San Francisco oral surgeon for dental implants: a real consult call at 450 Sutter
A call4me customer's assistant called Dr. Peter Lyu's oral surgery office to request an implant consultation. The office offered October 20 at 9 AM and a $165 exam fee, but could not check the exact insurance plan, so nothing was booked.
Nick Khami / / 5 min readDr. Peter E. Lyu's oral and maxillofacial surgery office is at 450 Sutter Street, Suite 1023, San Francisco, CA 94108. The practice's official website lists 415-391-9230 as its San Francisco office phone number (and 415-391-3020 as its fax), and lists dental implant surgery, tooth extractions and bone grafting among its services. The live site sat behind a browser check when we looked, so we read the number from an archived copy of the same homepage captured June 14, 2025. It matches the number the assistant dialed.
On Monday, October 5, 2026, a call4me customer's assistant called that number to follow up on an online request for a new patient consultation. The patient wanted a surgeon's opinion on removing a tooth, grafting the socket and eventually placing an implant. He had two conditions for booking: a weekday morning start before 9:30 AM, and confirmation that the office was in network for his exact Guardian dental plan.
A person answered within about a second. There was no phone menu. The receptionist took the request, offered Tuesday, October 20 at 9:00 AM, and said the office charges $165 for the exam. Asked about the exact plan, the receptionist said the office is in network with "any PPO Guardian", but could not check the plan against the group and member numbers during the call. Because the instructions said not to book without that check, the assistant did not book the slot.
What the call to the San Francisco oral surgeon established
| Detail | What the conversation established |
|---|---|
| Office | Dr. Peter Lyu's oral surgery office, 450 Sutter Street, San Francisco |
| Number dialed | 415-391-9230, the number on the practice's own website |
| Time to a person | About 1 second; a receptionist answered directly |
| Visit type | New patient consultation for an extraction, socket bone graft and possible implant |
| Referral | The receptionist asked who referred him; the assistant said he found the office himself |
| Earliest opening offered | Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 9:00 AM |
| Exam fee | "We charge one sixty five for the exam" |
| Insurance | "We're in network with any PPO Guardian"; the exact plan was not checked |
| Itemized treatment estimates | Not given; staff said they won't know until the doctor sees the patient |
| Booking | Not booked |
What the call did not settle
- Nothing was booked. The October 20 slot was offered and the assistant said the time worked, but it then declined to lock it in. The recording does not show the slot being held.
- The exact insurance plan was not verified. The receptionist's general statement about Guardian PPO plans is not the same as checking a specific plan and network. If your plan matters, ask the office to run your member ID, or check with your insurer.
- No cost for the treatment itself. Only the $165 exam fee was stated. Extraction, bone graft, implant, abutment and temporary tooth prices were not given. The receptionist did not say whether the $165 includes imaging.
- No clinical advice. Nobody on the call assessed the tooth or recommended a treatment. That happens at the consultation.
- The online request. The call does not show whether the office had seen the earlier online request; the receptionist collected the details again.
Listen to the consult request
The complete recording lasts 4 minutes 57 seconds, with original voices and timing, including a pause of about 9 seconds while the receptionist looked for an opening. The patient's name and its spelling, the insurance group and member numbers, the tooth number and diagnosis, the phone number and the date of birth are replaced with silence at the same timestamps. The office, the surgeon and the procedures stay audible.
Read the transcript
Complete recording with original voices and timing. Private identifiers are muted and shown in brackets. The dialogue was reviewed against the saved call text and independent automatic source and export transcriptions; uncertain words remain marked. No human listening verification is claimed.
Representative: [Unclear, likely "Dr. Lyu's"] office, can I help you?
AI agent: Hi, I'm calling on behalf of [patient name muted]. He left an online request for a new patient consult. I was hoping to schedule with Dr. Peter Liu if possible.
Representative: What kind of appointment do they need?
AI agent: It's a consult for a tooth extraction and possible implant. He's a new patient.
Representative: And does he have the dental insurance?
AI agent: Yeah, he has Guardian Dental PPO 2000. That's the DentalGuard Preferred network. Group [insurance group number muted] with member ID [insurance member ID muted].
Representative: And what's the patient's name again?
AI agent: [patient name muted]
Representative: Sorry, you're getting cut off.
AI agent: Oh, yeah, no problem. It's [patient name and spelling muted].
Representative: Can you say it slowly?
AI agent: Sure. First name, [spelling muted]. Last name, [spelling muted].
Representative: Okay. And is it for an extraction, for wisdom teeth, or just a specific tooth?
AI agent: Yeah, it's for consultation on tooth [tooth number and diagnosis muted, including the representative's brief repeat]. He wants a consult on extraction with socket bone graft and likely an implant eventually.
Representative: Okay. We'll do a consult first to determine what kind of treatment he needs and the cost for everything. And what's the best phone number we can send a reminder?
AI agent: He'd prefer text at [phone number muted]. That's also the callback number.
Representative: Okay. And who's the dentist who referred him here?
AI agent: Let me check that really quickly. I don't actually have that info on me. Can I just follow up with him and call you back in a bit? Thanks so much. Bye.
Representative: What days is he available to come in?
AI agent: Oh, great. He actually just found you. He wasn't referred. And yeah, he's available weekday mornings, but before 9:30.
Representative: Before 9:30. And what's his date of birth?
AI agent: It's [date of birth muted]. Hello, are you still there?
Representative: I am looking for a time to schedule. [Pause of about 9 seconds, retained.] So our soonest opening, it won't be until October 20th at 9 a.m. Is that okay?
AI agent: That time works, yeah. Before we lock anything in, though, can you confirm that Dr. Peter Liu is in network for his exact Guardian Dental PPO 2000 plan?
Representative: We're in network with Guardian PPO.
AI agent: Okay, but can you confirm that specific network and plan? It's the DentalGuard Preferred under Guardian Dental PPO 2000.
Representative: We're in network with any PPO Guardian.
AI agent: Okay, let me check on that real quick. Got it. And can you verify it against the group number [insurance group number muted] and member ID [insurance member ID muted]? Give me one second.
Representative: Unfortunately, I won't be able to check right now.
AI agent: Okay, just a sec. No worries. In that case, we won't book just yet. Could you send him itemized estimates for the consult, extraction, socket bone graft, implant, abutment, and a temporary...
Representative: We won't know until the doctor sees the patient. So we charge $165 for the exam.
AI agent: Okay, that's helpful. Thank you.
Representative: Thank you.
AI agent: Thanks again. Bye.
Representative: Okay, bye.
What our caller got wrong
The recording shows a few things to fix in your own brief:
- It said goodbye too early. Asked who referred the patient, it said it would follow up and call back, and said "Bye", then carried on when the receptionist kept going. Give the referral answer up front (the dentist's name, or "no referral") so this question has an answer.
- It said it would check, despite being told not to pause. "Let me check on that real quick" and "Give me one second" are hold phrases. The receptionist answered anyway.
- It read the group number two different ways. The first reading and the second reading did not match digit for digit. If the office is going to verify insurance, the number has to be read the same way each time.
- The reminder number. The assistant gave a number for text reminders that was not the personal phone in the patient's saved details. Name the exact number you want reminders sent to.
Implant consultations and bone grafting: what to ask a San Francisco oral surgeon
This call shows what an oral and maxillofacial surgeon's front desk asks a new patient before a consult: the kind of visit, insurance carrier and member numbers, the patient's name and date of birth, a phone number for reminders, the referring dentist, and which days work.
It also shows what the front desk will and won't answer by phone. A slot and the exam fee were easy to get. A plan-specific insurance check was not available on the spot, and treatment prices for an extraction, socket bone graft and implant depend on the surgeon's exam. If you are comparing offices for dental implants or bone grafting in San Francisco, ask for the exam fee and the earliest opening on the first call, and ask the office to verify your plan before the visit rather than expecting itemized estimates up front.
Ask your assistant to request the consult
Connect call4me to your assistant through the Claude Code guide or Codex guide. The following is a suggested brief, not the one the customer used.
Call Dr. Peter Lyu's oral surgery office at 415-391-9230 (450 Sutter Street, San Francisco) to request a new patient consultation about [the procedure, for example an extraction with a bone graft and a possible implant]. Use the patient details I give you privately: name, date of birth, insurance carrier, plan, group and member numbers, and the referring dentist (or say there was no referral). Read the insurance numbers exactly as written, the same way each time. Send reminders to [phone number]. Ask for the earliest weekday opening that starts before [time] and the exam fee. Ask whether they can verify my exact plan. If they can't verify it now, don't book; get the earliest slot and the fee, thank them and end the call. Don't say you'll check or put them on hold.
For other dental calls, see how an assistant rescheduled a dentist appointment and how a Muse user followed up with a dental office about insurance and the consultation fee. Hear this call on the examples page.
