Five stars. Hundreds of reviews. “Great experience, highly recommend them.”
Now what?
You still don’t know if that dentist can see you the same week you crack a molar, or whether they’ll rush your cleaning instead of actually studying the X-ray.
Online reviews are a decent filter. They’re a terrible decision. Most of what separates a good dentist from the best dentist in Encino never shows up in a star rating, because the things that matter most stay invisible until you’re already in the chair.
Here’s what to check instead.
Reviews measure the visit, not the dentistry
Think about what a patient can actually evaluate afterward. Was the front desk friendly? Did it hurt? Did they run on time?
Real things — but none of them tell you whether the diagnosis was right, whether the crown margin sealed properly, or whether a filling should have been a root canal.
A patient can leave a glowing review after work that will fail in three years. They’ll never connect the two events. The review stays up, and the next person reads it.
The technical quality of the dentistry is the hardest part to see, and the part that determines everything else.
Four quality signals reviews never capture
Recent continuing education. Materials, bonding, implant protocols, and laser therapy have all changed significantly in the last decade. Dr. Alan Howard has practiced in Encino since 1991 and continues his education monthly, including through the Spear Advanced Dental Education Faculty Club. That’s the difference between 30 years of experience and one year repeated 30 times.
Hard cases handled in-house. Plenty of offices are great at cleanings and refer out the moment things get complicated, splitting your treatment across three offices and three sets of notes. At The Dental Office Encino, implants, laser periodontal surgery, TMJ treatment, sleep apnea appliances, and full smile makeovers all happen under one roof.
The imaging behind the diagnosis. A flat 2D X-ray hides things. Cone beam 3D imaging shows bone volume, nerve position, and sinus proximity — which is why it’s the standard for planning implant placement safely. Ask any Encino dental office what they image with before an implant. The answer tells you a lot.
Who owns the practice. Independent, dentist-owned offices answer to patients. Corporate groups often answer to production targets, which is how treatment plans start feeling oddly aggressive. This is a father-and-son practice — about as far from a rotating-dentist model as you can get.
The second-generation signal
When a dentist’s own child joins the practice, that’s a quiet vote of confidence in how the office operates. Dr. Yonatan Howard earned his D.D.S. from UCSF, is a certified Invisalign® provider, and focuses on CEREC same-day restorations, 3D-guided implant surgery, and laser periodontal surgery. He didn’t inherit a chair — he brought a newer toolkit into an established practice.
What that gives you: three decades of pattern recognition sitting beside current-generation technique. One dentist has watched restorations age over twenty years. The other trained on the materials that age better. Both opinions, same day, same building.
Technology counts when it changes your appointment count
Every dental website lists its equipment. Most patients skim past it. Some of it genuinely changes your visit:
- CEREC same-day restorations — crown designed, milled, and placed in one visit. No temporary, no two-week gap, no second day off work.
- LANAP laser therapy — laser treatment for gum disease instead of traditional cut-and-suture periodontal surgery.
- Cone beam 3D imaging — three-dimensional planning before implant placement, not guesswork from a flat film.
- Digital X-rays — far less radiation than film, images on screen immediately.
The test isn’t whether an office owns the equipment. It’s whether owning it means fewer trips down Ventura Boulevard.
Five questions to ask before you book
Reviews can’t answer these. A five-minute phone call can.
- How long has the dentist practiced, and how long at this location?
- What continuing education have they done in the past year?
- What gets referred out, and what stays in-house?
- Do you take 3D imaging before placing implants?
- If I chip a tooth on a Tuesday, when can you realistically see me?
Any office worth choosing answers all five without hesitating.
Fit is part of the answer
There’s a version of “best” that has nothing to do with technical skill.
If dental work makes you anxious, the most decorated dentist in Los Angeles is the wrong pick if you dread every visit and start canceling. If your parents are more comfortable in Hebrew or Spanish, hearing a treatment plan in their own language changes what they understand and agree to — our team speaks English, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Reviews rarely capture fit. The patient who called an office “efficient” and the one who called it “rushed” may have had the identical appointment.
Read reviews better, then go look
Don’t throw reviews out — read for patterns instead of ratings. One billing complaint is noise; six over two years is a system. Favor reviews naming a specific procedure over general praise, and weight long-term patients heavily. Only they can tell you how the work held up.
Then go see the office. Fifteen minutes in a waiting room beats fifty reviews.
We’ve been on Ventura Boulevard since 1991, caring for families across Encino, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Van Nuys, and Woodland Hills. New patients are welcome, and we’re glad to give a second opinion on a plan from elsewhere.
The Dental Office Encino 17071 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 102, Encino, CA 91316 818-300-0333 Monday–Thursday 8am–5pm | Friday 8am–2pm
