Children’s Choice Pediatric Dental Care

A year ago we started attending here. A year ago I thought it was a pretty cool place for children. Slowly but surely through routine check ups and follow up visits I was horribly turned off. Although I appreciate the dental assistants, the front desk staff is so unprofessional. Always lying to parents who ask «Is the wait always like this.?» they answer NO every time and that’s a lie. The wait is always awful there. Always! No need for an appt time because it never sticks. I over heard one gal saying she wants to get off and go have a cocktail?!? Seriously… You work with children!!! Most importantly, my youngest is now terrified after a visit to get a crown (which he has one previously from a TX Dr was was amazing!) turned into a baby root canal without my consent or knowledge. My son was screaming and crying! The Dr kept saying «what are you crying for? Its only pressure!» Only AFTER the procedure was done did the assistant tell me a root canal was preformed and «a little more» invasive than just a crown. A little!!! And I was sitting right there… Why wasn’t I kept up to speed with the procedure? To say the least we will not be returning for his 2^nd filling (which has been scheduled 2 months out due to their scheduling issues) I plan to take this up higher because the trauma my son will have towards the dentist now is going to be hard to combat. I know this because I went through the same thing!

Places like this contribute to Vacaville being a very nice city to live in (we moved away from San Lorenzo and don’t miss it). Seriously. So I called up to make the appointment and we showed up a few minutes early, so that I could fill out the proper paperwork. In the office, there are Apple iPad’s with games and videos attached to the wall at a low level that kids can reach, some toys and a small play area plus an HDTV playing a movie.
Once you go in, kids sit on a chair facing the ceiling, BUT, for all 8 chairs (every one of them having a different color, all facing the Nut Tree Shopping Center playground/​train/​merry-​go-​round), each chair has an HDTV mounted so that the child (or parent since they service babies too) can choose something like one of 10 recent movies and watch that while the dental assistants do their work. The staff is infectiously friendly while remaining professional and the kids get a simple toy when the procedure is finished, leaving them generally very satisfied. Of course getting text messages reminding me about the appointment made the communication part of the experience exactly the way I wanted.
We have more interactions with them coming up and since the facility is only a few years old, everything certainly feels new and the location is next to Peet’s coffee in the Nut Tree Shopping Center.
I’m giving this 5 stars on Unilocal because the transition from the previous dentist where my kids have had their teeth cleaned to this one was quite frankly, seamless. My kids left the facility happy and excited, which is a satisfactory initial experience.
Recommended.

My son is severely autistic. He’s afraid of anyone touching his mouth. He always required anesthesia Not only is the environment perfect for all kids but the staff is so amazing. Friendly. Comforting. Did everything necessary to make sure it was a good experience. He will continue to come here and not have melt downs or resist like before. I’m so so ecstatic we finally found a great place for Lukas. I highly recommend this office.

Best experience ever! The staff here is very professional, caring, understanding & patient. Alyssa & Alexxis are very good with children. They help children feel comfortable and let them understand why they are being treated and what the plan will be. The dentist Kareem is the best dentist I have met by far.
My child had a lot of work done to his teeth and I got to realize how good kids are in acting! My son would complain of pain when the dentist wasn’t even touching his teeth. It opened up my eyes and noticed how we always get mad when our children are crying and get mad at the person who is doing the work cause we believe they are hurting our children, however they are treating the bad and making a good. My son was very scared to come back to the dentist.
Now that everything is done and he got to experience 4 different treatments and treated well here at Children’s Choice, he now knows what to expect. I my self have a lot of respect for these hard working people they have here. The staff is amazing.

A friend referred me her, said her son LOVED it. Now me and my daughter also love it!!! Its very colorful and inviting when you walk in and they have tons of things for the kids to do while they wait. My daughter had Cristina clean her teeth and she was wonderful, even gave us a timer for her to brush her teeth too. overall LOVE it and definitely going to keep going back and recommending to others!
Thanks for the great experience!

Wonderful, kid friendly dental office. My children have been using them for years. The staff has a genuine love for children and remember my children on every visit. I have no complaints.

All three of my boys are patient’s of Children’s Choice. We have been nothing but pleased, referring all of our friends. I grew up with serious anxiety when it came to visiting the dentist. The dentist I saw as a child, knew nothing dealing with children. Children’s Choice is 100% geared towards children and as a result, my kids love going to see the dentist! Everyone from the front desk, the back office and the dentists are great and specialize in children. I love that my boys are growing up with a positive dental experience and will never know anxiety when it comes to their oral health. Thank you!!!

The dentist who did my sons treatment did a awful job! Two weeks after treatment his filling and crown fell out. Also, I was scheduled for a appoint at 8 in the morning they made me reschedule after showing up to the office because the dr didn’t have enough time to do it and supposedly the receptionist who scheduled it should’ve known… so inconvenient and a waste of time.

I was super nervous about taking my kids to the dentist for the first time (ages 4 & 3) because my sister and I had such awful experiences when we were growing up. I had heard from a friend that her kids really enjoyed coming to this office, so I was finally willing to give it a try. First of all, we walked in and my kids thought they entered heaven itself. Frozen was playing on the big screens, there were toys, and fun little stations all over the place. Once they were called back to start their cleanings, my nerves started creeping back up, but the friendly dental assistant asked them what movie they wanted to watch (5 different choices, I think) and then put their movie of choice up on the big screen attached to the ceiling. To my surprise, my kids had their teeth cleaned, and x-​rays completed with no tears or fears! The hygienist who cleaned their teeth was so sweet and called the dental tools cute things like «mr. tickle» and «mr. kissy». She was wonderful. The only reason I’m knocking off a star, is because my kids were giving me slightly anxious looks during the x-​ray portion and the tech who was doing that job was talking it up the whole time with another employee. It would have been a perfect experience if she could have kept her private conversations to herself and stuck to the task at hand of reassuring my children of what was going on. All in all, I have recommended this place to friends and we will be going back.

This is really a pediatric dental clinic when it comes to accomodating kids. Well clean and ipads in the waiting area. The staff were all welcoming. Dr Don take a look at my daughter’s aching teeth. He’s very simple, does not criticize. He knows what he is doing, straight to the point. Area for treatment is huge, it is located on the second floor. Parents can go with the kid while their teeth being cleaned. Waiting to get next available treatment takes a long time even though my child is already in pain. And I can only schedule one appt at a time even though my child needed 3 treatments. But when I talked to Letty over the phone, she is really nice to set all of our appointments. That is what customer service is all about. My 1^st appointment won’t be till mid Sept, and I was seen last week of June. Pretty long wait. Hopefully my child can wait that long, we shall see.

Took my 2 year to the dentist for the very first time today. She was very nervous and scared, but the staff did an AMAZING job with her. Everyone from the receptionist to the assistant to the hygienist all the way to the actual dentist were absolutely professional, patient, gentle, friendly, attentive, and kind. My daughter was treated with the best care at Children’s Choice. She was given balloons and several toys. The staff talked with her, held her, encouaged her, and praised her. All around it was a wonderful experience. Thank you everyone who worked today 2/13/15…you made my daughter’s first trip to the dentist enjoyable.

I’ve been here 2x’s with my son. Both times we’ve had a good experience. Ramen (dental assistant) made my son feel at ease, it was his 1^st time ever at a dentist office and he didn’t know what to expect. Our second time we had Laurel, just as sweet and kind. I’ve already booked appointment #3. The only thing I can complain about is they aren’t in their office every day, it’s only on certain FRIDAYS. I get that they have other offices to attend to but just wish we could do another day of the week appointment.

This place is like a really pretty woman with a terrible attitude. The office is amazing, iPads in the waiting room, flat screens on the ceiling… nicest dental office I’ve ever seen. But they really don’t do a good job at giving personal service.
I called them regarding a little lump on my kids gums, and they told me the soonest I could get in was month from now (what if it was an infection?). I asked if they could refer me to someone else, the totally unconcerned, unhelpful girl on the phone told me she didn’t know what to tell me and that maybe I should to go to the emergency room. I asked her what they would do, and she said «I dunno, refer you to a dentist?» I felt like I was having a conversation with a dumb robot.
Also, they tried to get me to buy braces for my 7 year olds with some sleazy hard sell sales pitch. A second opinion from another dentist was that braces would be totally unnecessary for them right now.
Oh, and the cleanings take about 30 seconds… I think my kids actually do a better job cleaning their own teeth when they just pretend to brush, but maybe that’s what a normal kids cleaning is like?
One good thing– A dental assistant named Ramon. (I think someone called him Ramen in an above review). He is great, and he really made my kids feel comfortable and he had a great attitude.

We have had a dental challenge and I was basically in tears when we called Children’s Choice. We had a dentist we loved but they were not a «pediatric dentist» and our son who just turned 4 needed anesthesia to have several cavities and crowns done. He had gone from zero to 14 in 6 months between cleanings. We figured out he had been holding food in his mouth against his teeth as a new soothing method! We tried 3 times with out dentist and he was not able to sit for the procedures so we tried a pediatric dentist in Vacaville, they were very nice, however their was lots of confusion, they showed as «in network» on our health care site but then after our appt we were told they were not and our share of our sons dental surgery would be $ 7000.00, yes that is thousand! We were devastated. I searched and found Children’s choice in Natomas who also had an office in Vacaville. We had a preliminary appointment in Natomas to check what they thought our son would need, and they were far more conservative, suggesting we not crown teeth that should fall out in the next year or two. They also were willing to help us get out insurance to hurry and get our procedures approved so our son would not suffer. We had our appt with Dr. Jeff and he was wonderful. He gave my son a car for a good boy prize which he lost while I talked with the excellent office staff and when Dr. Jeff walked by and saw he had lost it, he offered to get him another, I said oh no that is ok. His response was I have a young son and boys love their cars, let me get him another one! he went to the cabinet and they were all out, my son really wanted the car, so he went to their storage area and got him one! I really like Dr. Jeff! After all was said and done we went back for the surgery, they booked him very early as he could not eat for 12 hours prior which is hard on a 4 year old. The surgery went great, he was eating and running around that afternoon! He had 2 teeth extracted with spacers put in, several cavities, and several crowns, our cost out of pocket, $ 674.00, yes really! I cannot say enough about Dr. Jeff and his offices.
I waited to write a review until I had occasion to use his Vacaville office as this is where I live and where we will continue our relationship with Children’s Choice. I took my 6 year old daughter in for her semi annual cleaning and X-​rays. Staff was helpful, child friendly, and had my normally reserved child laughing and opening WIDE. The iPads and toys in the waiting room make it relaxing for moms and the movie they get to pick playing above their chair while they are worked on make the dental care easy. My daughter has been begging to go since my son has bragged he has the best dentist, now they say our family has the best dentist! Just wish they took grown ups… I have to pay special compliments to the billing staff in Natomas, it took extra effort to get the approval quickly and they really helped. Also Jesse in Vacaville who cleaned my daughters teeth was great! I had a list of all the staff who helped so much and misplaced it, I feel so bad, there were about 6 staff members i the two offices who really outperformed my expectations. We will be back, look for us in June for cleanings in the Vacaville office:)

Our kids love their new dentist! We have three kids 3, 8, and 10. We’ve been in for cleanings twice so far and both have been positive experiences. They have ipads on the walls, and provide stickers and a prize after they’re done with their visit. So far our visits have been positive. They only negative thing is that they’re only open on Fridays right now, so wait times can be a little long. The kids don’t really mind though since there’s plenty to do.

The doctor @ this office is horrible. My son was in tears basically choking on his own tongue & saliva & the doctor NEVER even stopped. He showed no remorse. He numbed the wrong area in my daughter’s mouth & he’s so rude to his assistants. I should’ve listen to my instinct the first time my kids got an exam there when they got their teeth cleaned my daughter said they didn’t even really clean it. I think the staff can agree with me that the doctor should’ve have this kind of practice. He’s not meant to be a pediatric dentist. If I can put negative stars I will but since the lowest is one star that’s all I can do