bad (trust me it was, I had back surgery recently and this pain was much worse), I asked about the pain strips that they could insert and she said he didn’t recommend. I came to find out that he didn’t want to insert b/​c he was going on vacation and wouldn’t be in the office to remove. I ended up going to a another dentist while he was out and he put in the strips and I left 80% better. This guy has a nice office but other than that I would stay very far away.

I got a really bad vibe from this dental surgeon and would recommend that people go elsewhere.
I was refered to Dr. Needle. I waited in the waiting room for the typical amount of time one would expect. The staff never talked to me (could have been an off day) like I see in some of these other reviews. I went in to get scanned and was told to wait again.
Dr. Needle came in, said hello, and told me I need to have all four removed. It was literally within 2 minutes of meeting him. He seemed to only care about doing the proceedure. I am a student and started asking questions about cost and the actual necessity of doing all four. He was very quik to try and sell me a credit plan through his company. I told him that I was really proud to be debt free and wasn’t interested in payments or credit of any kind. He completely disregarded that statement and continued to try and get me on the payment plan! I literally told him three times that I wasn’t interested in the plan.
Some more details: All of this took place within 5 to 10 minutes of meeting him and I was out the door. He didn’t seem to care about anything but trying to push the surgery and payment plan like a hustler would. Again, after the waiting room, I was in his office for 10 minutes tops. I got a bill in the mail for $ 250 for a consultation fee!
To summarize: If you want a cold/​hustler like dentist and don’t care about cost, Dr. Needle seems like a competent surgeon.

We went to see Dr. Needle about having our son’s upper teeth extracted. It was a very strange visit. He told us it would be cheaper to use general anasthesia and gas rather than just gas during the surgery. When my spouse questioned him on this, he became exasperated and started working with the front desk to determine the cost. We thought it was odd that the dentist would be involved in estimating the costs. Then we got on Unilocal and google and found several negative reviews. There are also 18 «filtered» reviews from Unilocal which seems sketchy, too. In the end, we decided to cancel the appt and go with another Oral Surgeon.

I was in the ER with a dislocated jaw they couldn’t fix, so they discharged me across the street to Dr. Needle’s office. What a saviour! He and his staff were the kind of caring professionals whose hands you hope to land in in a crisis like that. A week later, he did not charge me for my follow up appointment and took the time to answer all my questions. Thank you Dr. Needle!

I agree with Evelyn, I was surprised by the reviews here of Dr. Needle.
My dentist referred me to Dr. Needle for wisdom tooth removal. All the staff working in the office are friendly and caring especially the reception lady, Claire, she is so sweet and feel like family after a several minutes i talked with her.
I have heard many horrible stories about wisdom teeth extraction. Dr. Needle and his team, they calmed me down and constantly checked with me to make sure i’m doing ok during the procedure. The overall experience wasn’t as scary as i expected, and my wisdom tooth laid flat under the gum instead of grow straight up. Within one hour, the whole procedure was over, and the staff kept reminding me what to do and don’t for the following days. I feel comfortable that under the care of Dr. Needle and his crew.

I was told I only needed 2 wisdom teeth out immediately and without much money to do the other 2, it was perfect with that idea. Then the office staff tells me that my insurance will cover most of it… which i questioned a couple times because I was under the impression they wouldn’t. Dr. Needle said I might as well get it out all four in one shot, so I figure, why not, I can actually afford it.
Well 2 weeks later I get a bill from them because my insurance doesn’t cover it… like i thought. After some calls, the insurance company said that when the office called, they didn’t try to get an itemized list of costs, just asked if I was insured. Thats not what the office lady says.
I’m not sure who is telling the truth, or who might have messed up, I just know that I owe almost $ 600 for getting teeth out that I didn’t even need out yet… because they told me it would cost me $ 100. I also see an «extra anesthesia» cost in there for $ 100+… i was never informed that they might need to do that. The procedure took less than 20 minutes.
Other than the financial trouble this is causing me, the check up a week later was just him glancing in my mouth and telling me i need to keep it more clean and gave me a water squirter. Lasted 3 seconds and didn’t even get a chance to ask any questions. Guess he saw nothing wrong, bus still would have liked if he asked if i had any questions.
If you are looking for a «1-​night stand» type of oral surgeon, he’s it… lie to you to get you in there, get what he wants out of it, then never calls!

Do NOT come to this oral surgeon. Beyond the fact that i got an infection and abcess and had to spend 6 hours in the ER, this guy just doesn’t care. It was a simple wisdom tooth extraction. I was not given many directions on how to keep clean and infection free.
I came in a total of 8 times to get checked up. He would literally sit me down for 5 seconds and just tell me to go. Never telling me why until I inquired more. I needed to see him for some really bad pains i was having, and instead he sent me to another doctor. This other surgeon cared 10x more than Needle did.