Michael Lessner, DDS

Dr. Lessner has been our family dentist for almost 20-​years. My teeth are in great shape, what can I say! I probably should have written this review long ago, but feel compelled to now because of the following story. This xmas Dr. Lessner exceeded all expectations, when he performed emergency dental procedures for a family friend visiting from abroad. They were in horrible pain, and despite insurance complexities, he went ahead provided services up front. Not only is Dr. Lessner a great dentist, I have recommended him to many of my colleagues at UT, but he is a caring human being who puts people first.

I went here for my teeth cleaning, root canal, and replacement of old fillings. I’ve been here several times over the years, but never bother to write a review, cause I don’t like to leave negative reviews. Dr. Lessner was always in a rush when he saw me and I never felt like he gave me the time of day… the other dentist wasn’t too bad, she’s nice.
Teeth cleaning: The dental hygienist was really rough on my teeth as she was watching tv and cleaning it. She did this both of the times I came (I know, I should have gone some where else). So I didn’t really appreciate it but whatever, my teeth should be cleaned after the man handling…
Fillings: I had about 5 fillings replaced because they were really old. Most of the fillings are okay, but one of them turned out pretty bad. That one tooth was never sensitive to cold until I had it replaced. He had the most difficult time with that tooth because it was a really big filling. First, Dr. Lessner couldn’t administer the numbing correctly and I still felt pain after several minutes. So he decided to do another shot for the numbing… still wasn’t quite right but I hate needles, so I’m not going to ask for a third one. It was super painful when he was replacing that one! And now it’s sensitive to cold.
Root Canal: I think this was done by the female doctor. can’t remember he name. Root canal process wasn’t too bad and she said it turned out perfect. So I was glad… Until last year when I moved to Houston and my new dentist told me that it needed to be re-​done. He sent me to a specialist to have a 2^nd opinion. He also said the root wasn’t completely filled and it would get an infection… I didn’t want to get another root canal! So I tried to put it off until now when the infection is pretty bad and I can taste gross stuff whenever I suck on that tooth…
Overall not happy with the service, and would not recommend people going there. I only went because it was so close to my office.

I went to Dr. Lessner as he was highly recommended by friends of mine.
My first appointment was made for a cleaning and was confirmed as such but when I arrived it was instead said I was going to be getting an evaluation. They had all my recent x-​rays but this was considered insufficient. The evaluation consisted of them checking that I had teeth and sending me on my way. I thought, okay, that is totally misleading and inconsiderate of my time but whatever.
The 2^nd appointment was my cleaning, Dr. Lessner never even made an appearance. No offense, but I am not paying that much money for a dental hygienist. I want a dentist to discuss my concerns with.
The 3^rd appointment (I know, why do I keep returning right?) was to fix a filling the dental hygienist had never noticed had fallen out but I felt it myself. When I arrived the front desk attendant was gone… and continued to be gone for the 1 hour I waited. After 45 minutes I walked past the desk to get the attention of someone. After my hour-​long wait neither Dr. Lessner nor a single member of his staff EVER apologized even though I was obviously furious.
Dr. Lessner has ZERO consideration for your time. They never called and told me to come in later and they never apologized, at the time or later. As someone who works a normal job and has to leave in the middle of my day for an appointment this is completely inexcusable.

This was my third visit to this dental office
I had the most thorough cleaning I have ever had! The hygienist Dana was awesome from start to finish — listened to my concerns. I usually have issues with the X-​rays but not this time !! She was very gentle and took X-​rays within a glitch. The cleaning was amazing. Dr. Lessner is great — offers helpful advise .
Appointment reminder via email was nice — checked in and seen right on schedule. Check out was seamless. Very kind quaint office that I feel blessed to have found and close by my job.
I highly recommend this dentist office !

I have not been to the dentist in years – originally because I lacked dental insurance as a graduate student, and then because I was afraid of what I’d find/​being scolded by the dentist. This was a fantastic corrective experience! Everyone was so nice and friendly, they didn’t reprimand me and were just matter of fact about next steps. It’s a lovely office, and I am actually looking forward to going back – after a decade of avoiding!

I always had the feeling I was paying extra to see Dr Lessner and his staff — I could’ve found a dozen less expensive dentists. But I liked him, I liked them. They did good work. And then, the horrible thing happened.
It was close to Xmas, I was going in to get my first ever bridge. I’d budgeted what I felt was a lot of money in my head, knowing this kind of thing would be pricey — I’ve had to pay for a number of crowns and stuff. But no one had mentioned the price at all at any point during any of the preparatory appointments or in setting this appointment or ever. So as I sat there in the dental chair on the day of the appt and as Dr Lessner walked in, it occurred to me I better check my assumptions. I asked how much this would be. I’d thought it would might be at the highest range of what I’d paid for a crown plus about 50%. But no.
When I asked, Lessner said breezily — «Oh, about 5x more than that.» My heart stopped, my stomach heaved. I couldn’t pay that. At all.
«Oh, no,» I said. «That’s far more than I’d thought it was going to be. I can’t do this today.»
And here is where Dr Lessner acted differently than I’d ever seen him in a decade of visiting his practice. He wheeled on me and got very angry about my booking an appointment at this time of year and then leaving without paying. He scolded me and spoke to me angrily and sharply. I was stunned again — more than I’d been at the price. Perhaps I share the blame with his staff for never having gone over the extraordinarily more expensive price of the bridge compared to any other procedure I’d ever had, but if I share some blame, certainly he and his staff have plenty of their own.
Plus, his reaction to a miscommunication and a shattered patient who had been counting on getting his teeth fixed moments before — who was now coping not only with the reality of missing teeth for who knows how long — was unforgivable. There was no reason for him to snap and scold and blame me. It was too much. I felt embarrassed and ashamed — and then embarrassed and ashamed at being embarrassed and ashamed.
After recommending Dr Lessner to everyone I met and loving his practice, this event wasn’t really a total shock. I’d heard other stories of Dr Lessner getting snappy at staff and patients, and seen him cross before. But I was able to put that aside until I was the client in the crosshairs.
He does good work, he is normally pleasant. Just make sure you proactively ask — and get in writing — how much future work will be before you set an appointment for it. And maybe avoid him at the holidays.

Just hearing the word ‘dentist’ makes me cringe. I absolutely despise trips to the dentist. After being in Austin for a year and a half, I knew it was time to find myself a new dentist.
I stumbled across this little house-​dentistry while near campus, and checked reviews and insurance acceptance options. I decided to give them a shot, and I have not been disappointed. I see Dr. Hopkins and she is very gentle and thorough. My hygienist is always Dorothy, a sweet and gentle woman who is friendly but doesn’t talk too much. I always thought it was awkward to have a dentist/​hygienist that talks too much, as if you’re supposed to respond and converse, while holding your mouth open to be picked and probed.
The office is quaint but clean, and the front desk staff is helpful and friendly. I have been impressed with the punctual service and no-​monkeying-​around attitude. I am in and out, and with a dentist appointment, that is important to me.
The parking lot is small, but I have never had a problem parking before. I highly recommend Dr. Hopkins and the staff at this dental office.

My husband and I highly recommend Dr. Lessner and his staff. We came to his office for a second opinion after the first dentist we saw in Austin told us we needed both needed extensive dental work, at the tune of a couple thousand dollars (out of pocket/​beyond what insurance would pay). It seemed very suspect, considering our teeth were fine at our last check-​ups.
The total work Dr. Lessner deemed necessary: One filling.
Enough said. (But also, he and his staff are very cool.)

I’ve come to this place since at least 1997, maybe slightly longer, and aside from one unpleasant experience years ago with a visiting surgeon from San Antonio (who did NOT use enough conscious sedation when extracting my 4 impacted wisdom teeth — ouch!), every cleaning and every exam has been fine — all my teeth are intact, my gums aren’t receding, so both Dr. Lessner and I are doing our jobs as far as my teeth are concerned.
Nancy was my dental hygenist for years and I’d give her an easy 5 stars. She was also why I kept coming even after my negative experience. The new hygenist who took over after Nancy left is pretty much all business and I’ve got no real complaints about her at this point. She’s no Nancy, but she does her job well.
Dr. Lessner is pretty much no nonsense — after your cleaning, he rushes in, looks in your mouth, pokes around a little bit, reminds you to brush your gums and floss regularly, and is back out in under 3 minutes. The constant refrain is «you’ve got good teeth» so the quick in and out is fine in my case. Besides, I don’t want a good relationship with my dentist — I want to barely know him. I’d rather have a good relationship with the hygenist who I spend a lot more time with every 6 months. On that, Dr. Lessner’s office does a good job.
I’ve got a pretty explosive gag reflex, and the x-​rays were pretty tough early on, so tough they had to send me to another office to do external x-​rays a couple times. They’ve since changed machines and they can get the x-​rays they need with only minimal retching and fallen tears from me. The last couple times, whoever took the x-​rays did an excellent job, so hats off to her.
So, overall, this is the only dentist’s office I’ve been to since I moved to Austin at the end of 1994. Even with the one bad experience I had with the visiting oral surgeon, my overall experience here has been positive and keeps me coming back without a thought of switching to another office, even to one that offered better parking.

I’m pretty sure I made sure Lessner was on the PPO list before I signed up for insurance. I was that impressed.
I had such issues with sensitive teeth on one side of my mouth that I had to see a dentist while I was uninsured, and this office was great about it. They let me know about other issues that they found and were fine with prioritizing fixing what was actually in pain (it turned out to be a cavity) over all the other stuff that would’ve been ludicrously expensive with no insurance.
Furthermore, if there’s two things I hate in this world, it’s dental work and needles. Both of those. Lots of hate. I’ve never been to a dentist’s office that has more artfully sneaked a needle into my mouth than this one, though. I barely felt the needles go in since he numbed the spots where he wanted to insert the needles beforehand. Awesome. Totally awesome.

Still awesome, Dr. Hopkins. I swear, this woman is Annie Oakley with the drill. The awful horror movie sounds and weird feeling that come with someone using a dremel tool inside your mouth were over with before I could even start to work up a good freakout.
There had been a bit of an issue with my bite on the filling she had so carefully sculpted on my last visit with her. I probably wouldn’t have even said anything, because in all my years of having dental cavities filled (damn you, genetically «soft» enamel!) I never knew there was anything quick and easy that could be done about a problem like this, but Dr. Hopkins bothered to ask, so I told her… and she fixed it. In about 15 seconds.

Awesome practice! I have been going here for a few years now. They are in an old house but they are state of the art. I used to go to this old timey dentist whom I loved and would refer anyone looking for a dentist to her. I had lots of painful experiences with her and thought it was just one of those «no pain, no gain» things. The last visit I had with her she stated that she could tell that I had been bleaching my teeth with the trays that I had gotten from her because my plaque was white. Urgh! I had also received a crown on one of my lower bottom front teeth due to it splitting backwards. She tried to numb the area several times and I could still feel everything.
Side note on the crown: If you have a crown in the front, don’t go to bars with black lights. I remember going to one a couple of times and then went to the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror I noticed that the tooth with the crown does not show up with black light. I looked like some hillbilly from East Texas. I closed my mouth and left never to return. I wondered why I wasn’t getting hit on. I guess I decided to blame it on that.
So coming to a different dentist was a hard process for me up until that last statement that was made. I made an appointment. I wasn’t able to get in for three months. I got a cleaning from NANCY. Wow this hygienist is amazing! She talks a lot and asks you questions when she has instruments in your mouth but takes them out long enough so that you can have a conversation.
Dr. L himself is very attentive and efficient. I have had to have three old silver fillings taken out because I had had them for almost 20 years and they were falling apart. I had cavities when I was 12. Now I have all white fillings and on one silver on the top. It takes about 20 minutes to get the old out, clean it and put in the new.
The prices seem way under what other people tell me they pay for with their dentists. I hope they don’t read that part of it. People have also complained about the parking. I have never had an issue. I can see where it might be a problem if you are driving an Expedition/​Escalade type of car. It turns out that the staff got permits to park on the street so it is even less of an issue.

Went in (January 2011) to get a routine checkup; Clara took my x-​rays — they have the gaggingest, most painful x-​ray procedure I’ve undergone, but every time I’ve gotten xrays taken it’s been pretty painful, so it’s looking like we can’t really hope for much in terms of xray exposure plates that don’t feel like razor blades and forks crammed in your mouth.
I saw Dr. Ashley Hopkins (D.D.S.) for my checkup — she’s great, attentive, and, bonus: hot!
Dot cleaned my teeth, she was nice and thorough, but distressingly attentive to the TV in her office, considering the sharpness of the metal picks she had in my mouth. She turned the volume up several times, so that she could hear it better over the sound of the cleaning drills.
(Edit: previously I said «Valerie Whitehead» instead of «Dot» — I guess the plaque with that name on it in the cleaning room is just some random junk sale item.)
I don’t have dental insurance. So it was $ 220 for xrays and cleanings and general checkup.
Went back the next day to get a cavity filled (they had a last minute cancellation the first day). Hopkins again (yes!), and she was very lavish with the painkillers, as well as speedy — in and out in less than 30 minutes. And you know how your teeth always feel out of line when you get a cavity filled, because they have to get used to the extra mass of the filling itself? Not so with Hopkins — after the painkiller’s numbness wore off I couldn’t even tell it was filled, it was so smooth.
$ 133 for the filling.

Dr. Lessner does outstanding work! He’s got to be the gentlest dentist I’ve known. And he runs a wonderful business with super good people! Thankfully I’ve only needed to go in for my regular cleanings these past few years and I am always impressed when I get to see the same lovely faces of his staff because of the low turnover. This speaks volumes too for the kind of practice Dr. Lessner runs. (Did I mention he was gentle?)
Parking can be a problem but less so if you have a smallish, economical car. :P

My visits were pleasant enough. Everyone was fairly nice. Parking is horrible. Procedure seems a little dated/​arcane.
However, the main basis for this review is one experience. I had my wisdom teeth out or I should say I had 2 of them out with Dr. Lessner. Before the procedure I asked Dr. Lessner if all of them should come out just to be safe. He said not t o worry about it. I asked again and he assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue. Cue a couple years later and sure enough my remaining wisdom teeth have suddenly become very painful and problematic. So now I have to go through the painful and costly process all over again. Miss work all over again. Etc. Etc.
I feel like this all could have and perhaps should have been already taken care of and am extremely unhappy that I have to go through this again.

Ask for Nancy if you want the best hygienist in the world. I lapsed temporarily to a different one, and I’m never having anyone but Nancy clean my teeth.
Dr. Lessner is so sweet (won’t give you cavities, though): my most recent appointment was to get a defunct crown replaced since there was a decent amount of decay behind it that I couldn’t easily detect because of a root canal. He doesn’t usually come into the office on Fridays, but because he wanted to make sure the cavity didn’t have a chance to continue expanding its territory, he did today! I couldn’t even feel it when he stuck me with the needle to numb my mouth. Those are some mad skillz.
There’s not a ton of parking in their private lot, so if you’re driving, go early to stake a parking spot. Instead, I like to take the #7 bus since it stops right in front of them.
The verdict: I’m sad that my company is switching dental providers, so Dr. Lessner is no longer considered in-​network, but I’ll continue to go to him since he’s earned my trust and admiration. And Nancy is awesome!

I used to recommend this dental practice to anyone who would listen, but as they have grown over the last few years, things have gone from great to adequate.
Some positives:
–I’ve never once gotten flack from Dr. Lessner about my tongue piercing and he gave me extremely helpful suggestions to avoid getting cavities on my crappy teeth.
–One of the hygienists, Sharon, is a wizard at cleaning teeth with no pain.
–The office staff has been extremely patient with my indecisive employer changing insurance every time I turn around.
–I once had to see Dr. Hopkins because Lessner was out of town, and she left a social event and came into the office on a Sunday afternoon to re-​glue my temporary crown after I broke it off.
Lately:
–After years of seeing the same hygienist, I was switched with no notice to a new person who I find rude and unpleasant. She has made judgmental comments about defects on my teeth from medication I took as a child, and has insisted I must drink coffee (I don’t) because I have stains on my teeth. Way to make me feel good, seriously.
–Less time is spent on patients during the exam. It seems to be all about the x-​ray these days, not much in the way of an exam. I still get good care, but things have gone downhill.

Today’s visit for my 4 PM appointment started with me arriving at about 3:45 after finding parking, which can be difficult around the office. When I arrived, I was not even acknowledged by the office staff as a large family was in front of me. In fact, it was one of the family members who passed back the sign-​in clipboard to me. At that point, I waited until shortly after 4:10 PM when I was led back to an exam room, where I was told that Nancy was off and that Sharon, a temp, would be cleaning my teeth.
Sharon, while pleasant, was very slow in performing my routine cleaning. What was most surprising was that she asked me to hold the suction tubing myself. This is something that I’ve never been asked to do during any dental visit.
When I then finished with Sharon, I was just as surprised that Dr. Hopkins performed my dental exam instead of my dentist, seeing as my appointment was supposed to be with Dr. Lessner.
To end today’s bad experience, the front office staff then asked me to update my health information online. (For the record, the connection on the registration laptop did not work.) I informed her that I had already filled out my records and that the information had not changed since my last visit. She became firmer and more insistent that I had to fill out this information again — and electronically sign several disclosures, which I barely even had a chance to read or review. Not only was I mildly annoyed at having to fill out the same information again, I was equally surprised that the office staff felt that the best way to show their appreciation to their customers is to have the customers perform the migration of their records to a new computer system themselves.
I’m looking for a new dentist. Period.
Followup — I received an email from their office manager apologizing and offering to help transfer my records when I find a new dentist. Pretty obviously a form letter. Is there a way to lower a one star rating?

Dr. Lessner is a good dentist, no doubt about that. I got a root canal done here and I’m happy with the results. I had two problems with this place. First of all, I’m a nervous dental patient. I was that little kid who would literally scream through an entire appointment. I don’t scream anymore, but I still get a bit nervous and am not a fan of being stabbed in my gums with needles. Therefore, nitrous is really the best thing for me.
This office doesn’t use nitrous because apparently «people kept throwing up.» I’m thinking there’s got to be some user error going on there, because I’ve never had a problem with that stuff. So instead they give you a prescription for freaking VALIUM which means that instead of being able to actually be productive after my appointment, I had to take a taxi home and crash for the rest of the day. Not to mention that it didn’t really distract me enough during the actual procedure… basically it was a nightmare.
Also, most dentists I’ve been to in the past allow some sort of payment plan. I’m a college student and I had used up all my insurance money like 10 months prior, so I literally had to pay for my entire root canal out of pocket the day of the procedure. I can maybe understand why they do this, but it really did not work for me.
So, sorry Dr. Lessner, I love your pleasant little office, but I’m going to have to find myself a more comfortable dental experience.

My palms sweat when I hear the word dentist.
I had to leave the theater the first time I saw Laurence Olivier’s interrogation technique in «Marathon Man.»
If I was in a dog cage in our top-​flight correctional institution at Guantanamo, all you’d have to do to get me to give up the names of my terrorist cell buds AND the 72 virgins I was promised is put a dental drill on the table.
And I was a cavity-​prone pre-​fluoridated water kid, meaning my childhood was a dental hell leaving me with many fillings showing their age and needing upkeep.
Yet even after I explained all this, even after I insisted that I take gas for a CLEANING, Dr. Lessner took me on as a challenge. That was more than 10 years ago, and I’m still going.
First, the pain thing: there is none. He humored me with gas the first few times, (hee hee, pun intended) but as I gained confidence and he earned my trust I discovered that he is as deft with a Novocaine needle as any doc I have known, AND he lets it take effect fully before doing anything. A gentle poke of a gingerly delivered needle and I am fine with whatever he has had to dish out.
His hygienists and office staff show remarkably low turnover – most of the same folks who worked there when I started going are still there, and seem to enjoy their work. They are friendly, competent and respectful of my foibles.
I consider him to be a craftsman of dental work, especially since I have had 6 crowns installed there (my remains will now be much easier to identify if I am ever burned beyond recognition). Sure the ceramic (and gold) lab that makes the crowns is great, but it is he who ensured the fit, and avoided nasty things like root canals when old fillings or molars broke.
I found him because he advertised in the Texas Triangle, a now defunct Austin gay& lesbian newspaper. I like to patronize GLBT community advertisers, so I gave him a try. His ad photo was HOT, and yes, that colored my initial decision to get more info about him. In fact, after a few visits, I thought he was gay – nice, but something I didn’t care about one way or another as far as dental work was concerned. Three adorable kids later I know I was mistaken, but he IS easy on the eyes. He’s an avid cyclist and rock climber, and it shows.
I like him enough to have recommended a dozen or more friends, now patients. Hell, I like him enough to have gotten a gift for his firstborn – which his newest li’l tyke is still playing with. He’s a good dentist, period.
It’s a small personal office, in a tiny bungalow with limited parking, but it’s filled with people who know what they are doing, and like doing it. Even though dentist remains a word that strikes fear in my heart, I happily recommend Dr. Michael Lessner.