I will never walk into Dr. Sugiyama’s office again and you shouldn’t either. He’s got an attitude on him like his patients are a waste of his time (even if he only has to see you at the end of a cleaning), and will blame every one of his failings on you if he can. I’m an engineer, I consult with a lot of other engineers, and he’s got worse communication skills than any of us. And God help you if you have any degree of anxiety. My case is pretty mild, I’m a very compliant patient even with some tears of fear, but he acted as though I was the most unreasonable person he’s ever had in the chair.

The stars I must give, I attribute to his assistants and hygienists. They are amazing and he does not deserve them.

During my last experience with this dentist, he:
- Misdiagnosed a cracked tooth as needing a crown, ultimately just a filling
- Blamed me for the misdiagnosis, claiming I was not “in the right frame of mind” for him to do a proper exam. I had been a compliant patient, only breaking down in anxious tears after he was done looking at it. I was scared and in pain- if that’s wrong then what on Earth is the “right frame of mind”?!
- Botched the anesthetic job. I knew immediately it was screwed up because the first place I felt it wasn’t in my face but in my HANDS
- Tried to gaslight me about the botch job by saying I was just anxious about the procedure. I know very well what a panic attack feels like and that was NOT what was happening
- Told me to let him know if I felt any discomfort as he was drilling, then when I followed this instruction said “I know for a fact you can’t feel this”
- Failed to directly address me about the change of plan from crown to filling and why he was doing it. He didn’t even take a second to reassure me that things weren’t as bad as they had appeared. I only knew it was happening because he told his assistant about it as though I couldn’t hear him
- Openly said he was only 85% sure about the change and just went ahead with it without giving me a chance to ask questions
- Only took the time to explain what the crack looked like to him, what the treatment was, and why at the very end of everything. A lot of that should have been at the very START, even if the plan changed. When the plan changed we should have had a quick powwow about it, then a full breakdown once we were done
- Made it seem as though basic follow-up questions like “when will the anesthetic wear off” and “any short term care I should take care of” were not OK to ask
- Once the numbing finally wore off, it became clear that he’d managed to injure me during the anesthetic botch job. Two full weeks later and I still cannot open my mouth fully without the injection site feeling like something is torn. I’m in more pain now than when I originally went in

Do not sign up with this guy, and if you are already a patient RUN before something like this happens to you.

Submitted Nov. 30, 2023