Jill Bruno, DMD

I’m writing this review as both a former adult patient and the parent of two current teenaged patients of Dr. Bruno. I also grew up with a parent who is a dentist so I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in a dental milieu. Dr. Bruno’s practice is impressively run like a well-​oiled machine, and yet she and her staff manage to personalize the experience for all of their patients in a warm, cheerful, reassuring manner. I could not be happier with the results of my own orthodontic treatment. (I had braces as a teen but neglected ever to wear my retainer afterwards — note to readers: If the ortho makes a retainer for you, WEAR IT! or you’ll need braces again to correct your drifting bite.) My two teenagers’ treatment is chugging along and they appreciate Dr. Bruno’s sense of humor and talent for explaining the treatment to them in accessible language (rather than talking down to them or over their heads). She is a genuine «people person» as well as a skilled professional. As far as the office atmosphere — This is the only office I’ve ever frequented that consistently plays such good music in the background that my teens frequently use the Shazam app on their phones to get info on a song that they’re enjoying. How cool is that? So overall, to wind up this review, I’ve given Dr. Bruno and her staff full marks for skill and style.

My 30-​year old fiancée just finished a year’s worth of braces with Dr. Bruno. He had a terrific experience and now has a beautiful smile! Here’s what he has to say:
Dr. Bruno and her staff are amazingly caring, and have the wonderful ability to make you feel like you’re the most important patient to them. I couldn’t be happier with my treatment, my experience, and my results. The same goes for her superb and always cheery staff — in particular, Jamie, Monica, and Gisbelt.
I was referred to Dr. Bruno by my periodontist after being diagnosed with some bite/​jaw issues. When I first visited Dr. Bruno, she confirmed that those issues likely required braces and jaw surgery, and suggested I reach out to a maxillofacial surgeon for additional insight. Dr. Bruno was confident with her evaluation, but encouraged me to seek out additional opinions; she never pushed her diagnosis on me, and completely understood that this was not a decision to be made lightly, nor one to be made without research. Dr. Bruno provided me with contact information for several highly-​regarded surgeons, one of whom I ultimately chose for orthognathic/​double-​jaw surgery.
I then received braces from Dr. Bruno 6 months prior to surgery. In consultation with my surgeon and my periodontist, Dr. Bruno worked hard to ensure my teeth were in optimal position prior to the surgery. Dr. Bruno regularly coordinated with my medical team to make sure everything was perfect before surgery. She had to precisely time certain teeth movements and placement of wires with my surgical plan; this was no easy undertaking, and required intense coordination with my surgeon outside of Dr. Bruno’s normal day-​to-​day duties. Furthermore, she always made sure I was completely comfortable with how treatment was proceeding, and — along with her wonderful staff — was fantastic throughout it all. I especially appreciated that she always erred on the side of caution to make sure nothing was amiss and that my surgeon and I were happy with how my treatment was progressing.
My surgeon was very pleased with the results prior to surgery, which was flawless thanks in large part to Dr. Bruno’s legwork. As I was recovering at home in the days after surgery, Dr. Bruno regularly called to check in on me, and — even though she had not performed the surgery — she made sure I knew that I could call or e-​mail her directly with any concerns. I can’t emphasize how much that meant to me, and how much it aided my recovery to relax and know she was in my corner.
After surgery, the braces remained on for another 7 months to bring everything into perfect alignment. I was quite glad that Dr. Bruno did not give in to my grilling about when the braces would come off, but that she instead was realistic and gave me the tough love to stick with the gameplan of waiting until my teeth were perfect. As I was all too ready for braces to come off right after surgery, I’m thrilled I waited for Dr. Bruno to give me the thumbs-​up. I now have an incredible smile, beyond what I (or my fiancée) ever could have expected.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a couple thoughts in response to — in my strong opinion — a seriously unwarranted negative Unilocal review of Dr. Bruno.
First, Dr. Bruno and her staff were incredibly flexible in their office hours for me, and always strived to schedule appointments for me that worked around my work schedule. Sure, some days I needed to miss a few hours of work and take sick leave from my job in order to make an appointment, but that’s life. And, to the credit of Dr. Bruno and her staff, they’re in high-​demand! Seriously though, they were great and always tried to bend over backwards to accommodate my schedule. As well, it would’ve been sorely unfair (to say the least) to expect them to base their entire work and personal schedules around my demands!
More importantly, Dr. Bruno and her staff never hesitated to squeeze me in for an unscheduled appointment when I was having issues with my wires, or a loose bracket, or when I was worried something was wrong in the days after surgery (everything was fine, of course). They never made me feel guilty, or like I had screwed up, but always greeted me with a smile and found time for me in the middle of their busy day.
Second, as an adult (and one of Dr. Bruno’s many adult patients) who had to go through the glory of having braces a second time, I found one way to avoid any sort of «social embarrassment of braces» was simply to surround myself with good people. Sure, having braces as an adult was far from ideal, but 21^st-​century medicine is amazing and I’m thankful I was referred to Dr. Bruno and had her at the forefront of my medical team. And from an amazing fiancée, to a supportive family, to hilarious friends, to an understanding boss and colleagues, I avoided any stigma associated with braces by just being around quality people who cared about and were rooting for me. But that’s just a thought.

Dr. Bruno and her staff are nice. However, I have two major qualms with the practice.
First, the office hours are ridiculously inflexible for her patients — who are all KIDS — and mainly teenagers. Um — they’re in school during the day! While she has 7:30 am appointments a couple of days, and office hours until 5 a few others, that doesn’t work for teenagers, who have classes (that they can’t miss) starting at 8 and sports (that they also can’t miss) afterwards. Also — they have seemingly random rules about what kinds of appointments can be scheduled on certain days. Finally, she has too many patients — so that the «prime» spots (early mornings and late afternoons) are all snapped up quickly. All of this wouldn’t be a huge issue if she was, say, an orthopedic surgeon and you were only coming once. But patients have to come again and again for several years — and I am incredibly frustrated with how difficult it is to schedule appointments — and how much it takes out of me (leaving work during the day to schlep my child to the office) and my child (missing school, having to reschedule tests, making his coaches angry, etc.). She should have at least one day/​week that she is open until 7 or 8 pm (and could start later on that day).
Second, she has kids wear braces twice: once when their teeth are coming in to form the bite/​palate correctly, and then again when all the permanent teeth are in. I went along with it — and now we have paid for braces TWICE (to the tune of more than $ 7,000) and my poor child has had braces for more than 5 years. That is just RIDICULOUS. If you choose to see Dr. Bruno (or any other orthodontist), don’t fall for this. Have your child get braces ONCE — for perhaps 3 years total — and save yourself $ 3500 and you and your child two extra years of frustration with appointments and social embarrassment of braces. It worked when we all had braces in the 1980s and it works now — as evidenced by my friend’s children who see other orthodontists.

I wasn’t happy with my current orthodontic work and came here for a consult. It ran $ 95, but man, it’s worth it when you’ve paid $$ for braces in the first place. After my visit I was sorry I didn’t discover this place earlier. My teeth would have been straight, braces off a long time ago…
office and staff: The office is bright, airy, clean and new. The rooms are the opposite of the typical confined and stuffy dental/​orthodontic rooms I’ve encountered in the past… in fact, they seem a bit on the huge side, but I think that’s partially the expansive windows and layout plan. Good vibes. My consult room actually had a view of the city. The staff were more than courteous – they were downright pleasant.
The consult and Dr. Jill Bruno: Somebody mentioned thorough consult – this included an efficient picture taking session by a competent assistant and a thorough explanation by Dr. Bruno as to what brackets she uses, etc… I would, unfortunately, have to start over because she does self litigating brackets without bands (something I don’t have). BUT with my high gloss 8X10 that included 8 pics of my bite and teeth from all angles, she explained exactly what my current orthodontist could do to straighten out the part she initially insisted on filing (to make it ‘appear’ straighter). Essentially, Dr. Bruno gave me the tools I needed to solve my problem. She never tried to sell me on anything but was upfront, honest and friendly.
Again, wish I had discovered this place earlier…

Jill and her staff are always friendly, professional, and eager to make your visit a pleasant one. We have a couple of patients in our family (child AND adult!) and recommend Jill highly. She gives a thorough consultation and offers several options. When problems arise like a broken bracket or loose wire, her staff is quick to get you in to fix it. My children especially enjoy the ongoing promotions that make visits fun — the candy buy-​back at Halloween, a water bottle giveaway in the summer, and the annual ice skating party is always a huge hit. Not only is Jill fun and wonderful to work with, she is very skilled at her practice; we have the beautiful smiles to prove it! I couldn’t recommend her more highly!