Being a pediatric dentist allows me to meet many wonderful children and families. It is an honor to build connections through my profession, knowing the care I offer makes a lifetime of difference to each child.
A father of three, I understand a parents concerns, and also know each family has specific expectations and desires. I work one-to-one with families to ensure they receive the care they want and achieve their treatment goals.
A large focus of my practice is on prevention of dental issues and education of children and families. In teaching and involving parents in their childs dental care, we establish lifetimes of healthy practices which are then reinforced at home.
Dr. Scoma attended Northwestern University School of Dental Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, and holds a Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS). He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He is a Senior Attending at Rady Childrens Hospital and has been in private practice in San Diego since 2001.
Ongoing research in pediatric dentistry leads to new materials, advances in technologies, and constantly improving modalities. Dr. Scoma appreciates the challenges of learning and growth, regularly participating in continuing educational opportunities locally, regionally, and nationally.
As an orthodontist, I have the opportunity to help people who are unhappy with the appearance of their smile and provide them with a better, healthier bite. It is incredibly rewarding to work with people who want to make these positive changes and to know that what we achieve will last a lifetime!
I have practiced orthodontics for 15 years and value the people I have met during this time. Each patient, from children through teens, adults, and even grandparents, has enriched my life. Our conversations about school or professional activities, dreams for the future, or their latest adventures broaden my world and make me appreciate our diverse and thriving community.
One of the most amazing aspects of orthodontics is how each patient blossoms during treatment. From visit-to-visit, I see these transformations: as the individuals teeth gently move into proper position, there is a change in their appearance. This aesthetic change is reflected in the persons self-esteem and the comfort they show interacting with us and with their peers.
By the time treatment is finished, people have beautifully healthy, natural-looking smiles, and a whole new outlook on life. Creating these transformations, one person at a time, is deeply personally and professionally fulfilling: I am constantly surrounded by big, bright, beautiful smiles! ~ Dr. Natalie Lam
Dr. Lam attended Duke University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science. She then attended Harvard University, where she was awarded her Doctorate of Dental Medicine (DMD). Remaining at Harvard, Dr. Lam then completed a Master of Medical Sciences (MMSc) in Oral Biology and her Certificate in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. She has spent the last ten years in practice in San Diego.
Orthodontics, like all areas of oral healthcare, is a constantly advancing specialty. Research leads to changes in treatment modalities, diagnostic and procedural technologies, and new materials. Dr. Lam stays abreast of the latest developments, which have the potential to affect all aspects of patient care, through continuing education.
These organizations offer numerous opportunities for Dr. Lam to further her education locally, regionally, and nationally. She regularly attends meetings, seminars, and lectures, and avidly reads the latest information published in professional periodicals and journals.
A Virginia native, Dr. Lam has resided in San Diego for ten years. She shares her life with Sebastian, a Goldendoodle, and enjoys playing tennis and golf, as well as volunteering at the Labrador Retriever rescue shelter.
Dr. Gillin is a MD physician dual board certified by the American Board of Anesthesia in both anesthesia and pediatric anesthesia with 25 years of taking care of children. He was the previous Chief of Anesthesia at Rady Childrens Hospital and was a member of the cardiac anesthesia team for 15 years.
After growing up on the beach in Florida he got a BA in biology from Brown University, his MD at University of South Florida, completed anesthesia residency at UCSD, and a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
He recognized that most children in pediatric offices were not being cared for by physicians and did not have experience caring for critical patients in a hospital. His goal is to bring hospital grade anesthesia to the care of children in the office setting.
I assist families with insurance matters, including billing and disputes, and have almost 15 years of experience with policies and procedures. I also handle collections, scheduling, and patient relations.
Outside of work, I love to read; the Harry Potter series is my favorite! I also like to spend time with friends, enjoy the So-Cal sun, and find new places to eat around San Diego. I like music of all kinds and enjoy watching the TV shows Supernatural and Ghost Adventures, too.
Im rarely in the office, spending much of my time visiting pediatricians offices, local schools, and medical and dental facilities. I promote the services and technologies we offer and help people learn how we serve the community. As a Registered Dental Assistant with Expanded Functions, I am able to answer questions about treatment and oral health.
I love watching the process and transition of beginning treatment to the final beautiful smile and the joy on our patients faces. I especially enjoy watching the Phase I patients grow within the practice, becoming like family.
I work closely with the doctors and office manager to provide an exceptional patient experience at Seaside and a positive, healthy work environment for our team. I appreciate that parents trust us to take care of their children and know that we help them have a positive outlook for future dental visits. Its also great to work with a fantastic, positive team!
I am a San Diegan, born and raised. My husband Tim and I have three children, Logen, Halo, and Grady, along with our dogs Tucker and Daisy. I have always had a love for the oceanthe smell, sound, and feel! We love food and trying new restaurants around town, skateboarding at the beach, and watching the kids at the basketball court.
I graduated from UEI of San Marcos in 2018 and joined Seaside in 2019. My favorite part of my job is cleaning patients teeth and informing them about their oral health. Its a pleasure to get to know them and I love following their progress. Seeing their finished smile is always great!
I enjoy working with our doctors because they are so encouraging in my professional development. My team members are incredible people, always willing to pitch in and help, and have become some of my dearest friends.
Reviews
Rating 3.9 out of 5 based on 20 reviews
Sort by
newest oldest highest lowestLaura Steinau
2 years ago
Very happy with this Pediatric Dentist. My two girls went here for a few years before our recent move. Everyone is so kind and friendly, and Dr. Scoma is the best! Worked closely with me to put together a plan of care for my daughter who needed dental surgery. Highly recommend this pediatric dentist!
Monica schiltz
2 years ago
I took my two daughters here fir the first time. My 5 year old never has been to the dentist and they made her absolutely LOVE going! Dr scoma and the whole team at the office are incredible!!
Laura Steinau
3 years ago
Very happy with this Pediatric Dentist. My two girls went here for a few years before our recent move. Everyone is so kind and friendly, and Dr. Scoma is the best! Worked closely with me to put together a plan of care for my daughter who needed dental surgery. Highly recommend this pediatric dentist!
Monica schiltz
3 years ago
I took my two daughters here fir the first time. My 5 year old never has been to the dentist and they made her absolutely LOVE going! Dr scoma and the whole team at the office are incredible!!
marietou ba
3 years ago
Nice place
kaitlyn nguyen
3 years ago
It's always a good experience here. The staff are super friendly and know how to work with kids. The environment is welcoming and clean!! Highly recommend!!
Erin Scoville
3 years ago
This place is a poorly run dental practice. They lack follow up and responsibility. I brought my daughter in for a consult for a procedure and prepaid a deposit before COVID happened. I found another practice that works better with our insurance and decided to go that route instead. I called to get my deposit back once they reopened from COVID. They stated they would send the check out. 3 weeks later and 4 phone calls later, I finally had to escalate my temper in order to get my money back. I shouldn't have to be an angry person to get my own money back. Poor business practice
Hai N
3 years ago
My experience is similar to another reviewer. My daughter always had a high level of oral bacteria since newborn. Imagine 3 mo with bad breath. My kids were terrified of dentists no thanks to Finding Nemo. And I had moved the kids from Dr O Connor 's practice to a Family dental practice so they can see mama getting her teeth done too. After learning of my daughters cavities, I looked around to find a Dentist who may be able to "put her put" during to procedure as it will only be more traumatizing. I found out Dr. Scoma is a regularly scheduled dentist at Rady's children hospital and that is the only way to have the kids go under covered by Denti-Cal. Dr. Scoma was kind and quick and he said he could take care of it all. I was relieved. He never discussed what he was going to do, I assumed fillings. He did 4 root canals of my girls front teeth, that were not necessary. And silver capped 4 more teeth, that did not look necessary either. It was "over-precautious" or over-worked in my opinion. The teeth did look nice, however. The caps were made larger to fit her growing face for the next 3 years. Unfortunately 1 broke off the following day, and I was told she had fallen on it though this was not the case as I was with her the whole time. There was already a dark vein on the tooth near the gum line where the split took place when we left the hospital. Her other cap did eventually get knocked off a year later, however , though her baby teeth remained intact. Now her permanent tooth has decided 5 was a good age to break through as it has grown behind the root canals instead of pushing them out like a normal teeth would. Also the cemented root has broken off from the rest of the cemented tooth. This can't be expected, I understand. I am a little more than weary that an excessive amount of dental work was done without informing the parent what was going to happen. It's hard when you are in the OR to ask for consent for 4 root canals, but still...I just don't like it one bit. Dr. Scoma works hard but independently. This just makes me feel uneasy about the practice. In hindsight, I would not recommend going to this dentist, unless more effort was put into communicating clearly recommended procedures and what is too be expected. Edit: Thank you Office for reaching out to me. I appreciate that you took this review seriously. Unfortunately the issue has not been resolved as you only stood behind the fact that it was unavoidable and this review was damaging to Dr. Scoma's reputation. I had asked for the x-rays to be sent to me for personal record and review in which you promised promptness and it never showed up. After a lengthy conversation with Lisa I believe (it's been awhile), I am sure that you understand my requests as we had spoke in length and repeatedly asked for those x-rays performed while under anesthesia at Rady's Children's hospital. There are only 2 dentists who are residents and have access to the anesthesia to go unconscious, Dr. Scoma and Dr. Mary O'Connor. A few days after the phone call received from the office in response to this post, I visited a new Pediatric Dentist that also accepts Denti-Cal to deal with the broken roots and her teeth growing above "on top" of her front teeth that wouldn't come out because of the artificial roots. There my husband and I now learned that there was a total of 12 root canals and 12 crowns performed on my daughter. 12!! She only has 16 baby teeth! What happened to fillings? I agree with another reviewer, not only is this unnecessary, this is bordering unethical. I understand each dentist has different approaches, and I have tried to be more than understanding, as I have moderated a mother's reaction, a former employee of an endodontist (root canal specialist) Office, and the inaccessibility of being in the OR room. I have only delayed a complaint to the denti-Cal ombudsman because we were in the middle of moving cross country and had no time to deal with this fiasco. If you need a good dentist who will listen... Hit my character limit so had to add photos. I also removed 1 star.
kaitlyn nguyen
4 years ago
It's always a good experience here. The staff are super friendly and know how to work with kids. The environment is welcoming and clean!! Highly recommend!!
Erin Scoville
4 years ago
This place is a poorly run dental practice. They lack follow up and responsibility. I brought my daughter in for a consult for a procedure and prepaid a deposit before COVID happened. I found another practice that works better with our insurance and decided to go that route instead. I called to get my deposit back once they reopened from COVID. They stated they would send the check out. 3 weeks later and 4 phone calls later, I finally had to escalate my temper in order to get my money back. I shouldn't have to be an angry person to get my own money back. Poor business practice
marietou ba
4 years ago
Nice place
Hai N
4 years ago
My experience is similar to another reviewer. My daughter always had a high level of oral bacteria since newborn. Imagine 3 mo with bad breath. My kids were terrified of dentists no thanks to Finding Nemo. And I had moved the kids from Dr O Connor 's practice to a Family dental practice so they can see mama getting her teeth done too. After learning of my daughters cavities, I looked around to find a Dentist who may be able to "put her put" during to procedure as it will only be more traumatizing. I found out Dr. Scoma is a regularly scheduled dentist at Rady's children hospital and that is the only way to have the kids go under covered by Denti-Cal. Dr. Scoma was kind and quick and he said he could take care of it all. I was relieved. He never discussed what he was going to do, I assumed fillings. He did 4 root canals of my girls front teeth, that were not necessary. And silver capped 4 more teeth, that did not look necessary either. It was "over-precautious" or over-worked in my opinion. The teeth did look nice, however. The caps were made larger to fit her growing face for the next 3 years. Unfortunately 1 broke off the following day, and I was told she had fallen on it though this was not the case as I was with her the whole time. There was already a dark vein on the tooth near the gum line where the split took place when we left the hospital. Her other cap did eventually get knocked off a year later, however , though her baby teeth remained intact. Now her permanent tooth has decided 5 was a good age to break through as it has grown behind the root canals instead of pushing them out like a normal teeth would. Also the cemented root has broken off from the rest of the cemented tooth. This can't be expected, I understand. I am a little more than weary that an excessive amount of dental work was done without informing the parent what was going to happen. It's hard when you are in the OR to ask for consent for 4 root canals, but still...I just don't like it one bit. Dr. Scoma works hard but independently. This just makes me feel uneasy about the practice. In hindsight, I would not recommend going to this dentist, unless more effort was put into communicating clearly recommended procedures and what is too be expected. Edit: Thank you Office for reaching out to me. I appreciate that you took this review seriously. Unfortunately the issue has not been resolved as you only stood behind the fact that it was unavoidable and this review was damaging to Dr. Scoma's reputation. I had asked for the x-rays to be sent to me for personal record and review in which you promised promptness and it never showed up. After a lengthy conversation with Lisa I believe (it's been awhile), I am sure that you understand my requests as we had spoke in length and repeatedly asked for those x-rays performed while under anesthesia at Rady's Children's hospital. There are only 2 dentists who are residents and have access to the anesthesia to go unconscious, Dr. Scoma and Dr. Mary O'Connor. A few days after the phone call received from the office in response to this post, I visited a new Pediatric Dentist that also accepts Denti-Cal to deal with the broken roots and her teeth growing above "on top" of her front teeth that wouldn't come out because of the artificial roots. There my husband and I now learned that there was a total of 12 root canals and 12 crowns performed on my daughter. 12!! She only has 16 baby teeth! What happened to fillings? I agree with another reviewer, not only is this unnecessary, this is bordering unethical. I understand each dentist has different approaches, and I have tried to be more than understanding, as I have moderated a mother's reaction, a former employee of an endodontist (root canal specialist) Office, and the inaccessibility of being in the OR room. I have only delayed a complaint to the denti-Cal ombudsman because we were in the middle of moving cross country and had no time to deal with this fiasco. If you need a good dentist who will listen... Hit my character limit so had to add photos. I also removed 1 star.
Shaon R
5 years ago
Definitely NOT a HONEST provider with billing department. They are a bait and hook practice to say they accept your insurance then when services are rendered tell you they are out-of-network for expenses. I have to agree with several reviews about their billing practices are deceptive. Long story short we scheduled my daughter's appt back in Nov 2016 and was verified they were I'm network then to find out at her appt in Mar 2017 they were out-of-network. The office manager called and they clearly do not know how to verify and provide logistical customer service. She kept going on circles that they are not a "clinic" and do not have the time to verify co-pays and such. She was not willing to address the out-of-network pocket expense. The dental hygienist my daughter enjoyed, however the office staff is under-educated in how to check-in and verify patients.
Marcus Hsu
5 years ago
we had some billing issues, but after speaking to Kaylee, we were able to figure out that there was an issue with the insurance receiving the paperwork Seaside submitted. Frustrating initially but glad that Kaylee was there to help me work through the issue and her help to reach out to insurance company to resolve it.
laurenellia
6 years ago
I go to Seaside Pediatric Dentistry with my 2 siblings and we all like it. Not only is the waiting room fun with the video games and photo booth, but we get to watch tv and movies while they work on our teeth. Everyone is super nice and gentle there and my teeth were crooked when I started but now they are straight!! I would highly recommend my friends coming here. My mom likes that the parking is super easy in the big lot too.
Shaon R
6 years ago
Definitely NOT a HONEST provider with billing department. They are a bait and hook practice to say they accept your insurance then when services are rendered tell you they are out-of-network for expenses. I have to agree with several reviews about their billing practices are deceptive. Long story short we scheduled my daughter's appt back in Nov 2016 and was verified they were I'm network then to find out at her appt in Mar 2017 they were out-of-network. The office manager called and they clearly do not know how to verify and provide logistical customer service. She kept going on circles that they are not a "clinic" and do not have the time to verify co-pays and such. She was not willing to address the out-of-network pocket expense. The dental hygienist my daughter enjoyed, however the office staff is under-educated in how to check-in and verify patients.
Marcus Hsu
6 years ago
we had some billing issues, but after speaking to Kaylee, we were able to figure out that there was an issue with the insurance receiving the paperwork Seaside submitted. Frustrating initially but glad that Kaylee was there to help me work through the issue and her help to reach out to insurance company to resolve it.
M Romeo
6 years ago
My family was charged numerous times for services that were not approved by us or covered by our insurance. They explained it as that they can do what they want and we will be charged. I don't agree to that. So my family will go somewhere else.
laurenellia
6 years ago
I go to Seaside Pediatric Dentistry with my 2 siblings and we all like it. Not only is the waiting room fun with the video games and photo booth, but we get to watch tv and movies while they work on our teeth. Everyone is super nice and gentle there and my teeth were crooked when I started but now they are straight!! I would highly recommend my friends coming here. My mom likes that the parking is super easy in the big lot too.
M Romeo
7 years ago
My family was charged numerous times for services that were not approved by us or covered by our insurance. They explained it as that they can do what they want and we will be charged. I don't agree to that. So my family will go somewhere else.
Load more