Jerry H Watanabe, DDS, MS

Do not send your child here. I removed my son from Dr. Watanabe’s care as he performed surgery that should have never been done by an orthodontist, he also put a screw directly in my child’s nerve and didn’t even give him anesthesia when he asked for more. The braces he uses are crap and cheap other orthodontists don’t recommend it. In addition my son at 14 lost a tooth because of his negligence and moved his teeth too fast. Now my son is now at risk to lose two more. Both my children have had braces on for 6 years thanks to his incompetence. See someone else don’t risk your child being injured.

I was given Dr. Watanabe’s name by several recommendations– my dentist as well as numerous friends & neighbors all of whom don’t even live in San Ramon. My initial criteria was for an Orthodontist that specialized in the Damon braces (self lighting) since I had read about great results and less appointments with Damon I figured it was right up my busy alley.
I interviewed 5 orthodontists. Sadly it seems that 3 of the 5 only saw me as dollar signs ($). When I did a consult with Dr. Watanabe first of all I was beyond impressed with his staff! Holly is so on top of EVERYTHING from getting you scheduled to helping you get through Jaw Surgeons & periodontists! She is also very knowledgeable about many of the various issues that can arise with braces as well as jaw surgery and was great at helping to get be booked for my consult. I also have to give a shout out for Anjana who manages all the billing. Never have I had any issues– and when I had any questions she was also on top of all my questions!
Dr. Watanabe is very friendly, pleasant and professional. I found him from day 1 to be über detail oriented and very upfront and honest about treatment options and realistic results. He’s a perfectionist. As a type A personality myself, I find his attention to detail the bar that sets Dr. Watanabe apart from so many other doctors! Dr. Watanabe and his staff are so accommodating to those occasional appointments that I’ve had to bring my toddler to! I could not be more thankful for their family style practice with customer service at the heart of everything they do. These type of business just don’t exist anymore.
Overall I could not be happier! I can only hope that my boys will also get to have their teeth treated by Dr. Watanabe!

I got my braces from Dr. Watanabe wayyy back in 2007, and had them removed in 2009 (woo!). Everything has been great since — I continued to wear my retainer and take care of my teeth — until a recent teeth cleaning visit with my dentist revealed slight shifting in my bottom teeth. I was advised to see my good ol’ friend Dr. Watanabe, and to my surprise, Holly, the receptionist, remembered me and Dr. Watanabe and his staff made me feel just as welcome as I did six-​years ago. Dr. Watanabe was able to tell me the cause of my teeth shifting and I was not charged for my visit.
If you decide to use Dr. Watanabe as a your orthodontist, be assured that you will be taken care of before, during, and after your braces are long off. My smile is proof. =D

Dr Watanabe and his entire staff were awesome. I couldn’t agree less than Gina about his bedside manner. Dr Watanabe and his full staff couldn’t have been nicer or accommodating. I took my grandson in for a consultation and, if you can imagine an ortho even saying,” just wait, see if it corrects itself”… and I’ll see him in 6 mos! They even sent ‘ME” a Thank you email after our appointment! There was no charge, and my first instinct was absolutely correct: This guy can be trusted, and he couldn’t have been any nicer! I’d give more stars if it were an option!

Both my kids are in Phase 1 with Dr. Watanabe and they have had minimal pain. Not the horror stories that I have heard from others who had the traditional braces. The staff are very very nice and very accommodating to my schedule. Dr. Watanabe is very patient when explaining all the details to me when I have questions. Absolutely love this orthodontist!!!

Our daughter has been a patient of Dr. Watanabe for over a year now. She had the Damon system braces put on, and the results are excellent. I did a lot of research on braces systems that are out there because I had a horrible experience with my own braces growing up. Damon system does not do extractions, and there is very little discomfort with putting the braces on and movement of the teeth. It is really great.
The only reason I gave four stars instead of five is that I do believe there is some room for improvement. While I understand orthodontia is an art, and the doctors are artists of sorts, they also need to be humanitarians. Our daughter is very emotionally sensitive, but the Doctor is not warm and fuzzy — at all. He does not have much patience with tears and drama, and yet the majority of his patients are adolescents whose bodies and minds are changing dramatically. Getting braces is just one more physical detriment to their self-​image, and not knowing how much longer they have to wear them or being given hope that their braces will come off and then they don’t is very tumultuous for these kids. I think he could use some work on his «bedside manner» and develop a little more empathy.
If I was rating just the quality of his results, I would give five stars.

In my early 20’s, I had a consultation with another orthodontist who told me he could not put braces on me without breaking my jaw to reallign it. Well, that scared me to death and I just let the dream of braces fade away. Then my neice got braces from Dr. Watanabe, and she looked so pretty, that I thought what the heck. Let’s see what he has to say. Wow, what a difference.
At age 30, I had braces put on. No surgery, no broken jaw. My teeth look great, and I couldn’t be happier. I was told what to expect, what the cost would be, the time it would take, etc., and Dr. Watanabe kept to his word.
My older son also sees Dr. Watanabe. He has gone through phase 1, and we are waiting for all his adult teeth to come in for phase 2. While waiting for his teeth to come in (very slow), my son has regular check ups at no additional cost, and he is always greeted with a smile and they happily check his teeth (this is going on 3 years of waiting for those stubborn adult teeth — yes, they are that patient waiting for all his adult teeth to come in.)
During one check up, my younger son went with us, and voluntarily without cost, they ask if I wanted to have my younger son x-​rayed and examined. They did not expect any commitment from us for my younger son. Just great service.
You won’t find any fancy gadgets for kids or video games or anything like that, but if you are looking for a great orthodontist and very knowledgeable staff, this is your place.
They are great — the whole office.