Kona Coast Dental Care

Even though this dentist accepts Delta dental they won't accept it if you are "traveling" per their receptionist we would have to pay cash and the cost just to see the dentist would be over $130. Ridiculous! Let me say we are from the States so there should have been No issue. This type of business practice and preying on people when they are traveling/vulnerable is unacceptable. I'll be calling Delta dental to let them know about these practices as well. Luckily we found an honest fair dentist in Kona that accepted Delta and with X-rays our total bill (billed to Delta) was 70 bucks for my husbands chipped tooth.

I'd encourage this business to rethink this policy!

SO VERY PLEASED I chose this Dentist! Dr. Jeff Ellis at Kona Coast Dental Care is not only highly experienced, but very skilled, caring, gentle and affordable! I saw three dentists in Kailua-Kona for Consults/Quotes for a broken molar (below the gum line). This kind of break, BELOW the gum line is tragic; break one next to a missing tooth/empty space and the news is really bad. ONLY Fix: 2 implants (not affordable even with my Ins) or getting a "4-tooth bridge"; opted for bridge.

Did a lot of research and chose Dr. Ellis; he did a beautiful job and completed it fast. My bridge was just installed and did not require one iota of adjustment. It fits like a glove, gleams and the color he chose matches perfectly. All 3 Dentists each presented different "solutions" on how to fix the situation.

I choose Dr. Ellis for 2 reasons; First, he was doing a lot more preparatory work including two root canals and Secondly, he was providing a much more expensive bridge than one made of "base metal/porcelain". Being allergic to Nickel which is in ALL "base metal" I could not have it in my mouth. Dr. Ellis's quote was only $4790. + tax! The 2 other Dentists each quoted $7000. + tax! One would provide an All porcelain bridge and the other one's quote was for only on a base metal/porcelain bridge. To Upgrade it to the gold and silver/porcelain (NO Nickel) bridge would have cost even more than $7000.

I simply could not afford to use the other two dentists; however by the end I was thrilled with my decision. I received FIRST RATE, QUALITY dental work from an EXCELLENT, experienced Dentist! Choosing to spend less money did NOT translate into receiving less quality dental work. I spent less and got more and better.

And no, I did NOT get a dime for doing this review. I was In such a panic after my molar broke I didn't even think about looking at Yelp Reviews (good b/c I probably wouldn't have called this office-so many mixed or negative reviews). Many are simply out of date, about hygienists' or dentists who no longer work there, ie, NOT current information.

So I wanted to set the record straight: If you go, ask for Dr. Jeff Ellis, he is a GEM! He has 40 years experience and I trusted him and his judgment completely. He's from Long Island, NY, moved to HI about 2 years ago and has a kooky sense of humor. I liked him immediately. I looked him up online and read his reviews from NY state. They were excellent.

He is gentle, works fast and takes pride in his work. When things go well he still gets excited even after all these years. It's obvious he loves his job. I found him to be funny and full of energy. I wish I had known about him earlier. Trying to replace my first dentist who retired has been challenging. I've had nothing but bad experiences with egotistic, arrogant and/or mediocre dentists ever since. (with the exception of a female dentist, 1 of the $7000. quotes).

From my experience here I don't believe you will find a better Dentist anywhere on the Island offering such AFFORDABLE prices along with such high quality dental work. Of course $5K IS STILL a lot of money. As I was not able to even chew on the right side of my mouth for 2 years I was ready, after this molar broke to finally have the work done. I did have to finance the entire expense and the next 12 months will be very financially difficult for this 77 yr old recent widow living BELOW the USA Poverty Level Monthly Income Chart for a person. Unfortunately I could only get 12 months of time but 24 months would have made the monthly payments much easier for me to handle.

They're open extended hours plus Saturdays. Everyone is really very nice. On the negative side the office, while nice, feels dated and 3 of the 4 reclining chairs NEED to be REPLACED. They're just way too old, hard, stiff and uncomfortable. In the end I overlooked this due to how happy I was about the final result. The Office is actually owned by Mainland Dentists who visit several times throughout the year. Dear Owners, PLEASE update these reclining chairs!

Had a crown redone three times and had to pay for faulty work done on my crown The crown came out three time in two months

Scheduling, staffing, and retention has been a problem here for years. Takes months to get an appointment, and I am always canceled when my appointment comes up. Rebooking in a timely fashion with a convenient appointment is next to impossible. It's a shame because the staff are friendly and professional and do a good job when I'm actually seen, but the constant cancellations ruin the experience. Not sure why they are "accepting new patients" when they can't manage to keep up with the current ones.

I have learned to read reviews before making any sppts with any medical provider. And in doing so I have noticed that the offices that have 1 and 2 star reviews immediately followed by a raving , glowing, unbelievable over the top wonderful review has always ended up being a fake review. Either these dentists and doctors have family of friends or even perhaps patients given a discount in exchange for the review. For when there is 5 star reviews only following the 1 or 2 star reviews be very suspect?? It seems like this place was great until 2020?? All great reviews until then. After 2020 the Dr.Ellis reviews start in and it seems like he really brought this place down. He needs to learn how to treat his patients and staff. Thank you to all the reviewers previous to mine. You saved me time, money, and pain by helping me to avoid this place from the start

Chose this practice at first because I needed a quick root canal after having some shoddy emergency dental work done elsewhere. Dr Ellis had me laughing even after I was on the verge of tears describing my emergency dental experience, and fixed me right up with a painless root canal. My permanent crown came in about 5 days later, and it looks very natural (front tooth, so it could have been very obvious if done poorly!) He has a sense of humor that not everyone might get at first, but he truly has nothing but good intentions.
Today, I saw Dr Sheppard for a wisdom tooth consult. None of the oral surgeons on island will even speak to you before you have a consult in hand from your general dentist. What I thought was just a consult turned out to be a super simple double upper wisdom tooth extraction with Dr Sheppard who was the sweetest lady on the planet the whole time! My husband goes to her and has loved the experience, and I'm so glad I got to be taken care of by her today. Both dental assistants that I've dealt with have been sharp as tacks, super responsive, and one step ahead of the game at all times. I'm sitting here, in zero pain, taking just regular Aleve for some jaw soreness, which is blowing my mind after my last extraction experience. She described exactly what she would be doing, what was normal and what wasn't, and let me take breaks when I needed. Didn't rush like the person who took my bottom teeth out a few years ago and gave me lingual nerve damage and a horrible fear of having teeth worked on, and truly that little bit of TLC goes a long way. I don't think I've ever felt more cared for by a dental practice in my adult life. Highly recommend everyone here.

Beware of the glowing reviews. Back in the day when Dr. Sayer practiced this was the best dental office in town, now it's a hot mess bent on turning a buck. Forget individualized care or finding a hygienist you want to keep seeing and get ready to roll the dice. It's as if they are in a time warp still blaming Covid for their troubles and might as well hand out numbered order tickets and yell "Next!" Prepare for smug fill in dentists, high turnover of hygienists and an unorganized office staff that has trouble explaining your bill. Then there are the constant last minute cancellations with no follow up availability for many, many months and on top of that they want you to feel sorry for them! On one visit I overheard them push "deep cleanings" on several patients which didn't seem like too much of a coincidence until they pushed it on me! Sad that this practice has fallen so far down the dental cavity rabbit hole.

They're good and customer service is ok but they keep canceling my appointments which I booked based on dates and times good for me. Then they expect you to call them to book another appointment based on what days and times are good for them because by then they won't have or will only have few appointment slots available. That's truly horrible.

Dr Karen Sheppard and Dental Assist. Rebecca are the very best of the best. I have been to many Dentists in my life time and now do my research. There is a reason Dr Sheppard is highly regarded. Both Dr Sheppard and Rebecca, are extremely caring, knowledgeable and professional the perfect package in dental care. Dr Sheppard did some amazing work on a tooth I thought was a goner. I can't speak highly enough on her ability as a dentist.......a real asset to the community of this island.

Just got done with my first ever root canal. Dr.Ellis was amazing!! Made me extremely comfortable and great bed side manner. It wasn't painful. Thank you Dr.Ellis for all the novacaine.

They have no problem canceling time sensitive appointments without the ability to rebook. I also just received a bill from work done TEN months ago. They blame staff shortages for the miscommunication. It's a shame because Dr Shepard was one of my most favorite dentists I've ever worked with but the office just can't seem to get it together. Lots of misinformation. Save yourself the trouble and time and find an office who cares about their patients.