Ivy Institute Dental Specialists and Pain Management
David Li, DMD:
Practice Profile Page

Ivy Institute Dental Specialists and Pain Management
David Z. Li, DMD (Endodontist)
Arcadia, CA

★★★★★

35 REVIEWS
0 BEFORE & AFTER PHOTOS

SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT ONLINE

CALL MY OFFICE

DENTAL TREATMENTS OFFERED

Apicoectomy

Root canal therapy

Root canal retreatment

Tooth extraction

Dental implants

Osseous surgery

Periodontal plastic surgery

Gum lift

Bone grafting

Ridge augnmentation

CLEAR ALIGNER SERVICES

Offers Even28 at-home™? No

Offers Even28 at-dentist™? No

Offers Invisalign®? Yes

OFFICE HOURS

Monday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Tuesday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Wednesday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Thursday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Friday: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Saturday: Closed

Sunday: Closed

SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT

BEFORE & AFTER PHOTO GALLERY

PATIENT REVIEWS

Today was a nerve wracking day. Last night, Wednesday, I had a very sharp pain in my tooth. I knew immediately something was very wrong. Of course, I have to leave on a trip Monday! Since my regular dentist is on vacation ,had to visit the backup( Dr. Mario Tse, wonderful) who fit me in within hours of my call. He had to recommend that I see a root canal specialist. Amazingly enough, Ivy fit me in at the end of the day. From the moment I walked in the door, as a terrified client, a smiling, soothing receptionist welcomed me, kept me calm and got me in a room. At that point, an equally kind and professional assistant got me X-rayed and ready for Dr. Lee. He was fantastic, located the problem, numbed without pain, kept me informed about what he was doing and most importantly performed the root canal in less than 1.5 hours start to finish. I feel very fortunate to have had my tooth fixed not only in one day but by such wonderful people. Thank you for being such a great resource!

I had the most amazing experience that I have ever had @ The Ivy Institute. I was surrounded by a group of staff & Doctor… (Dr. Sin), who were the kindest & most attentive staff ever! They were very professional & yet completely compassionate in the area of treating me & meeting my needs as a patient. I had dental surgery & they walked me through every step with a loving & kind manner. They worked with me on many different levels to help me suit my needs. Truly an amazing experience for any needed treatment or surgery.

Can I just say I love Dr Oo! She’s so professional and wonderful. Ive been here before covid and after covid and I am pleasantly pleased with how this office is handling it all. They were clean before and they are clean now. Dr Oo is SO gentle. Didn’t feel a thing. She warned me after I would be sore and to take medications and let me tell you I haven’t felt a hint of tenderness. She also performed my husbands root canal and he loved her as well and he is TERRIFIED of dentists, so kudos to you Dr Oo!!! 🙂

Doctor Jessica Oo is AMAZING! I had to go get a root canal procedure done for the first time in my life during the covid 19 pandemic and i was so blessed to have doctor Oo! Her voice was so soothing and made me feel less anxious! She explained every steps during the procedure and she was very gentle with my tooth. I didn’t feel any pain at all!  Love the fact that she tried to save my tooth unlike another OMFS who wanted to extract my tooth and convinced me that there was no hope of saving my tooth and i needed to get a tooth implant!!! Thumbs up for this place!

I was referred by my dentist to come here for a root canal, I’ve never had one before but Dr. Jenessa Oo made me feel at ease throughout the whole process. Not only is she extremely personable but she is also very skilled and was sure to keep me calm by checking in on me and provided me consistent updates throughout the procedure. My appointment lasted 90 minutes and the root canal itself was 60 minutes. It was relatively painless, the most uncomfortable part was having my mouth held open for that long. The staff at the Ivy Institute were all very kind and friendly from what I experienced between my two visits (consultation and procedure) and answered all my questions. The office is very clean, modern, and feels safe despite our current circumstances. I had a great experience at the Ivy Institute and would recommend their services for anyone looking for a straightforward, professional, and comfortable dental experience.

I have never posted a Yelp review so this will be my 1st one. I felt compelled to write a review about my positive experience with Dr Oo & her staff today because they are absolutely AMAZING! I’m a difficult pt (and a very selective one as well) who experiences severe anxiety at my dentist appts even just for cleanings. Worst of all, I needed a root canal which I would’ve continued to delay but the pain was becoming unbearable. My dentist couldn’t complete the root canal in his offc so he referred me to a Dr he trusted, which of course turned out to be Dr. Oo. During our consultation, she was very thorough with her explanations & tx plan. Today was my root canal appt so I was prescribed medication to calm my nerves. I was still fearful & a bit apprehensive. But Dr Oo & her staff were so nice, supportive, & reassuring. Once Dr Oo began working , her talents & skills came through making the procedure seem incredibly quick, easy, and most importantly painless! As a matter of fact, I started to fall asleep near the end. I have NEVER fallen asleep during a root canal! This is how talented & amazing Dr Oo is!!! Thank you once again Dr Oo & staff for taking care of me & doing such an incredible job!

I have a toothache but the problem is I don’t know which one is causing my pain. So I called and make an appointment to see a doctor. Luckily Dr Li came and see my X’ray. He very gentle, explains everything very detail about my tooth I decided to do root canal at the same time. The procedure was painless. I even fall asleep during that time. And it just took me 1 hour to finish my root canal, faster than I expected Dr Li is the best. He knows how to calm your fears and treat you very well

I highly recommend this office, such caring and amazing doctors, you can really see how much they care about their patients and the well being of their staff.  I saw Dr. Li and Dr. Lim, I found them to be so helpful and gentle.  I would recommend anyone who wants a Dr. that really cares about their health.  I’ve gone to other offices and felt it was all about money and adding extra work.  The office manager Eva, is great and so assuring along with the assistants Andrea and Donna. This place is great and worth the money, Im happy to find a office that cares about my dental health and isn’t just about money and a quick turn out!!!

Dr. Elisa Sin was a very kind, thorough and caring periodontist whom I would recommend highly. Due to gum recession, she had to perform a tissue graft on me. She answered all my questions both before and after the surgery and the staff was excellent too. I liked the way she did 2 rechecks following me along up to 6 months after the surgery to make sure it was healing well and that there was no need to do additional surgery. I also liked the before and after pictures taken that helped to indicate how successful the surgery had been.

I was diagnosed with a infected lower molar. My dentist strongly suggested I see Dr. David Li at The Ivy Institute. The office was easy to find with plenty of parking. The front office staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. My wait time was less than five minutes. I’m a tech-dude, so I could see they have all of the latest x-ray imaging and microscope equipment available. Dr. Li has a quiet confidence that only comes from years of quality training and the utmost care for his patient’s well being. I was SURPRISED when my surgery took less than an hour. I was surprised when I had VERY LITTLE PAIN after the surgery. Do yourself a huge favor. If you need root canal treatment, choose the Ivy Institute. You will agree with me; they are hands down the best.

Walking into the building, I was extremely nervous; I’m deathly afraid of doctors, dentists, needles or anything related. I was referred to Ivy Institute by my dentist for a root canal. I rarely go to the dentist due to my fear of the dentist itself, but after my experience with Ivy Institute, I have such a different perspective! The entire root canal procedure took about an hour. I was worried about the first anesthesia injection, but I barely felt it! Dr. Oo is such a professional and so great at what she does; her assistant was amazing too! They really care about their patients. They were aware of how nervous I was; Dr. Oo talked me through everything and let me know what sounds/sensations I should expect. She also gave me pineapple juice after I mentioned that I was hungry! Overall, amazing staff, and Dr. Oo is wonderful!

I needed a root canal badly and after doing some research I came across Ivy Pain Institute.  It was important to me that the doctors were from great schools but were experts at what they did. Not only are the doctors here graduates from the country’s top notch schools, I also noticed few of them here were on faculty at UCLA. This provided me some peace of mind so I decided to give them a try.    I called the office and told them I developed a dental abscess overnight and in extreme painful.  The person I talked to was extremely professional and immediately made me an appt to see Dr. Lim (who went out of his way to see me on an emergency basis the very next morning which he usually reserves for office time). The following morning when I went in for my root canal and Dr. Lim explained every step he was performing and put me at ease the entire time.  I had almost no discomfort.  I would highly recommend the Ivy Institute this place is incredible.

This review is for Dr. Li and his wonderful staff. I was referred to him by my primary dentist for a failed root canal and apicoectomy. I was in so much pain and scared about a repeat apicoectomy. However, Dr. Li knew what the first endodontist missed and that he could fix it. He comes across with a confident attitude that isn’t cocky and overall great bedside manners. He was patient with my questions/concerns and would reassure me that he would do everything he could for me. I think I’ve set a new record with my numerous visits to an endodontist for my crazy dental issues….  I’m so lucky that I found Dr. Li! Also, everyone from the dental assistants to the front office staff were polite and friendly.

I had an overall great experience here. David Li and his staff were professional and made me feel very comfortable during the root canal procedure. I had a root canal performed 9 years prior on the same tooth but it failed so a family member referred me here. I will be going back should I need a dental specialist in the future.

This is one of the best endodontist office I’ve been to. The staff here are very knowledgeable and professional. I had my tooth extracted couple days ago and a bone graft had to be placed in… we didn’t anticipate to do a bone graft as Dr. Lim felt he might be able to repair the infection and save my tooth to help me save some money (they are totally considerate of your finance) but the dr prepared the bone graft just in case once they go in and do the procedure & can’t repair it which they were well prepared. Eva is awesome w: accommodating your schedule and very informative. You are in great hands if you go here. It’s worth it to look for an endodontist that is experience and quality.

I had been putting off getting two top wisdom teeth removed (as you do). I noticed in  a pic that my teeth were shifting because of this and I Facebooked my friends to ask for dentist recommendations. My friend said they would accept me as a patient even with no insurance (yay!) When I called they were very warm and friendly and got me an appointment with Dr. Kang for the extractions. The office is gorgeous and state of the art, everyone treated me (and my son and Mom) like family and made us feel welcome, which is important because dental surgery can be scary!! Dr. Kang was really exceptional with explaining to me what was going to happen step by step and explaining what we were looking at in the x-ray. The whole extraction process took him literally 20 minutes, with local anesthesia. He was masterful in his craft , minimal pain (like very minimal) and I had ZERO swelling. My recovery has been amazing and he even called me at home that night to see how I was doing. He walked me through the post surgery steps very clearly and I’ve been able to follow them easily. I’ve healed beautifully and I am SO happy I found The Ivy Institute and Dr. Kang. I will be going back to have my bottom wisdom tooth pulled in the next few months! Thank you to Dr. Lim and Dr. Kang for exceptional service and experience!

I’m so happy I decided to go to The Ivy Institute! Dr. David Li is an amazing Endodontist !  I should know because teeth issues have been the bane of my existence.  I had dental surgery a few days and post op pain was minimal. Everyone in the office is super nice and professional . Great experience

I needed a root canal done so I found this place which had just a few reviews but were all great. Now here I am writing mine because they definitely deserve it! Very very nice office! I had some trouble finding the place and ended up being super late but everyone there was beyond friendly and made me feel at ease. The place is actually very new and so is their equipment which actually made my visit a bit exciting. I personally work in Guest Services so I was definitely impressed by just walking in the door. Dr. David Li was the one that did my root canal procedure. Before I had even went into the dental room, he had taken a second to just say hi while I was outside filling out my paperwork! The procedure itself was painless other than the pinch from the initial anesthesia injection. Now for the ladies, you know how unattractive having your mouth open for dental work can be and I’m extremely self conscious. What I especially loved was that Dr. Li used a rubber mask to isolate my tooth which half my face was covered up and they gave me protective eyeglasses to wear so NO SPLASHES OR WATER OR GUNK ruining my make up and of course Dr. Li and the assistant was very careful with me. They even rinsed my mouth! No need to get up and sit up and do it myself here. I’ve never liked going to the dentist and now I have a whole different point of view. My old dental place does not even compare and now I realize what I’ve been missing out… Overall it was a pleasant and interesting experience. Thank you!

Dr. David Li is the best. Just had my root canal surgery done and I must praise him. My wife first had her gum surgery done with Dr. Li year ago and that was after her primary dentist screwed it up. She had an infection but dr. Li help my wife to save her tooth. He is the most talented knowledgeable Doctor I’ve ever been to. He’s very patient, kind and takes as much time with you to get the job done right once and for all. I highly recommend Dr. Li

Simply put, the most amazing experience I ever had in a dental office. If someone told me getting a root canal done was going to be a breeze, I would not have believed it before I had it done at Ivy. I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to my dental care. I do a ton of research and have friends in the industry. Every dentist I choose must meet a certain standard. The Ivy Institute, more specifically Dr. David Li, was truly the cream of the crop. He was very knowledgeable (he is also a teacher at UCLA) but more importantly very patient. The root canal did not hurt a bit! Facility and Professionalism – A+! The office as a whole is not your run in the mill dental office. They have all the latest technology. All the doctors are specialists. I’m so happy that I was lucky enough to find this office!

Dr Li and his staff are sooo nice. His office is state of the art. With nice views of the mountains. Dr Li puts you at ease . Having a root canal is traumatic ..but Dr is so calm and if you don’t feel like you are ready it’s ok..you can come back another day. I highly recommend The Ivy Institute 

Not a place you want to come…. but if you’re referred to this place, you will be well taken care of. I’m glad I came here just in time before Gavin Newsom’s draconian lockdown and had my root canal issue resolved. This is a place your dentist sends you whenever there’s a complicated root canal procedure. It is 2.5 times the cost of a regular root canal and I think the financial pain was much worse than the procedure itself. My appointment was with Dr Jenessa Oo and she couldn’t have been any more professional. The whole procedure lasted around 90 minutes and I don’t recall feeling any pain at all. My recommendation is to take care of your teeth and avoid places like this.

Dr. Li is the best endodontist I have ever met. He is smart and personable and has an amazingly compassionate chairside manner. He treated me as an intelligent person who had questions and fears ( I am dental phobic). I came to him for a root canal that needed retreatment and he was very skilled and gentle when numbing the area. His equipment seems state of the art throught which he was able to tell me that unfortunately I had a fracture in the tooth that would not be helped by the root canal. He was informative and spent time explaining my options (tooth extraction , implant or bridge) and even recommended some dental surgeons and dentists. He also did not charge me for the root canal which I thought was remarkable given that he had spent the time anesthetizing and actually starting to work on it. If you need a good endodontist who speaks to you and is patient and really wants the best for you this is the person! Thanks Dr. Li and staff!

I was referred to see Dr David Li endodontist for a possible root canal. I am very happy with his professionalism and pain management expertise. He presented his clinical reasoning and did not push unnecessary treatment. He was very adept at managing pain. Very gentle work. His office stuff was nice and courteous. I traveled from Santa Monica to see him. Would recommend his service. Parking is free and clinic is modern and up to date.

I want to give a shout out to Dr. Oo and her staff. I had been having on-and-off toothache for more than a month. My regular dentist took an x-ray of my tooth but did not want to touch it since it seemed like a complicated case. I was so fortunate to be referred to the Ivy institute for retreat of the root canal. I  visited the office four times in total and every single time I received exceptional services. Everyone from the doctor, assistants, to the front desk staff was so wonderful. Dr. Oo always introduces herself and explains the procedure in detail and easy-to-understand terms so that I as a patient would feel comfortable every step of my treatment. On top of it, she always wears a smile 🙂 A dentist visit can be nerve wracking, but Dr. Oo definitely has made me feel at ease and at one point I even fell asleep during the treatment…
Thank you again Dr. Oo and the Ivy Institute. I highly recommend their services.

I was referred to the Ivy Institute for a root canal with Dr. Gee. Everything went well and I had no pain! Dr. Gee repeatedly checked in with me to ensure that i was feeling okay. All personnel I encountered were friendly and helpful. Recovery went well, soreness dissipated after about 3 days

I was referred to the Ivy Institute by my dentist Dr. Lu at Healthy Life Dental in Monrovia after discovering that there was a crack on my 8 year old crown that led to my root canal becoming infected. The pain coming from it was unbearable. I called the Ivy Institute to let them know of my issue and referral. They immediately set up a same day appointment and began work as soon as my insurance approved the work. I was blown away with the professionalism of the staff! I felt like I was truly taken care of from start to finish! The infected root canal was treated over the course of 2 appointments. I have since had a new crown placed over the treated root canal and can say I am truly satisfied with the work that had been done! NO MORE PAIN!

Dr. Li and all his staff at the Ivy Institute are so sweet and wonderful! I HIGHLY recommend them! I was having a great deal of pain and needed a root canal (secondary to some perio work). I was referred here by my primary dentist. Since this was my first ever root canal (and you’ve heard how root canals could be in the past), I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but I am here to tell you-Not Anymore! I have had lots of dental work, so I say from experience, that Dr Li made it easy and painless! I have never been so happy to get a root canal as I have been since Dr. Li did mine. He is true to his word that it wouldn’t hurt and it didn’t, and it hasn’t since I had mine done last week. The only “slight” pain I felt was the pinch from the local anesthetic shot. That was it! He’s so good!!! It was so easy, it was like getting a big cavity filled. The whole procedure took about an hour, start to finish. I had no down-time. I went home, cooked dinner for my family, ate a couple hours later after the numbing wore off. And it’s been fine ever since. I didn’t have insurance at the time, so it was all out of pocket, but worth every penny! If I ever need anymore work done in the future, this is where I am coming back to! Dr. Li is one of the best!

Dr. Hosn, dental assistant Andrea, and receptionist Evie are the best! After some bad dental treatments elsewhere, I switched dentists and was referred to the Ivy Institute for a special tooth lengthening procedure on the furthest rear molar which suddenly cracked down through the crown which broke half way off with some amount of tooth. I have a small mouth and and not a lot of space for a dentist to work. The procedure was long and hard for me. Dr. Hosn was very gentle and reassuring and is obviously very good at what he does. Andrea took good care of comfort while assisting Dr. Hosn and provided soothing words as well. Evie phoned my husband at the appropriate time and he was there to pick me up right as I was done. And one of them looked up my insurance and provided me with the cost estimate before starting. I’m not going to sugar coat – this was a very difficult procedure for me, but I realize it could have been a whole lot worse in the hands of a less competent dentist and staff. The post-operative information was fantastic — good recommendations and the encouragements that less swelling = less pain (and how to achieve less swelling), less activity = less pain, adhering to the given soft die recommendations = better results — who would not follow recommendations that make you feel better?! I felt like I had some control over the results, even with all the pain I had initially. So, I am healing. My surgery was just 2 days ago. I’m resting and my family is laughing at my pureed chicken vegetable soup (everything into the blender with some milk and a dash of cream added) and my pureed Habit hamburger (everything into the blender with some milk and a dash of cream). But hey, it tastes okay and it’s helping me heal, along with milk shakes and kefir yoghurt. Carnation Instant Breakfast blended with milk and frozen blueberries (Aldi has nice ones), strained to get out all the skin pieces, was also fantastic. Today I had fresh watermelon juice. The only extra thing I really needed was a sleep aid and Tylenol PM did the trick. So, if you are scared but the procedure will really help you in the long run, Ivy Institute is the place to go.

One of the MOST ENJOYABLE dental surgeries I have experienced…so had to share!… I came here referred by my regular dentist after having to recrown a rear molar… it was still super temperature sensitive after 9 months, so when I consulted with endodontist Dr. Jung Lim, he recommended I get a root canal because the nerve is irritated beyond its ability to settle and heal and is likely to worsen and require one later. I just had my root canal this morning and I am now at home writing about my awesomely simple, PAIN-LESS, and easy oral surgery. Mind you… it was simple in my perspective but for Dr. Jung Lim, it was only performed with ease due to his skill and professionalism. My nerve formation is aytpical in that is forms a “C” instead of just being 3 dots to attend to from an overhead camera view, plus, it was waay back and hard to reach. He even showed me photos of my red, inflamed nerves he extracted compared to parts of them that were not inflamed to illustrate the reason he recommended the root canal. In addition, because he also teaches at UCLA, he gets state of the art, new innovations not available to all dental specialists … after thorough research he uses them on patients. For me, that meant a bio-ceramic, biologically inert material was used in my moral that has been shown to be indistinguishable to the body so healthy cells grow on it. Not only do I feel great other can having a tired jaw from the 1+ hour procedure, but I also don’t have to go back soon because he filled the crown he drilled — Entire surgery done in less time than it took to drive there and back! … and now I can look forward to eating and drinking more freely without the pain nuisance. I go to Arcadia Dentaldontics down the hall for regular dental concerns, and I am sooo happy to have found my friend Dr. Jung Lim in the same building. Dr. Jung Lim also has offices in Palm Desert, beyond Santa Clarita Valley, and teaches students,… you can tell he has great patience in the gentle, kind, and firm way he talks with his staff. BIG TOOTHY GRIN here!

I was in a bad situation when I had the good fortune of landing in the care of Dr. Lim. My good experience at The Ivy Institute began with the friendly front office staff. His assistant then escorted me back. She was pleasant and reassuring. Dr. Lim went beyond the call of duty to take excellent care of me, beginning with fitting me into his schedule for that day. He surprised me when he said he was done with the root canal! It was truly easier than getting a cavity filled! He put an end to intolerable pain, and I did not require a single pain pill after my procedure. He is quite skilled and is also compassionate.

I was referred to the Ivy Institute for a root canal because my dentist couldn’t numb me up enough to work on my tooth. I was full of anxiety of having to get a root canal, to say the least, but then I had to get sent to a specialist because my dentist couldn’t handle it! Let’s just say I delayed it as long as possible before finally biting the bullet and going in. When I get it there staff is very nice and helpful and tried to make me feel more comfortable about the procedure. Dr Lim worked on me and I can’t even begin to say how amazing he is! From the first shot of anesthesia to the final patch up, I literally didn’t feel an ounce of pain! Half way through I realized that I wasn’t even clenching my fists anymore! Him and his assistant were also quite entertaining during the procedure which also helped relieve the stress. Needless to say, if you ever need a root canal, this is the only place you need to go!

I needed an emergency check-up due to the swelling of my cheek. As I didn’t want to go to my general dentist for a possible root canal or other procedures, I searched for the Endodontist myself and found the Ivy Institute on Yelp. I am so glad I found this awesome practice, Dr. Lim, and his staff. I have always been apprehensive of anything related to dental. It was found out that I had a very bad case of infection from the x-ray. As my appointment was in the morning for initial check-up, Dr. Lim accommodated my schedule to start the root canal procedure on the same-day evening. When I was asked what my tolerance level for pain, I said zero. To my surprise, I can’t believe I had a root canal done with no pain. The only minor discomfort was from the initial anesthesia injection which is expected. But it was definitely tolerable. I heard from a friend whose root canal took 3 hours with pain. After going through one myself, I now realize why mine took little time and no pain. It’s the talent and the experience of Dr. Lim that made the root canal painless. To conclude this, I strongly recommend Dr. Lim to everyone out there who wants the best. I have NEVER written any reviews for anything ever. This is my first time writing review as they deserve it.

My general dentist told me that I some gum issues and needed to see a Periodontist (Gum, Implants, Oral Inflammation specialist) for a consult.  I had a deep pocket in my upper teeth that was inflammed and often times bled when I flossed.  On the day of my visit, I almost got lost.  There are two Huntington Dr roads…one that head East and one that heads West.  So give yourself a few extra minutes.  The office looks very modern and clean with some cool high tech xrays, surgical equipment, microscopes, and stuff.  The paperwork was very easy.  The staff there already pulled up my Met Life dental insurance benefits in advance.  Dr. Jun Flores was very cool and educational.  He showed me my xrays and pointed out what was wrong with my gums and teeth.  He gave me a few treatment options…all the pro’s and con’s and allowed me to make my own decision without any pressure.  Overall, I am extremely happy with Dr. Flores and the Ivy Dental Institute.  Thank you yelp for helping me find this place.  I will definitely be a lifelong patient and referring friends and family here!

this was the best dental experience iv ever had! i have always had a hard time finding a good dentist but this time i think i found the best dentist ever. my root canal was painless! i barley even felt the numbing shot! 1st time in my life i left the dentist chair happy. Dr. Li was amazing and also funny lol .. best place to get a root canal or any other serious work on your teeth hands down!

A WORD FROM YOUR DOCTOR