Total Health Dental Care - Old Oakland Office on Broadway, Oakland

This has been my primary dental office for 5 years, and I would come to this office forever - despite other offices being closet to where I lived - just for Nyasha and Austin. Nyasha takes care of everyone who walks through that door like family, and Austin adapts to each client to make them feel comfortable. I come away knowing my teeth are thoroughly clean and on top of that I feel seen, heard, and valued. Dr. Shah has also improved over the years, his results have always been good, but he used to have a tendency to barely look at patients (I get it, it's busy a lot). I suspect he's gotten feedback (and listened to it!) because the experience lately has been much better!

Been debating about posting my experience for some time, and only doing it after sharing my experience with another dentist and hearing their side. Came in about 4 years ago for a crown on a back molar that lasted less than a year. At the time the crown broke I didn’t have insurance anymore and so I went to emergency clinic at UCSF. Faculty took less than a minute to tell me this crown should have never been put in with the material it was (probably composite?). They try to get me a temporary fix while I get back on insurance. Two months before my insurance was going to kick in the temporary fix breaks and I go to another dentist and explain the situation. They actually know the dentist at this office and they tell me that I should come back here to have it fixed, and that it should be done for free, as it wouldn’t hurt this dentist anything to do so, and it was flawed work to begin with. So I make an appointment. During that appointment I’m basically told the crown will need to be replaced and I’ll need to pay about ~$1400 to do so. Dr. Shaw recommends a zirconium crown this time (duh, should’ve been from the beginning). I have no real choice at this point so I do it, as it will cost about $2400 anywhere else (out of pocket). As we are getting ready for the procedure he asks if I want the composite or the zirconium. I thought we had decided on the zirconium? Anyways, good luck y’all. May we all have better dental insurance in this country one day.

My partner and I have been going to THDC for a few years now, and they’ve been really outstanding. Kat and Austin do very good cleanings, and Dr. Shah has earned my trust after my previous dentist had lost it with some costly, avoidable missteps. Best dentist I’ve had in a long time, and I’d definitely recommend them.

I am leaving this review mainly to highlight that at this juncture in time, human interaction is vastly superior to the AI-agent experience. The level of dental care I receive at THD is superlative, and I am a big fan of their newer hygienist, Shane. THD seems to be experimenting with rolling out AI agents for helping with customer service. I thought last week that I needed to reschedule my appointment and I made a call to do so. I was connected to an AI agent (and was told this was the case). It felt impersonal. More critically, the second I realized I made a mistake and that the objective of my call had shifted, the agent could not keep up and starting hallucinating. I had to hang up. It was a waste of my time. By contrast, the human receptionists at the Old Oakland office are treasures and I much prefer to interact with them. Connecting with them upon arriving makes me feel valued and sets me at ease. There is an exchange of oxytocin that I feel is *essential* to the visit. I do not want them losing their work to AI agents. If *they* feel the need to automate some of their work, I would recommend that the office use a web platform to allow patients to manage their scheduling, like janeapp. AI is cool and all that, but businesses like THD will suffer if they sacrifice human connectivity as a result, and do the community a disservice if they do less local hiring as a result.

It is sometimes hard to find a good dentist who cares about their patients. I find that Dr. Shah and the staff at Total Health Dental Care in Old Oakland is one such group. He takes the time to explain what is best for his patients and helps them the best way he can.