Dentistry by Design Palisades
Maria Elena, DDS:
Practice Profile Page

Dr Tapia and the staff are very professional and provide a safe a comfortable environment. The offices are large and clean and not crowded. All of the dental work that I have received there was first class and above all painless. I know painless will very form person to person but it was my biggest fear when going to the dentist before meeting Dr. Tapia. Now I feel relaxed and comfortable going to be my teeth cleaned or worked on. They are fantastic !!!!!

Three hours and two porcelain crowns later… I think the world of Dr. Tapia and her team! Becky in reception is always so welcoming and the doc herself, along with her assistant Michaela, is not only skilled at her “art” but is also hugely entertaining. Dentistry by Design is tops in my book!

Amazing dentist! Great staff! Beautiful decor – and, I should know as I was married to a dentist! Dr. Tapia is gentle, honest and patient. She has a wonderful bedside manner, and is always fun to visit with and talk to. Everyone in the office is great – Finding someone I trusted wasn’t easy after my husband worked on me for over 15 years…I would recommend this office to anyone who wants a great experience and beautiful teeth!

Dr. Maria Elena Tapia and her staff were absolutely amazing! I was amazed at the care and compassion that they showed from the start of booking my appointment, through dealing with my insurance payments, to the quality of care I received while in their office. Their office felt like I was in a spa! I was immediately relaxed and felt 100% taken care of by all the staff there. You could tell that they really cared about my health and well-being and I had never had a teeth cleaning like I experienced there! I would recommend this place to anyone and would go back any time!

I am no longer afraid to go to the dentist. Dr. Tapia is gentle, sensitive, warm, and very thorough. I have had extensive work done and can honestly say that the process I went through with Dr. Tapia was “painless”. I no longer feel stressed or nervous when going for my check-ups. My 2 adult sons are also her patients. We all agree…….She is an awesome dentist!!! Her offices are beautiful and relaxing. Her staff is amazing. I highly recommend Dr. Tapia to anyone who reads this. If you do not live in the area it is worth the drive!

I don’t have enough space here to praise Dr. Tapia and her staff so I will get to the point. I came to her with a botched job from another dentist more than a decade ago which cost me one of my permanent teeth. A crown had been placed over a tooth but it was too big so it would let food particles get in a slowly, it completely decayed and partially fell out. Dr. Tapia saw me the same day and super nicely, not at all judgingly like many other dentists, explained my options: extract the decayed root, bone grafting, and either do an implant or do a bridge. She showed me an instructional video of both options and immediately provided me with their cost in order to evaluate them. I decided to go with the implant, which is more costly, but she also offered interest free financing. I scheduled my surgery and additional dental work for the same day and although I was there for 5 hours, they made sure I was comfortable and the whole thing felt like minutes. Dr. Tapia did my cavities (3 big ones) in almost 2 hours and she talked me through the whole process and explained why it was taking so long to ease my anxiety. Dr. Whang is a sweetheart, after having my cavities done, he proceeded to extract my tooth, do the bone grafting and place the implant – all in less than 2 hours. That evening, Dr. Tapia called my home to check on me and made sure I was doing okay – who does that nowadays??? I did not swell up or feel any pain, which only shows how well they work. The office staff is fantastic. Maria is a rockstar, she is dynamic, efficient, and so nice to patients of all ages. I saw her chatting up some old ladies and she is such a sweetheart. There is little or no waiting time – they are like clockwork with their appointments : if it is at 11:00, you’re in at 11:02 at the most – it’s nice they don’t make you waste half of your day like others. Becky is one of the dental assistants and she is so sweet, I almost felt like hugging her after my whole ordeal. They are about to move to a nicer and bigger office, but in my opinion, they don’t need it. Good dentistry is not about flashy offices, it’s about nice friendly staff, and Dr. Tapia and her staff could work out of a box, for all I care, and they would still make you feel like you are their most important patient and that they care. They are truly a fantastic team and have finally found a dentist I can come to every 6 moths (as you should), with a smile on my face.