Terecita L Dean, DDS

My brother went to see her and he went through hell because she did not know what she was doing. She should stick to dental cleanings.

First time there today and the visit was a good. The staff was very friendly and a little fun. My teeth are not perfect, but not horrible neither. I just moved out here. Long as the visits and service stay the same I will definitely become a regular!

Gosh, where do I begin? Well I give this money grubber a negative 6 stars. I’ve lost count how many times they said I owed nothing and that my insurance covered all of it and then I would relieve a bill. They constantly sent my bills to my husband and vice versa and then rudely tell you they want their money. She was alway pushing her herbal quack treatments. Always saying that I needed work when I really didn’t. Second opinion dentist were appalled at her diagnosis. She would always schedule for cleanings every three months even though the insurance would only cover every six months and of course they would never inform you, you just had to figure it out when you got the stinking bill! I would have to say though the most annoying thing that always got on my nerves was when they continuously called me at my VERY BUSY place of work to remind me of my appointment when all they stinking had to do was leave a message on my voice mail. I repeatedly told them to quit doing this but they out right refused! Awful awful place. Now i know why the staff was continuously changing. Evidently it is a very unorganized place to work. I see a lot of reviews complain about billing mistakes. Unless you want grief avoid this office!

So I gave this place a try. The office is in a charming former Red Cross home/​building. When you walk up the stairs and open the door you are greeted by an overwhelming smell of what you smell around the holidays. Which is fine, but not to those who have awful allergies like myself. Also, the office has a thing for fake house plants. The counter girl was nice, a little standoffish, but I don’t take that personally. She warmed up as soon as I starting coughing and showed me to a room where I could fill out my paper work so that was super nice of her. My dental assistant was awesome, she answered all my questions but I found her to be nervous around me. Meeting Doctor Terecita went well. She is a nice person, and was super quick with me which maybe is both good and bad. I was told that I have an erosion due to grinding but I had to ask my dental assistant. Which hey, that stuff scares me when something is wrong. I just wished doctor Terecita told me right then and there (and not to the assistant) and explained what was going on to me. Maybe it was my appearance? I’m heavily tattooed and have experienced some abandonment when it comes to doctors and my appearance. It sucks. Maybe 2÷4÷15 was a busy day for her? She was already on another patient after I was leaving and wanting to speak with her. I’m supposed to get a call back for an appointment and talks of getting Invisaline, we’ll see if I get a home call. For now I’m kinda «meh» on my experience.

If I can leave no stars I would. This place is not a place where you would want to get anything done. I went here for my ortho and the receptionist didn’t charge my insurance 3 months later so I got charged full price when I didn’t have the insurance anymore. I’ve been seeing them since because I have my braces on already and everytime im here they give me such a hard time. Receptionist here is very rude and disrespectful. Always giving me attitude when I’m here. They never really did anything to my teeth. Sophia (she doesn’t work here anymore) did most of the work. Since she left I haven’t gotten any diff on my teeth. Everything looks the same. I’m currently stopping my visits with them and I couldn’t be more happy. Such a big load of stress of my shoulder.

it takes time for me to trust a dentist and when I first walked in I felt at peace. I had read reviews and up until getting a bill today did I realize what everyone was talking about. I went in for a check up and was told I needed new fillings (one had fallen out). The cost was about 2400 and my insurance took care of about 1200 they told me and that they could give me a payment plan. I was worried at first but thought «hey its been awhile since you saw the dentist so 1200 is worth the work». I signed and through three separate visits I went in and paid my balance (yay no balance… wrong). I went in on my final appointment (I made my final payment by phone prior to the final payment deadline due to an appointment I couldnt meet). They told me they recommended some health thing for me and were always nice and gave me vitamins. I got a letter maybe a month after my last payment stating my insurance owed the payment still but my balance was paid. Now about 1 ½ months after my last appointment I get a bill saying I owe 215 (not alot but thats the catch how does 0.00 balance become 215.00…its a pattern read the reviews). I am a fulltime worker and college student and money doesnt grow on trees and now I feel like these medical professionals we are told to trust are like used car salesmen who find one way or another to hike up your bill. Never returning again!!!

Before you have any work done with Dr. Dean please send me a private message.

If i could give her no stars, I would. I found her thru my insurance, didn’t check any Unilocal reviews. Just made my appointment and hoped for the best. After waiting like an hour, she finally looks at my teeth. She checks and cleans my teeth. Shen then tells me that I need a deep cleaning and a sonic toothbrush. She exolains to me that I have pockets in my gums and the deep cleaning will fix all pockets. Great!
I wasn’t happy with her as a dentist while I was there, so i check Unilocal to find a new dentist to do the deep cleaning. Find one, schedule appointment.
I go to my new dentist today. She checks my teeth while she waits for xrays. She checks all the pockets. She reads all these numbers to her assistant. 3,2, 5, 7 You get the picture. She finishes up, then tells me I have really bad gum diease. The deep cleaning won’t do anything to help. She refers me to a specialist and she tells me I need gum surgery. Im freaking out at this point. Wondering why my previous dentist wouldn’t tell me any of this information. What type of person would sugar coat something serious? I feel super taken advantage of. She is an evil ass person who is just money hungry. All the negative reviews on here are all true! Sorry for the long rant. I just wouldn’t want someone else to fall for it. Moral of the story, check your Unilocal reviews!

I had two fillings done by her last February. I started having complications within two weeks (intense pain from both fillings). She kept saying it was issues with the bite which she adjusted with no real success with 4 visits for the same complaint. One tooth now has an abscess that needs root canal and the other tooth just had a root canal today by a different endodontic specialist. I can understand how a dentist could misdiagnose one tooth in a day but TWO? I’ve been in agonizing pain for about a month and a half. When I called her this morning to get some of my money refunded to my insurance for the two previous fillings, she never once acknowledged that she may have misdiagnosed the two cavities. She was so defensive and egocentric about how she is a highly experienced dental provider, if that’s the case why would a patient be in pain for a month and a half? I asked her, if I were you and you were me, would you go back to your facility for further treatment? She said «YES». I would say that if you want to over pay, have billing issues and poor treatment done, by all means this is the one for you. I’m not a dentist nor educated in the realm of dentistry but I would say try to be a competent dentist before you add the flower arrangements in the office, a gold wig, gold lipstick, and your dog running around the practice.
**During a recent visit, she started drilling a known sensitive tooth without anesthesia. I can’t post the words that came out of my mouth in that moment. I was traumatized**

I erased my previous review because Terecita got her attorney to send me a letter. But after numerous people messaging me I figured i should speak up again about my experience. My wife went to Terecita a while back and in doing some molar work cause my wife to suffer pain and also made a huge gap between her molars that kept getting food stuck in there and also misaligned her teeth. We went to seek a second opinion from a really well known Dr. in Montclair. He was appalled by her work and proceeded to write her a letter telling her how her work was giving a bad reputation to the national dentist association. Our new dentist was on the board of the dental association and threatened to get her membership and licensed revoked if she didn’t refund the money my wife and I had paid her. Terecita finally admitted wrong after our new dentist kept harassing her and she finally reimbursed us. Please stay away. There are plenty of dentists out there.

I have been going to Dr Dean for off and on since I was like 8 years old (I’m 26 now) and she’s been great… I only give this place two stars because of the awful billing experience I had with her office and her staff. Terecita herself is a GREAT dentist and the women knows her stuff, she’s gentle and is all about using herbal stuff that actually works. You only see her if you have having major work done like cavities and things like that, for deep cleanings or regular cleanings you’ll usually see one of her assistants, which they are great too. Anyways on to why I had to give this place two stars…
I have always had insurance and I have never been billed for any services after the fact. I always pay upfront before I get the work done.
The lady that was working the billing department when I went is now fired because she was billing people wrong. I paid for my services and that was that well a year later they are billing 200 dollars saying that the lady that was working there billed be wrong. 200 dollars worth! Well I paid before I got the service and why did it take them a whole year for them to find out. I told them I wanted to see my receipts because I paid and I don’t believe that I would owe this much. They said it was up to me to find it because they don’t hold on to them. WHAT you mean to tell me Im supposed to hold on to receipts for OVER A YEAR because YOUR STAFF doesn’t know what there doing??? I told them how do I even know that she put the right coding in and when I look at the bill and see all the coding I don’t know what Im looking what, what if there adding sh**t on?!?
So now they’ve been sending me a bill since 2013 (service was done in 2012) and Im not paying it, The staff that I talk to about it was rude and they even wrote on the bill they mailed to me, and I quote «No one messed up on the billing, your insurance paid and you need to pay your half.» Uh excuse me I paid BEFORE I EVEN GOT THE SERVICE DONE! THATS HOW THE FREAKING OFFICE WORKS !! I HAD NO PAYMENT PLAN NO BILL ME LATER I PAY UP FRONT BEFORE ALL SERVICE IS DONE! and NOW YOU SAY I OWE YOU 200! AFTER YOU FIRE THE LADY WHO THEY TOLD ME MESSED UP ON THE BILLING!!! thats not my problem I paid and the service is already done. Sorry YOU didn’t train YOUR staff right you should not take it out on your patients.
So my advise if you go here make sure you save all receipts and you double check what you owe and what they are billing you for.

We went to Dr Dean for over 20 years. We trusted her with all of our teeth including braces and really loved and trusted her. That is until recently when she seemed to have fired most of her former staff including the woman that took care of billing and so all of a sudden over a year later we’re getting these huge bills in the mail which we never approved n the first place.
We talked to her about it and she’s done nothing to fix it so we are looking for a new dentist now.
Its really sad we followed her all the way from her original Castro office to Alameda and made the trek over the bridge to be a loyal patient.
She’s very lacking in her communication skills
She wears great wigs though.

I went in for a dental cleaning but she was forcing me to have certain exams done, totally unprofessional and somewhat scary.
I guess she just wanted to ding my insurance, event if for a little bit.
Besides, what a clown I encountered — a lady with yellow/​blonde colored hair and yellow/​gold lipstick wanting her hand in your mouth — she happens to be the DDS.
Oh, and the place is like a clown house too. I walked in and I was wondering if I mistakenly walked in to a florist shop. You would think it must be nice, but when you expect dental office and walk in there — it’s creepy.

With the caveat that I’ve only been a patient for a short time, I must say that my experience with Dr. Dean has been positive. Other reviews have noted the warm, flamboyant and welcoming atmosphere of the place, and while Dr. Dean herself is warm, friendly and attentive, her staff really make the difference.
Everyone (including the dog) always has a welcoming attitude and a willingness to help. I’ve never waited longer than 10 minutes to get helped, and so far, billing has not been a problem. Her staff are quite skilled (with the caveat again that I haven’t had anything complicated done), and are open to communication and discussion of needs.
I have not experienced the holistic sales pitch mentioned in some reviews. A dental hygienist suggested I pick up some products, but a polite declination was met with a simple, okay, just be sure to do all the usual stuff you need for your teeth.
However, the main reason I rated Dr. Dean so highly (and may even change it to a 5 star depending on how future visits go) was that I had some cavities filled recently. I came back later noting some issues with the filling (very minor ones, mind you– some of the filling was not perfectly smooth) at 6:20 pm. To my chagrin, I found that the office closed at 6. However, because the staff was still there, they welcomed me in and helped me, even sitting me down in a chair and making quick fixes.
That means a lot– flexibility in the rules to help patients. If that’s what you’re looking for, Dr. Dean’s office is quite the place to be.

I love Dr. Dean and her wonderful staff! The front desk staff are all SUPERB! The quality of service that you receive from the front office is just the tip. Then from the hygienist to the dental assistants, each and every one of them have been AMAZING! i LOVE THIS PLACE SERIOUSLY!
Let’s discuss a little of my dental history, I have always gripped the arms of the dental chairs and have always had an anxiety around going to the dentist. As a little child, I grew up always feeling threatened by the dentist. I always had nice, straight, white teeth to the point where people have told me that I am lying when I tell them I have never had my teeth whitened or braces.
I did have my share of cavities though! So this is where the terror comes in! I was always ready to squirm while the dentist comes at me with this large needle and it always felt like my mouth was being stabbed and lip being pulled and shook they pumped me with poison! lol! Ok, its was not that dreadful but that’s the way I felt!
I totally expected to feel this way with Dr. Dean. 100% different! I actually look forward to going to the doctor! I FALL ASLEEP IN HER CHAIR! That’s how relaxed she makes me feel! I had two (2) root canals done on separate occasions! When Dr. Dean administered the anesthetic, I just felt a pinch. Then I was waiting for all this pain to happen and when she said that she was done! I was like no way! Can’t be! I went to work and did NOT need to take my pain meds! WOW! So I was like maybe that was a fluke accident, but then I needed another one and sure enough I had the exact same experience! I SWEAR BY HER WORK!
She does it all! My daughter needed braces and she has done them and worked with me. I lost my job in June and she still saw my child and myself to complete the work.
She is the BUSINESS! Thank you!

As a dentist, Dr. Dean is very patient and gentle. She is mindful of the impact of the mouth on the whole health of the body. She is also very knowledgeable on the topic of sleep as well as the importance of oxygen levels in the bloodstream. Her personal philosophies on the subject of oxygen and restorative sleep are helping me to understand many of the underlying causes for issues I have had to take medicine for. Her office is very non traditional. It feels warm and homey. I prefer it to the sterile, cold environment often found in other clinical settings. Her costs do seem to be slightly more than I’ve seen in the past but I was also not getting quality dentistry either. Her work is beautiful and comfortable. If you choose to see Dr Dean, I recommend looking at all of your costs up front. The staff is very transparent with charges. They are also flexible with payments. Bottom line — I have never enjoyed a relationship with a dentist more than I do with her.

I’ve been a client of Dr. Dean’s for about about 12 years now. I and my three now adult sons have always found her to be professional, informative and no nonsense. How many 20 somethings do you know keep their dental appointments? My sons do. She did a fabulous job with my youngest son’s orthodontics. But she and her staff were at their best with my mom. My mom was in failing health with kidney disease. She had not seen a dentist in years and had two big holes in her teeth that anchored her denture partial. I took her to a dentist in a strip mall recommended by her health plan that treated her like crap and was charging almost $ 3K for root canals, new dentures, deep cleaning, etc.
I took her to Dr. Dean and everyone treated my mom like a queen. For a lady who was 82 years old, this was a big deal. Dr. Dean was able to do the x-​rays, root canals, re-​adjust the existing partial and do a deep cleaning in three visits and was a grand less. My mom was now able to eat without pain and gain back some of weight.
As a single mom to three sons, she always worked out a payment plan for the dental work I needed done (and it was a lot). this was before FSA was available through my employer.
The office is beautiful. The staff is friendly and diverse. She is involved with a youth organization call Kids on the Move.
Dr. Dean is wonderful. Anyone who can run such a professional business and still show up with make-​up in place and a designer suit that is never smudged gets high marks in my book.
Make an appointment, come by this beautiful converted mansion and say «hi» to Isiah when you come in.

I should have figured when I entered the reception that this place will milk anything out of me. Four secretaries and a lavish reception that will not shame any southern oil field owner. But this review is not about the décor.
I had expensive x-​rays done, after assuring me that they it’s going to be covered by my insurance and of course they were not. The Dr. concluded I needed a deep cleaning, meaning that the technician slacked and my teeth looked like they were never cleaned after quick 15 minute cleaning. And of course a recommended treatment of about 35 items.
Find someone who would treat you as a patient not a wallet.

Very nice facility, and nice staff. But she over charges and the work she does doesn’t seem to last very long. Not satisfied at all.

I’ve been going to Dr. Dean for over 10 years.
Excellent service. (Every business will try to up-​sell… That’s why it’s called a business)
Great staff.
Excellent dental work on my «chompers» and I used to be a sugar junkie!
Both locations are very nice. (business like in the city, and more casual atmosphere in Alameda)
Dr. Dean is highly recommended from this Unilocaler!