Richard J Tannyhill, DDS

FAST, very friendly, affordable. I am 49 and have been to over a dozen dentists in my life. This man and his staff are one-​of-​a kind. Truly cannot say enough. I was a new patient. I walked in (no appt!) and was out in under 40 minutes with a new filling.

For about 10 years our whole family has been seeing Dr. T and he’s the best dentist in town! My boys enjoy going, believe it our not… they look forward to cleanings here! Dr. Tanneyhill has a wonderful staff and his hours fit a working mom’s schedule. It’s hard to find someone willing to work after 5 p.m., as well as offering weekend times, and he does! I give this office a 2-​Thumbs Up!

My child has gone to Dr. Tannyhill once, and he was your typical dentist, nothing special. However, their office is only open Friday and Saturday, and the woman who schedules appointments tries to tell you that it’s «ok» to sign your child out of school early for a dental appointment. They also will call you to cancel your appointment on short notice, and then try to make you wait another month or more before they can reschedule. I’ve had the receptionist call me at 10:00 pm to schedule appointments, which is also a bit odd.

This office is only open Fridays and Saturdays, which is not my ideal time for dental work. I called in to schedule a fairly urgent appointment and the only appointment available was due to a cancellation on the next day at 8:30 am, and If I didn’t take that appointment the next opening was 3 weeks away. Luckily, my husband was able to take a day off work to take our 3-​year-​old daughter in.
Upon setting up the appointment the receptionist took down our insurance info over the phone, and upon hearing the name of our insurance told me that the exam and x-​rays would not be covered, and our insurance «only covers extractions». I told her to schedule the appointment any how and if that was the case we’d pay out of pocket. I thought that was a little strange being that I’d just received my insurance card in the mail with Dr. Tannyhill’s office printed on the card. After scheduling, I went online to check my coverage. Come to find out everything was in fact covered 100%. So the next day, my husband took our daughter in.
The receptionist told him that she’d already told his wife that the visit would not be covered and it would cost $ 120 for exam/​xrays. My husband explained that we’d checked our daughter’s coverage online, and our insurance did in fact cover everything. The receptionist went on to explain that our insurance only would reimburse Mr. Tannyhill $ 9 for the visit, so they would not see our daughter. She went on to explain that the only procedure financially worth it– to them, was extractions. She then told my husband our insurance card is «as good as dirt.» She then took a look at our daughters tooth herself and said, «I’m sure it’s fine; that sort of thing happens all the time, but she’s adorable.» My husband decided to leave and not pay for the visit out of pocket, because the whole situation felt unprofessional.
I called my insurance company who verified our insurance coverage was adequate; and they found it odd that Mr. Tannyhill’s receptionist hadn’t even sent in a coverage request to them. They told me that Mr. Tannyhill’s office should not have went into contract matters with a customer and should have called them if they had problems with the contract. I asked if they truly only reimburse $ 9 a visit, our insurance company verified that, but also told me that Mr. Tannyhill’s office receives an agreed upon stipend every month, that Jaxson has been their customer… despite the fact she had never needed services in the past.
Overall the visit to Mr. Tannyhill’s office was very unhelpful, unprofessional, and a waste of a day-​off.
Update: our insurance company did an emergency provider switch, and her new dentist Dr. Sosa, got her in quickly and efficiently, and never questioned the validity of her coverage or complained to us about his reimbursement.

Very knowledgeable dentist, good disposition, and is extremely easy to get an appointment with. I must admit though, I was a little put off by the location (It’s located in the Sprout shopping Center off of Encinitas Blvd. next to the laundry mat.) and the obviously older interior (very fickle of me, I know). Almost all of the equipment is up-​to-​date, but I noticed in the chair I was in for my cleaning, some exposed wires on the «mouth sucker» thing.
The dental hygienist was efficient and easy to talk to (and it should be noted that on this Saturday she was also helping run the front desk) and didn’t rush or make my mouth feel like a floor buffer had just swung through. Dr. Tanneyhill was very through and removed every spec of plaque build up. I do not doubt his skills.
Overall a very decent practice, reasonable rates for those with no insurance, and convenient hours for those of us working class folks.

This dentist is very calming and has a reassuring manner. The work he did for me was flawless. I liked his office, his assistants seemed happy which is a good sign. He is definitely not trying to hussle his patients into more work. A great experience overall.

My mom had a really bad toothache on Friday night so of course most Dentists are closed on Saturdays. Thankfully Dr. Tannyhill is open on Saturday. We called him at about 8 am and he made an appointment for 10:30, we went in and he put us at ease immediately. He doesn’t do root canals but he was able to take an x-​ray and give my mom anti biotics to get her through the weekend. He’s also very affordable.
The office is very clean and calming. His assistant is also very nice. GREAT dentist and all around nice guy. Highly recommended

This is a five star dentist for sure. I love my dentist even though I don’t go as often as I should. Along with his wife who does all the paperwork, they run a smooth little dentistry that they share with another great dentist. They have limited hours only working on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday with evening appointments available as well. He’s been in business for quite some time and has a great disposition. I love their magazine selection and they play rock music. That’s too cool.
He works well with children and they seem to dig him too.