Jerome G Murphy Jr, DDS

Dr. Murphy has been taking care of my whole family for years and I’ve been impressed from the start with with his intelligent, conservative and evidence-​based approach to dental care. I especially like that he does not take unnecessary x-​rays. I highly recommend him.

today was our first meet n’ greet, so no work done yet, but he did tell me I don’t need the 2 fillings my last dentist diagnosed, so that made me very happy. He is a funny guy, seems like he can be a chatterbox – I waited for around 20 min. after my appt. time, and could hear him still talking with the person before me. He says he’s a very conservative dentist, which suits me just fine.
His office staff have been lovely so far – talked to his wife when I made the appt., she gave me a tip on how to deal with tooth sensitivity, and the receptionist came out and chatted with me while I waited. It’s the kind of place people can bring their dog, as the person before me did, and no one seems to mind. I like this place! We’ll see how the cleaning goes in July – my teeth are super-​sensitive, so that will be the test.

Terrific dentist and a terrific staff too — friendly, highly skilled, and welcoming. (Yes, Jon E. is correct that it’s an office full of characters; that’s part of the charm!) I’ve moved over a dozen times since college and never switched away from my hometown dentist, flying back to Nebraska every year for cleanings and hoping nothing bad happened in the meantime. No more; Dr. Murphy’s got my business from here on out. I will be staring at those trees outside his office ’til I’m 100.
My visits have all been of the clean-​and-​polish variety so far; on my first visit, they took the time to document every single tooth’s condition, and that meticulousness really shows in the quality of care I’ve gotten since. Yes, he’s a funny guy — and a kind one, gently steering this vain and overreacting patient away from talk of (unnecessary) veneers and toward smarter care for my essentially healthy teeth.
And if I could give six stars for my most recent visit, I would — not only did my most excellent hygienist do an incredible job of eradicating some relatively acute, very ugly staining, but they nailed the cause — I’d switched coffee-​brewing processes and was drinking an especially oily blend to boot. (And being a Seattle-​based office, no one said anything silly like «stop drinking so much coffee.» I appreciate that reality-​based approach.) The business office is smart and sane, and they don’t blink when changes need to be made to insurance and the like; like the visit itself, it’s all pain-​free. Utterly, utterly recommended.

With belt firmly over belly button, the Doc plays his calming-​nerdy role well, which is a nice touch on top of impeccable work. I’ve been a client for about 15 years (back when Jerome Jr. was still being mistaken for his dad’s dental practice), and a happy one.
My first experience was something of a group migration, when a couple of UW grad students recommended him. My friend K had been the (literal) victim of an unlicensed dentist as a youngster, and had numerous terribly-​done fillings and caps. After a little hemming and hawing, Dr Murphy was reassuring and came up with a rescue plan to repair the dozen+ problem teeth. A decade+ later, and everything he re-​did in K’s mouth is holding fast and relatively trouble-​free.
My own experience involved less drama, but the results have been excellent. In fact, my only complaints are that his perfectionism made it difficult to talk him out of doing a full cap for a split molar. He’d wanted to make it look & work just like it had before. Instead, he agreed to try a less-​invasive large filling, and only do the grind-​and-​cap if it deteriorated further. I like that kind of flexibility, and it’s lasted very well.
My other minor complaint would be taken as a compliment by most others. My then-​wife had made an offhand teasing comment to him that I was a «nervous patient» …which resulted in several years of having to endure the 15min calm-​down-​the-​patient shtick. After a while he figured it out, though I suppose there are people who need it, and he does it well. Aside from the weirdly amusing and terrifying part-​time office manager who tracks down insurance problems, the whole experience has been seamless for years.

I can’t believe I’m writing a 5 star review for a dentist, but Dr. Murphy is indeed as good as it gets. I’ve been going to him for almost 12 years now, and have always experienced great service (despite changing jobs/​insurance many times over that period). Dr. Murphy’s the only doctor that I’ve seen consistently during that period, so that should tell you something.
It’s been easy to make appointments for the times I want, the billing process is simple/​fair and I feel that I’m getting good care (although I’ve been told that generally my oral health is pretty good — not many issues to deal with). Also, I’m not afraid of the dentist, but my wife definitely is. If she can survive a visit to Dr. Murphy, so can you.
Overall it’s just a small single-practitioner’s office, with friendly office staff (almost too cheerful to believe) and the hygenists that are pleasant conversationalists. It’s not going to win any award points for the décor, but I’m here a couple hours/​year, lounging in a chair staring at the acoustic tiled ceiling (or out the window into the trees), so who cares.
Dr. Murphy himself is a very calming presence with a good sense of humor (which is probably important if you’re drilling into people’s teeth and gums).
Highly recommended.