Dr. Stephen Alfred Schendel

I can't even begin to describe the profound impact Dr. Schendel has made on my life. I went to him after having a disastrous experience with a chin implant. The chin implant had long since been removed, but I was left with scarring, dimpled tissue, bone erosion, and feeling so self conscious. I accepted that the situation was beyond repair and consulted with Dr. Schendel simply seeking to restore some projection with a sliding genioplasty. From the moment I met with him, I knew he was the surgeon for me. He is so incredibly professional, knowledgeable, and thorough. He truly has decades of experience and wisdom he's drawing from and has seen and done it all. At our in-person consult, he had diagrams, x-rays, and drawings and knew exactly how he was cutting and moving the bone down to the millimeter. And the result is more than I could have ever hoped for. I'm astonished at how he not only restored the projection of my chin but also corrected the asymmetry and tissue damage left by the previous surgeon. He took his time in the OR and gave me a beautiful result. Dr. Schendel is an artist. He is an incredible surgeon. Going to him was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I can't even begin to describe the profound impact Dr. Schendel has made on my life. I went to him after having a disastrous experience with a chin implant. The chin implant had long since been removed, but I was left with scarring, dimpled … More

Dr. Schendel represents everything you would want in a doctor—competence, compassion and ability to think outside the box to solve a problem. We met him when my 6 month daughter was discovered to have an extremely rare tumor in her mouth. We saw a specialist at Lucile Packard who, although able to identify the tumor, indicated it was so rare that no one at Stanford had ever performed the surgery she needed. We were told they would look around for someone who had done one of these surgeries and if they could find that doctor, it would be our best bet. Obviously, using a doctor who had performed only one of these procedures worried my wife and I tremendously. Then, Dr. Schendel was found. I may have some details incorrect but I believe Dr. Schendel founded the plastics department at Stanford Children’s. Through this process we learned he is a living legend there and extremely well known and highly regarded. Although not a full time resident there, he still has access to their operating rooms due to his impact at the hospital over the years. He carved out time in his already packed calendar to meet with us and instilled the confidence we were desperately searching for that he could perform the surgery and be successful. He got us on the surgery calendar way faster than we normally would have due to his “legacy” there and using his name brand equity for us. On the day of the surgery, we met with the anesthesiologist. He said he does a lot of surgeries with Dr. Schendel. I inquired a little more about his background and came to find out he was something like “Director of Pediatric Medicine” at Lucile Packard. I was shocked that someone with those credentials was going to be my daughter’s anesthesiologist but that just speaks to the kinds of doctors Schendel works with and who he has access to. The surgery went way better than planned and my daughter has made a full recovery. The compassion part of Dr. Schendel is perhaps his most endearing quality. After our initial consult, his office staff called us and said they got us on the calendar for the surgery but there was a big “but……” He didn’t take health insurance. Now, a doctor of that stature, I could see why that was. However, it was our baby girl and in our desperation we said it doesn’t matter, just book it and we’ll figure it out. Obviously, that added a new stress to the whole thing. However, a day or two later, his office called and said Dr. Schendel had told his staff to get the OR at Lucile Packard to charge our insurance and then try to get every lost drop from the insurance company for his time and whatever they wouldn’t cover (which was going to be significant) he would do pro-bono. We were floored. We had just met this man and he was willing to go to this extent to help our little girl—it was amazing and a huge lift off our shoulders. We couldn’t believe we had found such an experienced doctor medically who also had a huge heart. We are eternally thankful for all that Dr. Schendel has and continues to do for us. Should you find yourself in need of a service/procedure he provides, you should not hesitate to make him your doctor. He is the absolute best!!!

Attached is a cephalometric of Dr. Schendel's surgery (attachments aren't yet showing up -- hopefully Google fixes this). As you can see, I was 15mm recessed before surgery, and still 13mm recessed after surgery. The 2mm of "advancement" came from clockwise elongation of the jaw. I required counter-clockwise rotation, yet Dr. Schendel moved the jaws clockwise, as clearly shown in the cephalometric. Yet, despite all the evidence in the ceph and in the flesh, he stubbornly claims that he corrected my skeleton, rotated it counter-clockwise, and that it looks great. Meanwhile, every doctor I have seen has been shocked at this result, and informed me I need revision surgery to correct the bite stably. Unfortunately, I gave him 60k out of pocket to do so, my entire life savings, so I cannot get the surgery I need. I asked him for a refund so I could get the surgery I need, and he said to, "talk to his insurance company", essentially starting a lawsuit. I had to sue him. In court, his attorney talked him up as a great guy who goes to Africa to do charity work. Yet, for his own patient who gave him 60k cash in life savings, he could not even issue a refund despite the glaring problems with his surgery. What kind of sociopath does this? In court, he denied and/or lied about almost everything and said (paraphrasing) that the anterior and posterior maxilla are the same and that the way you move the jaws doesn't matter. Can you believe this? I hope other informed patients and maxillofacial surgeons read this and realize how embarrassing Schendel's knowledge base is. It's sad when a patient knows more than the doctor. He is a flat out liar to patients when things go wrong, and he even will lie under oath. Apparently nothing, not even a court of law, can stop his sociopathic lying. His friend Clark O. Taylor was his expert witness, and is also an avid and adept liar. He knows I am in extreme pain 24/7 because of how he left the bite (see photo of massive posterior open bite). I can no longer chew food properly or sleep because of how the malocclusion. He doesn't care. He only cares about protecting his falsely acquired reputation and the money. His peers state that in the medical field he is viewed as a poor surgeon who looks great on paper yet cannot deliver in the operating room. In court, the jury did not see all the evidence. His attorney, John C Kelly out of Long Beach, selectively choose images that didn't show the severity of the open bite and also succeeded in having the judge dismiss key evidence (evidence they were afraid of because it clearly showed the problems), yet despite having the best evidence inadmissible for technical reasons, 3 jurors still voted in favor of malpractice. What can you say about a doctor who does all this and puts his patient through all this? I don't have the words, but the images say 1,000 of them. In my experience and opinion, AVOID this surgeon at all costs. Attached is a cephalometric of Dr. Schendel's surgery (attachments aren't yet showing up -- hopefully Google fixes this). As you can see, I was 15mm recessed before surgery, and still 13mm recessed after surgery. The 2mm of "advancement" … More

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

Dr. Schendal is a consummate professional with a warm caring disposition. He is held in very high regard by everyone I spoke to at Stanford Hospital. I had absolute confidence in him and my surgery held no surprises due to the care he took in explaining everything and setting realistic expectations. His post op care was just as good.

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review

This user rated the provider, but did not write a review