Stephen Baral, DDS

I love Dr. Baral. Quirky? Yes! Compassionate? Yes! Straightforward, honest & filled w/​integrity? YES! YES! YES!!!
I think it’s interesting that most of the negative reviews knock him for recommending baking soda & recommending LESS frequent dental X-​rays. He’ll do MORE if you want, but why OVER do it? Wouldn’t you think it’s a red flag for those dentists that want you in their office 2x’s a year, pelting you & your insurance w/​large bills? Just because you’re used to being sold, doesn’t make it right.
His standard recommendations: (1) Baking soda as toothpaste — been doing this for 7 years now & my gums & oral health have never been better (2) Floss (3) Mouthguard.
I didn’t understand the value of the mouthguard at first, but completely get it now & feel it’s necessary after I went without one for years & ended up with some serious TMJ, so much so my teeth were getting sore because I was clenching all the time.

I have been going to this practice for a few years because I only get a 6 month cleaning from the hygienist, Edward, who is competent. Today, I had a rare quick check-​up by Dr. Baral who immediately said I needed a mouth guard. I don’t have the symptoms listed by the Mayo Clinic nor did Baral do any of the recommended tests
. His communication was contradictory, demeaning, and abrupt.

I had to have a root canal done but he didn’t do the actual work so he referred me to someone down the street who did an awful job! Then I had to go back to Dr. Barral for the crown which was a nightmare. The temp fell off the next day and unfortunately his offices were closed so I had to leave a message. I didn’t hear back from him for over a day and by then I had gone to my parents dentist for help on putting back the temporary. At the end of it all I was so distraught I changed dentists… Which had to redo the root canal because it wasn’t done properly and was causing me pain.
If you are going in for maintenance, you’re safe. Otherwise look at a dentist that does the whole thing top to bottom.

Like many other people experienced, no one ever answers the phone. years ago when there was partner working there the service and treatments were so good. Once he left I met with Dr Barnall and had the same experience others had. –Bad. I dropped more than 5K at this place to get inlays just to find out later that were covered by my insurance. My fault for not checking. Now I am having problems with my inlays, but the partner is gone now and I will go elsewhere. He really does have a strange attitude, unless your 12 it comes off weird. Any adult who enjoys him might have the mind of a 12 year old. So take heed to the warning that are on Unilocal,it’s pretty honest.

I was a patient of Dr. Baral’s for three years.
Plus side: Office staff is personable and, depending on your temperament, Dr. Baral is personable. Making appointments is relatively easy.
Side note: Dentail hygienist doubles as dentist’s assistant.
Negatives: No x-​rays. At every visit, I was reminded to brush teeth only with baking soda. Last year my gums started to bleed and was told it was because I was flossing too vigorously. A few months ago, Dr. Baral put in two fillings and both fell out within weeks. When I went back, he explained why they fell out but did not redo the fillings.
I switched to a new dentist. At the initial appointment they took x-​rays and checked my gums. I had periodontal disease and decay in four teeth.

This guy is very different, quite a character i must say. You will either really like him or you won’t. He told me things I have never heard from any other dentist. Neither was the way he talked to me was anywhere near that of a typical dentist. i know he had good intentions, but i don’t think i liked his manner.
He wanted us to immediately stop brushing our teeth with regular toothpaste, and was very animate about using baking soda instead of toothpaste.
he said x-​rays need only be taken every 4 years?
One good thing might be that he didn’t appear to be the type that would over-​charge you for unnecessary work.
The office is located in a building structure, and the dentist office does not validate for parking, but it was only $ 1 per hour, and we were out of there within the hour. When i called the office phone number, no one ever picks up the phone when i called. i called several times before i actually got a person to answer.

After reviewing many dentists that would be covered under my new insurance I chose Dr. Baral. I have no regrets whatsoever! I use Smilesaver insurance and my exam and cleaning was covered as explained to me at the front desk and my insurance booklet.
Dr. Baral was full of information I hadn’t heard from my previous dentists! I love how he went through the exam with me and we got to visually review my mouth together. He had some great advice on my daily care and certain products to use.
When I came back for my cleaning and (shhhhhh) filling I was excited he could fit both in during the same visit. Didn’t take more than 40 minutes and I’m happy with the results. The assistant that did the cleaning was very friendly and made me feel at ease and confident with his work. I enjoyed the conversations with the receptionist at the front desk as well! He was extremely knowledgable about the insurance and what exactly it covered. Big fan of the entire office!
Ill definitely be back in 6 months for another check up!

Dr. Baral is really unique and unusual dentist I ever meet and I hope I will never meet anyone like that again.
When I order my appointment, I was specific about my time, they of course they helped me 30 minutes later, when they sit me down on their chair, all machine were so dusty and so dirty that I almost left.
Dr. Baral was giving me school about me and how good job he does and bla bla bla, which already turns me off.
When I got my estimate, he charge me double then any one else plus he try to replace your teeth, not fix it…
PLEASE MAKE SURE WHO YOU GO TO, This dentist is just try take your money and give you speech of his life.

tl;dr unique, honest dentist; poor customer service
Dr. Baral is a memorable character. Chances are you’ll never meet another dentist quite like him. He has a very direct chair-​side manner, and shares his dental opinions freely and sternly.
I’ve gone to his office for two or three cleanings, but I can’t keep doing it.
Like a bad relationship, Baral’s office never answers their phone. Never. In the past month, I have left two messages. No return calls. The other day, I called eight different times trying to ask a simple question.
Answering machine. Every time.
When I went into the office to question my billing, Dr. Baral was almost offended. I simply wanted to find out why I had paid a co-​pay when my insurance lists a routine cleaning as 100% covered.
After lecturing me that «the insurance rep you talked with was most likely a minimum-​wage earning woman who would tell you anything to get you off the phone quickly,» he had me leave my info so the front desk could follow up.
NOTE: The insurance agent had been very clear that while cleanings were completely covered, I should ask what other procedure I had been charged for.
Surprise! His office called back, saying I was charged for some procedure I had no idea even occurred. OK. Fine.
I couldn’t care less about the $ 15 charge. I just wish I had been told that «this is the cleaning, and then there is this other procedure we’re doing, too.» But I wasn’t. And that sums up Dr. Baral’s office: bad communication with customers/​patients.
Oddly enough, just days after this all happened, my insurance contacted me to say I had to choose a new dentist. Bizarre.

I have never written a review on Unilocal before, but after my appointment with Dr Baral this morning, I felt it was time for that to change. I have had a few bad experiences with other dentists (i.e. suspecting that I am being charged way too much for procedures and treatments I don’t need) so I was somewhat apprehensive about going to yet another dentist. I can’t express how happy I am that I made the appointment with Dr Baral.
The first thing I noticed that my appointment was at 7:50, and I got called into the office at 7:50 – what a pleasant change to have an appointment start on time! Dr Baral spent half an hour with me. It wasn’t a hygienist or an assistant, but the dentist himself! He has this little camera wand hooked up to a TV and basically walks you through your entire mouth, showing you each tooth and explaining the condition of both your teeth and your gums. It was so refreshing to be able to see what was going on and get some insight as to what the dentist is looking at when he looks at your teeth.
Perhaps the most refreshing part of the experience though, was that Dr Baral is not just a puppet for the ADA. So many times, I have been to dentists who say, «Oh mercury fillings are harmless,» or «You don’t use fluoride toothpaste? Your teeth are going to rot out!» Rather than berate me, Dr Baral actually AGREED with my thought processes and even recommended forgoing toothpaste all together. Instead, I am going to brush with pure baking soda.
I have never been excited about a dentist visit before, but my appointment with Dr Baral this morning was great. I am so happy I found a good dentist! He is knowledgeable, caring, and professional. The rest of his office staff is fantastic as well. I can’t recommend him highly enough – exceptional!

Dr Baral’s instructions to my step-​daughter: brush your teeth too hard and in the wrong direction; don’t use toothpaste. He recommended a root canal and must have missed at least four cavities based on the follow-​up exam step-​daughter had at the pediatric endodontist we visited next. Oh, and since Dr Baral’s office didn’t return calls — even an emergency one to refil step-daughter’s antibiotic prescription, — we parents paid them an unannounced call to follow up on the non-​existent referral to try to get step-​daughter out of pain. Oh, and the front office worker’s knuckles looked like he’d been in a bar fight the night before.
Won’t be going back.

I have had HORRIBLE experiences with dentists and this has made getting anything done in my mouth difficult. You know since the rest of the guys I saw tried to sell me a car vs take care of my teeth. Dr Baral is different. He CARES and treats you as such. He also takes my stupid dental HMO. :) His staff are all fantastic too, tight down to the guy in the parking lot! I am so happy to have found his office

Dr. Baral is awesome. I’ve only seen him four or five times, for cleaning and fillings, and he and his staff have been nothing but accommodating, professional, and friendly. He is blunt, as Danielle P. says, but I like someone who gives it to me straight. As for the baking soda gospel, I am on board.

Just had to update my review. I finally made it to a second opinion appointment with a different dentist and as I suspected, none of the things that Dr. Baral recommended were necessary. Plus, with the same exact insurance, the exact same procedures cost a heck of a lot less at my new dentist. Suspicious? You betcha!
I highly recommend you all read the filtered reviews as I believe they paint the most accurate picture of this practice.

When I moved from MA a few years ago, I needed a dentist and have since seen Dr. Baral twice. Although I was initially annoyed that I had to come in for a ‘consultation’ before I could get a teeth cleaning, I was immediately impressed by the mouth cam and individual tooth evaluation. My positive impression ended there.
I seriously questioned their obsessive use of baking soda and asked my cousin who is a dentist in AK if that was the right thing to do since that is the first time a dentist has recommended baking soda to me in all of my 33 years. She said, NO WAY, don’t use it and consistent use of it could erode your enamel. The other thing that put me off was his «too close» approach. By that I mean the guy stands too close, it’s weird.
Regardless, I continued to see him and after each time me or my spouse would return from a visit, we would always say «we need to find a new dentist». But, it wasn’t that bad and we never did… till now.
I just called the office a few days before a holiday weekend with a soreness I have flossing between two teeth. I waited two days to call because I was rinsing and brushing (with baking soda even!) to see if it would get any better, but today I started to get an itch in my cheek above the tooth that was sore. I thought, oh crap, I have an infection and I’m 4 months pregnant, call dentist now!
So I did. The receptionist was obviously on his way out and not about to be bothered with the dental emergency of a pregnant person. He told me that yes I probably was developing an infection and they could see me in 5 days after Dr. Baral returned from vacation. Hmmmm, I thought about it and decided No, that actually was not going to be good enough. I asked him what the procedure would be if I had a dental emergency and he said that Dr. Baral was out of the office and there was a doctor on call, but why did I wait to call them until today and not a few days earlier so (in my words), it wouldn’t infringe on our vacation! I fired them and immediately transferred my insurance to another dental practice, which got me in for an appointment tomorrow. It took 2 hours to work it all out with my insurance provider, but I’m glad this finally happened as I should have done this long ago. I will let you know if I like the new practice as I have been looking for a good dentist since high school.
The final thing I will mention is that this all could have been avoided if during my visit in November they had listened to me when I told them that I thought the filling in this tooth was starting to act a little weird.

I haven never had a good experience at the dentist until I came to him. When I was a kid I had to have a baby tooth extracted and that dentist used the «pliers» for an adult on me, a kid (mind you, I’m a small girl). The instrument didn’t fit properly in my mouth so he forced it, causing my lips to bleed on the corners, he then straddled me because he couldn’t get the right angle to extract the tooth. So here I am, 10 years old with a big fat dentist on top of me trying to pull out my tooth. Lets just say I was very traumatized from that experience.
After many years, of properly caring for my teeth (I’m totally obsessive about it) and my Mother neglecting to take me to the dentist for 8 years, my Dad finally took me to Western Dental (BOO!). That dentist found 7 cavities. I was shocked really, since I brushed and flossed daily, several time a day (which I still do). So he filled them, but during that time in the dental chair, I could feel the drilling and told him it was hurting and I think I needed more Novocaine. He laughed at me and continued drilling with a response of, «are you a dentist? NO! then you don’t know what you’re talking about.» I proceeded to cry because of the pain which then caused the dentist to yell at me further to, «STOP CRYING! THERE IS NO CRYING IN MY DENTAL CHAIR!» I went home in a lot of pain that day and the next day I had bruising all over my face.
Since then I pretty much avoided the dentist. I went for a cleaning 2 years ago and that was fine. It was one time. Well, about a month ago, I started feeling pain in my mouth. My husband just got dental insurance, so I was ready to go, but very scared and nervous. I made my appointment and Tim the receptionist is very funny and nice. After waiting for about 5 minutes, Dr. Baral enters. He sees the worry on my face and asks my why I’m so scared. I tell him, and from then on he made every effort to make me feel as comfortable as possible. By the end of the visit I was smiling and laughing. I had 2 x-​rays done on the area where I was having my pain. I told him I brush 3 – 4 times a day and floss after every meal (I told you I was obsessive). He said, «that’s great, just add baking soda to your routine once a day to kill the germs.» I asked why and he told me, «well you have no cavities, after doing tests like putting cold water on them, spraying air, and knocking on them with a dental instrument, you need no root canals. You’re teeth are very nice and all you have to do is come back for a gum treatment and cleaning, you’ll be out in 30 minutes and you’ll need a bite guard because you grind your teeth.» I was ecstatic! I haven’t seen the dentist in over 10 years, and all I need is a routine gum treatment? AWESOME! The whole time his bed side manner was excellent. And Edgar the tech was very nice and gentle when taking the x-​rays.
My husband also came out smiling. He brushes once a day and flosses never… No cavities, but he also needed a gum treatment and to add baking soda to his «routine». My husband was like, «that is the nicest dentist EVER». Our parents are oral surgeons, so we were very happy to get good news, because they would just murder us. Well anyway, I left that dental office feeling good about my teeth and that I needed only a simple procedure and I felt more confident that there are great dentists out there.
Dr. Baral is definitely a GREAT dentist. I have referred my friends and they have all left his office with the same feeling. Thank you Dr. Baral for killing my fear of Dentists. He must be great because it is so hard to get an appointment with him. He’s always booked. He also didn’t tell me to stop flossing, he told me to do my normal brushing and flossing and mouth wash, just add in there a brush with baking soda. I spoke with my Father in law who has an excellent oral surgery practice in Mission Valley and he told me that my husband and I should have been doing that from the beginning. If he says it’s so it must be.

When I was 22-​ish, I tried to be a grown-​up and go to the dentist on my very own dental insurance policy. I found a provider near my house, made the appointment, went in, took some x-​rays, got a cleaning… and the dentist told me I had one, possibly 2 cavities. That was the last time I saw her. In fact, that was the last time a saw a dentist for years.
Then the «okay…this is getting skanky» thoughts about not having had my teeth cleaned kicked in. I took another stab at it and hit up Dr. Baral. I was sold when at my first appointment (a few years ago, now), he sat me down in a chair, put a dental instrument with a camera in my mouth and we went over all the teeth, one-​by-​one. I was able to see my mouth and my teeth, while he gave me all the dental lingo. Essentially, my teeth rocked and there were no cavities in sight, thus continuing my flawless dental record (only braces and wisdom teeth pulling).
I love this office! Every dude who has cleaned my teeth has been very personable and makes the routine cleanings easy. This morning, my cleaner gossiped with me about the receptionist’s neighbor and his cheatin’ ways. Scandalous! Plus, you will be in and out in no time at all, so you can get on with your day.
The catch (and this is minor, but worth mentioning)? Dr. Baral and his staff preach the use of baking soda like it is gospel. Throw out your floss and only use the baking soda!!! Ummmmmmmm… no. If I am damned to dental hell for flossing, then so be it. To each their own, but they bring it up every time. Enough already! I have told you I am going to rub a thread between my teeth. Deal.
Ignore that and you will be so, so glad you are seeing Dr. B!

Dr. Baral and his staff are great. He is an honest hard working dentist that looks out for his customers and he will not hesitate to give you his most honest evaluation of how you care for your teeth. Tim the receptionist is personable and extremely intelligent. Can I give them 30 stars for each of my teeth they take care of?