Walnut Creek Pediatric Dentistry

Dr Jeffrey is amazing with my 5 year old son. I cannot recommend her or her team enough! We were referred to her by another dentist (not a pediatric specialist) when he discovered cavities (parent fail). She is so good with kids, funny and really nice! The practice is definitely geared toward children and they make sure that the experience is not scary or painful. They play movies during the procedures for distraction. They also give out balloons and little toys at the end of the appt. My son likes going to the dentist! I also have to say that the hygienists are wonderful, too. Crystal did his cleaning and she was so sweet and comforting. The front desk staff are friendly and responsive. I was so concerned that my kids would dread going to the dentist, but they really don’t mind it at all!

I can not say enough nice things about the entire staff at this office. I was overwhelmed and flaked on the date of my appointment, showing up with my 3 and 4 year old on the WRONG day for their check-​ups. Wow. Their office was beyond accommodating, and they were able to get them both in the be seen so I did not have to bring them back another day. I could not believe it. I work full time, so re-​arranging schedules and pulling them out of pre-​school would have been rough, and they were so great to squeeze them in and make it all happen.
My kids go nuts for all of the treats and goodies there, and the hygienists are really great with the kids. The lovely front desk woman even brought me a cup of coffee to sip on during my kids’ cleanings, I think she saw how frazzled I was– could not believe it! I usually see Dr. Schaffer, who is very warm and nice with me and the kids. Love this place, happy to have found it.

Thank you SOO much for taking my son in last minute!
My kids love this place. Love the new decoration! Nice and friendly staff!

Regarding Dr Jaffray.
After running into yet another friend with a horror story about this dentist my wife and I decided we had to put a review up. I use Unilocal and appreciate being able to hear others opinions about a business I’m considering. Due to Unilocal policies I cannot relay our friends stories but they are disturbing.
For our story, we walked out with our young 7 year old daughter and a recommendation for everything from multiple extractions to root canals and all with child general anesthesia. Incredulous, we then took her to our dentist iwho filled one cavity and changed our toothpaste to one containing Xylitol. More than a year later we returned. Our dentist filled the single other cavity she saw the previous year that she had recommended we simply watch.
Two simple fillings in two years or general anesthesia, discomfort and risks. We are so happy we did not go back to Dr Jaffray.
This is opportunist medicine and while adults have had to watch out for this practice for a bit longer this seems more recent for children. It makes sense that unscrupulous business people of many disciplines are pushing unnecessary services but pediatric dentistry is where I draw a line.
Take care of your kids and stay far away from his place.

This dental office is not professional and I don’t recommend this place.
I’m very sorry that I started to take my child here for her dental care in the first place. I should have put more time and effort finding a more caring dental care service for my family,
Will not be back.

I love this place! And, so does my almost 5 year old. The staff, from the receptionists, to the techs, to the dentists are so great. They are warm, welcoming and great at what they do. My son loves going to the dentist, where he can lounge back in his chair, watch a movie and get his teeth «tickled.» At the end, he gets a balloon of his color choice, a toy and a handy dandy bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and rinse. I wish I had a dentist’s office like this when I was a kid… Big kudos to Nazia, the sweetest tech there.

We’ve been going here for the last few years — and I currently drive from Oakland to go here. I have three kiddos and the staff always does their best to schedule the appointments at the same time when possible. My older children look forward to their scheduled appointments so much they count down as it gets closer.
My little guy is very nervous about noises and had a hard time — and instead of trying to force him to get his cavity fixed they pushed the appointment back until we came up with a better game plan. They did everything in their power to make sure that he was as calm as he could be. We’ve seen Dr. Jaffrey and Dr. Zahara and both were professional and kind to the children.
I also don’t have dental insurance and unlike other offices I’ve been to, the staff has not only gave me advice (told me about CareCredit) but also are upfront about any and all charges and won’t move forward with x-​rays until they know that it’s within my budget. I never feel like they’re looking down on me — which has happened at other doctor offices. They get that life happens and we all move forward.

LOVE these people! We moved to Antioch and STILL drive all the way back through Hwy 4 traffic to keep our dentist! Thanks for always being so kind and thoughtful!
:) HG

The staff there is always friendly and wonderful. We have been going to Dr. Zahra (spelling?) and she is wonderful!!! She takes the time to talk to you, and also on a personal level too. They were very clear up front with any extra charges, and asked for me to authorize before doing any work on the kids.

I love everyone at W.C. Pediatric. They are all so warm and friendly and they always make me and my kids feel like we are their favorite clients, always! My daughter needed some cavities filled and she was only 3 at the time, our dentist actually sent us to a pedi dentist in Pleasant Hill and it was horrible. They wanted to put her under general anesthesia and cap all her front teeth and charge me over $ 3,000.00 because we didn’t have dental insurance. I left in tears and that is when my sister referred me to Walnut Creek. They never even suggested putting her under, they fixed her front tooth without capping any of her teeth and charged me maybe around $ 200. I think, it was awhile ago. My kids are now 5 and 9. I love how patient and sweet they are with the kids!!!

Wonderful staff, so friendly and patient. I am very impressed with this office and they work hard to make you feel appreciated as a patient. The office is full of child-​friendly décor that make children feel very comfortable. They send out reminders via email and text which are so helpful, in case appointment cards are misplaced. The dentists and hygienists are efficient and very thorough. I would recommend this office to anyone looking for a pediatric dentist

It appears that they have been kind enough not to charge us for the aforementioned visit which is greatly appreciated. I think I was checked-​in by a person new to the office and thus slipped through the net. Mistakes happen and it is how you deal with them that really counts and it seems that WCPD have shown integrity. Appreciated.

I love the office itself and especially the people here. My kids love coming and the billing has been very straightforward for us. My 4 year old daughter actually wanted to have another cavity, the «filling experience» was that good for her.

This dental office is very unprofessional. Apparently Dr. Jaffrey is upset over the breakup of the dental partnership and is holding a grudge. Dr. Spencer, her former partner, moved to a location accross the street. My babysitter was lost and could not locate Dr. Spencer’s new location. When we asked Dr. Jaffrey’s staff for the whereabouts of Dr. Spencer’s office, she claimed she didn’t know, all the while laughing. This petty behavior is very unbecoming of a professional office.

The billing practices here are more than questionable. It has come to my attention my insurance company was billed for services not provided. When I contacted the office, I was told the matter would be looked into. Dr Jaffrey called me personally and offered to remove the patient portion of the bill. I asked that she also contact my insurance company and let them know that those services were not rendered and should not have been paid. She said she would not do that as she wanted to keep the insurance company out of it.

Love it here! They are very accomodating in regards to appointment scheduling, their office is cute and modern, and the staff and Drs are very friendly/​gentle with the little ones :).

We moved into the area and our neighbors recommended Dr. Jaffrey. We are so lucky we found a great dentist. Her staff is wonderful, professional, considerate and very accomodating and very gentle with the children. Dr. Jaffrey is very thorough and great with my kids.
My children love going to see Dr. Jaffrey and actually remember the date of their next appointment!

Edited on December 10, 2010 to add:
I received a call from the office to try to rectify the situation. The woman was very polite and tried to explain situation, mentioning that there was a change in partnership 4 days prior to my visit. They offered to have me come back and try to fix this. I do appreciate the sentiment, but we’ve already moved on to a different office. They also informed me that my insurance was not charged, so that’s a good thing. I’m raising my rating of 2 stars to 3 stars for their effort in contacting me.
I stand by my review and I want to reiterate that there are great receptionists and dental hygienists at the practice.
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Original review:
We’ve been to this office three times, and after a negative experience today, we’ve decided not to return.
Let me start with the good stuff. Friendly receptionists and great dental hygienists. They really do a good job with the kids. It’s a cute place with lots of prizes for the kids (balloons, stickers, toys, etc.) Until today, I was honestly raving about this place.
Today we saw Dr. Jaffrey directly, instead of working with the hygienists. My 3-​year-​old started crying as she often does at dentist and doctor appts. Usually the hygienists can calm her down enough to look at her teeth, but Dr. Jaffrey told my daughter that if she didn’t stop crying, she was going to make me leave the room. This only made my daughter cry more. I had my baby with me (strapped into a carrier) which I was told at the last appointment was acceptable. In fact, at the last appointment I was encouraged to bring him along. Not today. I was told not to return unless I left him with a babysitter. Then we were told to reschedule and shown the door before she even looked at my daughter’s teeth. I sincerely hope my insurance is not charged for this fiasco.
For a pediatric dentist, I expect better. She should know how to work with kids and know that threatening to make Mommy leave the room is just going to scare an already worked up child. One star for the kid-​friendly set-​up, and one star for the awesome hygienists that I hate to leave.

We were referred here by a friend at Preschool. I am one of «those» moms… and loved that I was able to go back with my little guy and watch. The hygienist greeted us and took us through the «prize» room, showing off all the goodies they have for when your done.
She took him over to the chair, but didn’t ask him to sit down right away. She first put on a movie that he loves, then started showing him all the different things they use to clean your teeth and how they worked. She allowed him to «touch» the electric brush/​polisher and push the peddles to make it go. No rushing… took her time with him.
He finally was asked to sit in the chair… he was eager by now!
She was able to clean his teeth, floss, and do the fluoride treatment. She was able to get «pictures» off his teeth) X rays.
When she was done Dr. Jaffery came in and did some cleaning, checking etc…
He was given a great report!
WONDERFUL place… the people were great from when we signed in, to when we left!
A VERY pleasant experience for me and my little guy!!!
We do not have dental insurance… and this place was about $ 50-​$ 100 cheaper than others that I looked into for the same service.

I chose this place because someone referred me, and at first everything seemed okay. My 2 year old needed extensive work done on her teeth, and she needed to undergo general anesthesia. While she was already administered a drug to knock her out, the dentist informed us the work that needed to be done was going to be over twice as much as the original estimate, and a large portion wouldn’t be covered by our dental insurance. Since she was already knocked out, we didn’t want to subject her to the process again, so we went ahead with everything. But their billing practices are highly UNETHICAL, I would never go back again and I tell everyone I know not to go there.