Dawn M Dukes, DDS & David A Concepcion, DDS

Honestly, if I could give this office more than five stars I certainly would.
Please hear me out, it was time for my 6 month check up. I have been living with brown stains on my two front teeth due to my excessive tea drinking for the past five months. I was ecstatic to get to my regular dentist office in Pleasant Hill, to get the stains removed.
Mind you, I had been waiting for an appointment for about 4 to 6 weeks. I call my regular dentist office, TODAY, to verify my appointment time, and I am told I will not be able to have a cleaning because their hygienist is not in the office.
As you can imagine, I was quite frustrated. So, this morning I searched Unilocal reviews for a local dentist office and called many of them to see if anyone could take me today.
Thankfully someone cancelled, and I was able to take the 3 PM slot.
I arrived on time, and was out of the office fresh and clean at 3:51 PM. This included an exam, clean, and polish. Talk about efficient service! Not only that, Dr. Concepcion was entertaining and down-​to-​earth. Everyone from the front desk to the dental assistant were kind and easy to interact with. I will definitely be a regular customer. This was a blessing in disguise. I have found a dental office that is excellent at what they do, and is close to my home.
Please pay them a visit!

Very good dentist, but did not tell me my Premier Access Insurance was not in network and would not cover a routine cleaning. When I asked, «Do you take Premier Access» and they replied yes, I assumed it would pay for the cleaning. Instead what their reply meant is we will take the insurance money we get and then send you a bill for the balance.
Dr. Dukes taught me a great deal more about my dental health than any other dentist. Her skills were one of the best for cleaning, too — no pain. I was grateful for her help.
I will probably find a dentist in my network and save the $ 168 extra per year that would not be covered by my plan. I called the office to offer the suggestion to inform patients if their insurance is or is not in network, but the receptionist did not seem sincere in accepting my suggestion.

Best dentist I’ve ever been to in my life, no comparison. To say that dentists make me nervous is an understatement. She took me from having a full on panic attack in the waiting room, to hugging her before I left. Yes, she is that good. She takes her time, is gentle, explains everything to you. Her husband is just as good. I will go to them for my dental care until they retire, which I hope is no time soon.

I am a dentist, and I have many friends that are dentists. When I need to have dental work completed in my own mouth, I have a lot of choices about who could do the work. My choice has always been the «dynamic duo» of Dawn and Dave. Take it from me, these two are incredibly talented, very caring, and a gift to the profession. All of their patients are very lucky to have these two amazing practitioners watching out for them. I just finished having several crowns done and the entire staff was so exceptionally warm and caring. I feel very lucky to be a patient in this office! Definitely five stars!

The doctor is very thorough and the hygienist, Ashlee was exceptional. Good dentists and hygienists are hard to come by so well will be sticking with Dr. Concepcion and Ashlee!

This is probably the best dentist office I’ve ever been to. I absolutely love Dr. Dukes. They always do such great work here and, unlike other dentist offices I’ve been to, they don’t try to push things like teeth whitening and invisalign. They are honest and looking out for your best interest. Both Dr. Dukes and Concepcion are also super entertaining to talk to.

I can’t say enough about this office — Dr. Concepcion was my dentist, the hygienist and the reception were all so lovely! It was just my style: super professional, clean, organized, and at the same time playing funk on radio and a happy, relaxed atmosphere. Dr Concepcion has a great sense of humor, and treated me like a real person, not a number.
I’m new to the neighborhood and had been holding off finding a dentist because it’s so important to me to feel comfortable with these things. I really felt welcomed here and it makes me feel even more at home in this town to get this kind of friendly, local experience. I’ve moved around quite a bit in my life, but if I stay put in El Cerrito — this is the kind of place I would like to call «my family dentist».
Keep it funky Dr. D!

I have been going to Dr. Dawn and Dr. David for 7 or 8 years now.
They are absolutely fantastic.
The work is top notch. They take a conservative approach, clearly explain what and why they are doing something and provide appropriate palliative care.
When I move out of the area, I will still make the trip back to get my teeth taken care of as long as this practice exists. Good dentists are hard to find. Great dentists are impossible to find and Dr. Dawn and Dr. David are great dentists.

I hate going to the dentist. I found Dr. Dukes from the reviews on Unilocal and couldn’t have been more satisfied. I wish I could remember the name of the dental hygienist because she is the reason for the 5 star rating. She is so nice and gentle while cleaning your teeth.
I sent my fiancée here for an emergency root canal, and they were able to fit him in that day and get in a rx for the pain immediately. Dr. Concepcion did the root canal and he went back to work the same day. No problems since. My personal experience with him was he was a little rough, but his work was fantastic. He fixed a bad filling from another dentist and didn’t charge me for it. Dr. Dukes herself has always been top notch as well.
I highly recommend these dentists and am so sad that we moved away because now I have to find another dentist I trust as much as them.

Update: Today I received a letter from Dr. Dukes apologizing for the misunderstanding and zeroing out my balance. She read my Unilocal review and took action to put things right. I really appreciate it! She also explained the mixup — apparently the insurance company initially told Dr. Dukes’ office I was covered, but then merged with another company that doesn’t do so. Regardless, I am most appreciative that Dr. Dukes took care of this, and am restoring the four stars she deserves.

Because of the great reviews here on Unilocal,I called and scheduled first time appts for my husband and myself. The day of the appt. we had a family emergency. My Dad suffered a brain stroke months ago, he was having another episode and was taken to the ER. Our whole family was shaken up because we almost lost our Dad. All we had in mind was to be there with him and the last thing we want to do at that moment is to be held up against for missing an appt. Yes, we missed our appt and I am truly sorry for this. When everything got settled with my Dad. I was brave enough to give this office a call to apologize for not showing up, I spoke to Lucia. I was very clear in explaining our side. This was their response, «we are sorry for what happened but we have a business to run»
Trust me I get it. I understand that with a dental office as popular as this, they cannot afford to have people not showing up for their appts. And no they did not give us a second chance. Sad, but hey as I have said, I totally get it. I guess they are just too good and too famous for giving second chances. And again I AM TRULY SORRY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR MISSING AN APPT BECAUSE MY FATHER SUFFERED A BRAIN STROKE.
Not doubting the skills and talent in this dental office. I am just not sure about their people skills.

I like going to the dentist. Had braces for 6 years, trying to fix a mouth that was really messed up by an accident as a kid. Guess it’s sort of old hat for me, sitting in that chair and getting poked.
That said, Dr. Dukes is hands-​down the best dentist I’ve ever had. Been going there for four or five years, and will continue seeing her until she retires or I kick the bucket, whichever comes first.
The office is great, convenient location, and the demeanor of everyone there (including Dr. Dukes and her hygienist) is so calming that on several occasions, I’ve nodded off in the middle of a routine cleaning. They, of course, think I’m just narcoleptic, (I’m not).
Long story short, the most fantastic people who have ever worked on my teeth, (and generally great people, besides that) and I’ll be going here for as long as is humanly possible.

The last dentist I had was for over 40 years and then he retired. He was so good I never thought I’d find one who could take his place. So I did some research on Unilocal and found Dawn Dukes & David Concepcion. Dr. Dukes is terrific. She took me in the next day when one of my fillings fell out. Put in a crown and it not only looks perfect, but it feels like a real tooth. Dr. Dukes is very approachable and is easy to talk with and is very competent at what she does. It’s a very friendly office and I’m actually looking forward to my next visit…

I’ve never hugged my dentist… until the day I met these two. Yes, I will admit for as sadistic as I can sometimes be, my idea of fun is not spending 2+ hours in a dentist office with high speed Dremels whirring near my head.
Drs. Dukes and Concepcion work amazingly well in tandem. This is the only place where you get two dentists for the price of one. Seriously though… ever consider the value of getting a second opinion in the same visit? And if you think they always agree because they are married, you obviously have not been married.
I went in with severe tooth pain that I was told was a cracked tooth. Now, how the hell I could get a crack in a tooth was beyond me, but coupled with the fact that a few stresses in my life in the past couple of years have caused me to start clenching my teeth at night has made for a bad combination.
Knowing that popping Motrin like they were Pez was not good for my liver, I decided to see the good Drs. At first, I was expecting them to tell me that I needed a root canal. I was hoping that at wost, I’d need a crown. Dr. Dukes took time to explain ALL of my options in detail. Even showed me pictures of what it would look like on the inside. Just then… a stroke of genius! Dr. Concepcion walks in and says, let’s investigate and see if we can just drill out the crack and use a standard white filling to keep the tooth comfortable. Great news! «We think we can fix your crack without a crown and hopefully, if all goes well, you won’t need a root canal either.»
What?! Tell me now, what Dr. in his/​her right mind is going to tell you, «no, don’t spend thousands of dollars in my office when I could fix your problem and get rid of the pain with a simple procedure and a couple hundred bucks»? They didn’t even charge me for the extra Lidacane (sp?) because I’m a wimp for pain. They spent extra time to ensure that the «bite» was perfect and that my night clenching wasn’t going to cause me any future pain. AMAZING!
This is probably the only time that you’ll hear me say, I’m actually looking forward to going back to see my dentist again… and they will probably get another hug.
I love my dentist (s). And, if you take a trip to El Cerrito to see Dr. Dukes and Concepcion… you will too. ;)

Dawn Dukes and David Concepcion are the best ever — I have been going to them for about 3 years or so, and I have never been happier with my dentists. I am a crazy about brushing my teeth, but was also petrified of dentists (my childhood dentist didn’t use enough novocaine and wore a necklace made of teeth he pulled, so there’s that…), so finding a dentist that I wasn’t leary of was tough. Both Dr. Dukes and Dr. Concepcion were both so gentle and friendly, I immediately felt at ease. My visits are always pleasant, painless, and actually fun. Dr. Dukes is a hoot, and I have recommended many co-​workers who also love them. Definitely a 5 star duo!

It had been an embarrassingly long time since I went to the dentist, and I chose Dr. Dukes based solely on her excellent Unilocal reviews. I was prepared for the visit to be a disaster, but fortunately it went better than I expected. I was able to get an appointment fairly quickly and the check-​in process in the nice office was smooth and friendly. I didn’t quite believe the hygienist when she said that getting a full set of X-​rays would be the worst part, and I was right, but even the cleaning and admonition about bad habits were relatively painless.
What most impressed me was that Dr. Dukes was more informative and educational than any dentist I’d been to before. I’d always been TOLD I should brush 3 times a day and floss frequently, but she was the first one to really explain WHY — the mechanics and biology of oral hygiene — complete with a picture book. I left feeling a bit disgusted with myself but committed to much better habits. (I’m proud to say I’ve been doing remarkably better ever since.)
The best part, though, came at the very end: After she acknowledged that I’d been through a lot both coming in and during the appointment, Dr. Dukes suggested I do something fun — she told me to go home and drink a margarita! Yep, with «doctor’s orders» like that, I’ll definitely be back! :D

My whole family has been treated at this practice for over ten years — two adults, three kids, all happy patients. Dawn & Dave are super friendly but what I love best is that they are totally straight shooters. When I first saw them, a previous dentist had sold us expensive «tooth grinding» prevention retainers for nighttime wear… Dawn said there was no evidence of tooth grinding in either me or my husband, and ten years later it’s still true. They don’t try to sell any services — you go when you need them, they do a fantastic job, period. They also referred us to our beloved orthodontist Dr. Iezman. Only one of my children has ever needed a tooth pulled and I was super anxious about it… Dave managed it like a magician, my daughter barely knew it happened, and he called us at home later to check up on her. What more could one want in a dentist?

Dr. Dukes is one of the friendliest and most informative dentist I’ve had the pleasure of seeing. She is so warm and is all about educating her patients. It’s very convenient near the BART and the office staff is always very friendly. Thanks for making my dental experience a little less painful.

Dentists scare me, I won’t lie. It’s a deep-​seated fear from childhood, which was filled with discount dentistry. So, when my old filling from my front tooth fell out last Thursday at midnight, you can imagine the panic which ensued. Unilocal told me about this practice, so around 1am, nervous and shaky, I left a voice mail and tried to get some sleep.
The next day, it was sinking in that I needed a back-​up plan. I did some more research, found someone who looked okay, and made an appointment. It wasn’t as early as I hoped, but, finding a new dentist is one thing. Finding a new dentist for an emergency situation is a whole other ordeal.
Not too much later, I had a phone call. Dr. Dukes herself called to tell me that while she doesn’t work on Saturdays, but due to another situation, my luck seemed to be changing. I told her that I would definitely be there.
When I got there, Dr. Dukes came out to introduce herself. Maybe I’m used to other kinds of dentists, but the hands-​on approach is just new to me. Her and Dr. Concepcion both worked on me, which had me in and out of there within an hour, plus me making a teeth cleaning appointment. Both docs were very awesome. Not only did they help me out with my issue, but everyone there (including the office manager/​hygienist) showed nothing but concern for my teeth and wanting to help me get back into shape with them.
I’ve never said this before, but I’m actually pretty stoked to have found this dental practice.

I started working as a dental assistant when I was 13 years old, working for my orthodontist during my high school years. After graduating, I worked for many more years, in all fields of the practice, from orthodontics to oral surgery and from endodontics to periodontics. During all these years, I have never met a more caring, informative and professional team as Drs Dukes and Concepcion.
I met Dawn when she came to my place of work. I immediately knew from her demeanor that she was the dentist for me. Since that time (over 5 years ago), I have referred anyone and everyone that asks me, including my husband and my mother! I have had nothing but positive feedback from the many people that have gone to either one of them at my suggestion.
Aside from being outstanding dentists, I find their office to be very comfortable and inviting, without that typical dentist office «smell». And their support staff is amazing. Friendly, fun, and professional, as well. And they all have multiple experiences in different positions in the office, which I find tends to make them more informative.
I would highly recommend Dawn and David to anyone that is looking for a new dental practice. They are THE BEST, in my opinion.