Carol A Wada, DDS

So through job change, I never reacquired dental insurance and I’m in need of a cleaning. I didn’t hesitate to call Dr. Wada’s office and ask how much out-​of-​pocket is, because no matter what, I’m going to her.
A very professional office. Her staff is great. She’s very straight-​forward as to what your options are, doesn’t try to sell, and has done fantastic work for the short time I started going to her.
Dr. Wada and her office is your family dentist. I won’t go anywhere else.
–David

Most wonderful skillful dentist I’ve experienced.

I highly, highly recommend Dr. Carol Wada! Top-​notch general dentist, absolutely fantastic. Dr. Wada is a jewel. Everything in the office is sparkling & immaculate. Dr. Wada is punctual and friendly, and concerned that you feel at ease and experience no discomfort.
It is a clean & healthy environment, just sparkling with joy. She is accessible & friendly. So, if you need a general dentist, please make an appointment with Dr. Wada! I guarantee you’ll actually feel happy & enjoy the experience and *no pain* whatsoever. I have been going to Dr. Wada since 2005/​6, and I am not going to change dentists, ever.
The front desk is generous about financial arrangements and working with your insurance company. Cindy at the front desk is always sweet, kind, gentle, polite — always meets your scheduling needs & will file your insurances efficiently — she does excellent work! Bianca is the chairside dental assistant — she always greets you with a big smile and makes you feel at ease. You never feel hassled or pressured, and they are willing to go the extra mile to make things work out for you, payment-​wise.
The dentist assistant is also friendly and helps to make you feel comfortable and at ease. Love this office!

Dr. Wada is the best! My family and I have been seeing her for the last 11 years even after moving through the tunnel to the Lamorinda area. She is kind, earnest and genuine. Everyone should have a Dr. Wada in their lives.

Dr. Wada is the sort of dentist that makes you want to take better care of your teeth. She’s gentle, professional, and very low pressure. I NEVER floss and usually get chewed out by my dentist. She was very understanding and didn’t make me feel bad at all. She was very encouraging and relaxed. Her staff is kind and has been with her for a long time, a great sign. Lastly, she does the cleaning HERSELF! This is not the dentist for people who want frills and gimmicks but this is the dentist if you’re nervous, want honestly, and or desire an excellent cleaning. Also, she takes Delta PPO, a rarity among the well reviewed dentist on Unilocal

Dr Wada is very skilled and knowledgeable. I went there with a tooth ache because of a poor filling job done by a previous dentist. Turned out that the filling needed to be filed down because my bite was problematic. Dr Wada assessed the situation and took care of it very professionally and warmly. Her staff is also super friendly. Will definitely remain a patient!

We Love Dr Wada and staff!!!

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed Dr. Wada. She’s by far the most gentle dentist I’ve encountered in a long time. She explained the issue with my deteriorated root canal and gave me several options and a good referral.
She is conscientious and worked for a while to get my filling right, no extra charge. She’s one of the few that accepts my crappy dental insurance and is incredibly affordable, professional and her office staff are the same. I highly recommend Dr. Wada and her team. I left my dentist of 10 years for Dr. Wada!

Earlier this summer I was here a lot getting a ton of things done… fillings, root canal, probably got more mouth numbing shots in a few months than I had in a few years.
I’m glad I chose this Dr. Wada’s office. The ladies at the front desk and on the phone are some of the nicest people ever. They were easy and great to work with, and explained things clearly to me as it related to my insurance (I’m kind of clueless when it comes to my insurance sometimes). They also coordinated with the oral surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth, also making the situation of figuring out how much insurance I had left simpler. I was also a little late a few times which I felt bad about but they were always really cool about it.
Dr. Wada is straight forward, patient and calm… She doesn’t have one of those bubbly super chipper personalities but I think she’s a great dentist… She told me exactly what needed to be done, why, explaining her recommendations for what should come next (I had multiple issues with my teeth that needed addressing), and what my options were.
When I was numbed up and getting drilled, she would ask me how I was doing, which was reassuring and comforting.
I’ll be back here next time I can.

Dr. Wada is a great dentist. She is extremely conscientious, patient and tranquil. Unlike many other Dentists, Dr. Wada does not try to sell optional/​unnecessary services and the ladies at her desk are friendly and accommodating.
The only downside is that her office could use some serious updating. The first time I went to Dr. Wada I was a little worried that her skills would match the condition of her waiting room/​offices. The couch cushions are more worn than any couch I would ever consider keeping in my apartment and it is just old and drab.
Luckily her service lived up to a higher standard than her offices. I am a returning patient.

I’ve been to a bunch of hack rip off dentists that try to make more money and ever since then I’ve been looking for a no frills dentist and Dr. Wada is it– she reminds me of the dentists I had when I was a kid, actually caring about her work as opposed to making as much money as possible.

Dr. Wada is far and away the best dentist I have ever been to and the only one I trust. Previous dentists I have gone to did procedures that were most likely unnecessary in order to make more money (including drilling out half of a tooth and giving me a crown that Dr. Wada later had to replace). Dr. Wada is conservative and makes decisions based on the health of your teeth and not the amount of money she could make. Her work is excellent and she even does the cleaning herself! Bottom line is that she is a fantastic no-​frills dentist, which is a rarity these days.

forewarning: I use the word Japanese to actually mean Japanese-​American. Immigrants later than the 1980’s mean much less to my family.
From a young age, I was taught by my family to help support the other Japanese in the world — buy Japanese appliances, eat Japanese food, use the services of Japanese professionals. They didn’t have to cost less, be nicer or more skilled, it just mattered that they were Japanese. In fact, all those things didn’t even matter, it was just the last name. If I did that, I was guaranteed that I would be part of this «in group» that looked out for its own. I’m not the only one that subscribes to this belief though, go to any Japanese health care professional’s office and I will BET YOU that they have at least one other Japanese working there.
Kids don’t understand these lessons well though, and painful/​traumatic dentistry turns you off from dentists no matter if they’re Japanese or not. I hadn’t gone to the dentist in 5 years after college, and one day, what started out as a little sensitivity in my tooth blossomed into a wonderful symphony of pain in a few weeks. Remember that scene in «Cast Away» where Tom Hanks busts out his own tooth with the ice skate? I was about there. Anyway, so it came time to find a dentist, and my ethnocentric upbringing came to play again, and I waded through the many dentists available on my insurance (Delta Dental DPO if you care) looking for a Japanese sounding name. Bingo, Dr. Wada right in Oakland. I asked for an emergency appointment and got it for three days later during their lunch break. Long story short, she was able to save the tooth w/​o root canal (though she said it was close), plus I got NO condescending lecture about oral hygiene. I think that’s what I hated most about my old dentist, he would make me show him how I brushed and flossed (oh surprise, I didn’t floss!) then critique my style. I’m sure he thought he was helping, but it was so annoying — of course I know I’m supposed to floss every day, blah blah. Dr. Wada merely said, «if you hate coming to the dentist, you just have to floss every day.» No lecture, no condescension, just straight up statement of fact. I kept waiting for the lecture, but it never came. I loved that about her.
When I went in for my first consult, I got a pretty lengthy teeth cleaning (again, my fault for not going in 5 years) — I’m not sure what other people are talking about when they say they want a gentle dentist, because it seems like dentistry is inherently non-​gentle. Anyway, Dr. Wada was no more or less «gentle» than any of the other two dentists I’ve had, but she did the job right so props there. She seems pretty busy, regular appointments are booked anywhere from 5 to 8 weeks out. Her office is straight out of the 70’s: standard chairs, standard x-​ray gun thing, standard whiny pneumatic drills, so if you’re into high tech laser drills, this is not the place for you. If you want a standard meat n’ potatoes dentist who is handy with a drill and won’t talk down to you, I’m sticking with Dr. Wada. PS: I got standard amalgam fillings (oh noes, mercury leeching into my body!) but I think she also offers those fancy ceramic ones too.