I have been seeing Dr Tam since I was a kid, never had any problems from his work.

Submitted Sept. 28, 2016

I was referred to Dr. Timothy Tam by my dentist (she does not treat children). I'm really happy with my dentist so I was expecting great things from Dr. T. Tam. I was terribly disappointed on my first visit. He was very rude to his office staff (I was surprised she didn't quit). I've only been to this office during quite times so my experience with the office staff has so far been fine. They are not the best but they are ok. The office is borderline tire and borderline clean. Even though Dr. Tam is a pediatric dentist I don't find him that great with children. My kids seemed OK with the experience so I thought I would just tuff it out till my kids were old enough that I could take them to my dentist. I think we've been going to him for the past 5 years. We were doing fine until my youngest developed two tiny dark spots on his baby teeth and Mr. Tam jumped into fill and drill mode.

We use xylitol as part of my son's oral health regime to help prevent cavities. I believe the xylitol is doing its job and as a result caused some staining on his teeth. Mr. Tam didn't give me a straight answer on whether the spots were staining or cavities. He also didn't give me a straight answer when I asked how much longer my son would have the tooth for. Instead he handed me a brochure. I had to read the brochure to find out that that particular baby tooth would fall out when my son was around 11 to 12 years old. So the tooth had to last 7 to 8 years.

The spots in my son's teeth developed over a 6 month period so I'm more inclined to think they are stains then cavities as cavities don't develop that fast. Moreover, on a 3.5 year old I'm not prepared to jump into drill and fill mode unless we are out of options. I asked Mr. Tam if we could wait a bit to see if the xylitol combined with floride would arrest the cavity. He made me feel like I was a terrible mother and said flat out in an accusatory voice "you want to wait till it's bigger?" I'm pretty sure this was meant to make me feel bad and pressure me into a quick decision to drill and fill. Drilling and filling probably won't have solved the problem in any case because my son has deep pockets on his teeth (I know as I have these too) and it is likely further cavities would develop in this area (assuming these are cavities) unless the pockets were sealed. He then told me that my son had soft enamel on the same tooth and proceeded to stick his dental prob into my son's tooth. This was the last straw.

I'm aware that our tooth enamel goes through softening and hardening stages depending on our diet and hormones. Moreover, a dentist should never stick his dental prob into a soft tooth as that creates another hole for dental caries to form. I asked Dr. Tam if he were to clean the area and apply a dental sealant which contained Floride if this would work. He said it would. Then I asked which was a better alternative, drill and fill or sealant. He said the sealant. I'm left to wonder why the less invasive procedure wasn't suggested in the first place. Particularly on a rather young child.

Throughout this discussion he walked off several times and left me standing there with his assistant and my kids. There were no other patients at the time and the sealant procedure would have taken 15 minutes. He said I would have to book another appointment and come back another day.

I'm glad he did because it gave me time to think about the situation. I've decided to seek out a better pediatric dentist for my kids. I could be wrong and my son may have a cavity in which case I will take appropriate action before it gets bigger. As Dr. Tam pointed out my son has soft enamel on that tooth and we need to strengthen the enamel on that tooth before attempting a filing in any case (as the filing is likely to fall out if it is attached to soft enamel). I wouldn't recommend him as a pediatric dentist because I think he is too aggressive in his treatment when more conservative (and effective) treatment options are available for young children. I don't think any parent likes to be bullied into make a decision, we like to be informed and given options to make the best decision for us and our children.

Submitted Aug. 10, 2016

I wish this website was active when I was a child because I would have never set foot inside Dr. Timothy Tam's office. The receptionists are rude and the hygienist are terrible. Every time his hygienist flossed my teeth, my gums would be sore/bleeding and she would blame it on my tight gap between my teeth. After every cleaning my teeth would be sore for a week. I thought this was normal for a cleaning for years until I switched dentist with the help of this website. Now I realize Dr. Timothy Tam is very fast but very rough. I always spend more time waiting for my appointment than the actual dental work done. The technology of his equipment is old, the new dentist I go to now has HD camera with cavity lens to show me blown up picture of my teeth. They are able to detect problems with Dr. Tams work with fillings which I now have to correct.

Submitted March 15, 2016

This was my dentist as a kid/teen and I am now 20. Even though the staff were decently pleasant sometimes. I am now at my new dentist constantly as they're repairing all the work Dr.tam did. It's costing me an arm and a leg for this guys mistakes. Dentists are astonished he's still practicing. So much grief now.

Submitted Sept. 14, 2015

The front desk staff are just horrible and unprofessional, always provides attitude. I had braces wire poking out very long and has caused a white blob inside my mouth which hurts when eating. I called to have it fixed and they told me to come at 4:30, however when I arrived they said he will not be here until 5. The way the front desk deals with things like this is so impolite. I also came from a class so it's not ideal to wait here for 30 minutes when the appointment is at 4:30. They did not apologize at all and just provides attitude. Nor did they call to inform me earlier. Just don't come here, it's just a pain when it comes to unprofessional staffs. All they know is argue argue argue, or won't admit what they are doing wrong. Also when it comes to payment; they always say we will double check but it has been months since we've had a clear answer to see how much payment is left.

Submitted July 17, 2015

The front desk staff are just horrible and unprofessional, always provides attitude. I had braces wire poking out very long and has caused a white blob inside my mouth which hurts when eating. I called to have it fixed and they told me to come at 4:30, however when I arrived they said he will not be here until 5. The way the front desk deals with things like this is so impolite. I also came from a class so it's not ideal to wait here for 30 minutes when the appointment is at 4:30. They did not apologize at all and just provides attitude. Nor did they call to inform me earlier. Just don't come here, it's just a pain when it comes to unprofessional staffs. All they know is argue argue argue, or won't admit what they are doing wrong. Also when it comes to payment; they always say we will double check but it has been months since we've had a clear answer to see how much payment is left.

Submitted June 23, 2015

Very good clinician who understands the benefits of early orthodontic treatment

Submitted June 8, 2015

I have been taking my daughter here for 8 years. We have always had good experiences. Sometimes the wait can be abit long but it's good that they take the time to look after their patients properly. Once we waited a long time because there was a boy in front of us who was crying and moaning and not wanting his cavity filled. But instead of sending him to be put under anethestic as some other dentist might do when a child is uncooperative, they were patient and kept trying and eventually got the job done.

Submitted May 3, 2015

Had my dental work done there when I was 13. I had braces for 2.5 years there. During the last few months they were very mean. I started to hate going there because Dr. tam would be rough with my gums and teeth. I stopped going there because he and his staff are very unprofessional. Bad experiences there after they received most of my payments for my braces. Would not recommend.

Submitted Feb. 23, 2015

They are rude, I apparently had a cavity so what was supposed to be a filling turned out to be a cap cuz he drilled to deep and hit my nerves.... may sue

Submitted Sept. 25, 2014