Visalia Family Dentistry

I was not too happy with my dental visit. It took almost 45 minutes for the receptionist to find my insurance, and the whole time she was fussing about how hard it is to look up someone with Jose as their first name. After that, I was seen very quickly, and Dr. Antolin is nice enough, but I don't like how he cleaned my teeth. He started with the polish, and the dental tool he used was mechanic, so it made a terrible whirring sound while he cleaned my front teeth. All of my teeth were not cleaned, and the assistant only flossed my back molars, which I could have done at home. The receptionist had disappeared when I was done, and I waited 15 minutes before giving up and leaving because I was already late for my other appointments.

Overall, I've had worse experiences, but I am definitely not going back, and I am not recommending this place to a person who cares about having clean teeth.

After my long-time dentist passed away I found my gums were a disaster. The dentist I consulted next said I had three options: do nothing, use a hygienist to clean the teeth, not recommended, or have laser surgery at a cost of $4,000. An estimate from a periodontist was $4,500 to $5,500.



I was getting desperate. My gums looked red and angry, bled every time I brushed, and chewing was painful. My son recommended Dr. Antolin who had fitted him with dentures in the past which he is very happy with.



In desperation I just showed up at Visalia Family Dentistry without an appointment and Dr. Antolin kindly made room for me, diagnosed my problem, ordered antibiotics and scheduled a deep cleaning. The deep cleaning was done using a local anesthetic (Novocaine) and was virtually painless. I was then fitted with Perio Protect http://www.perioprotect.com dental trays which allowed local application of medications directly to the teeth and gums.



After about a month using the trays at home the infection was GONE!.. My gums shrunk to normal size, the depth of the pockets went to ZERO and my teeth were firmly attached to the gums. THE TREATMENT WORKED!..



Dr. Antolin is THE BEST dentist I ever went to and I am 72-years old which means I have gone to a few. He saved my teeth without surgery and the total cost including a filling and an extraction was less than $2,500.



The staff is wonderful. Everyone is professional, polite, pleasant and empathetic. Most of them are members of his immediate family. The facility is immaculate. Newly built, has excellent parking and direct access from a main street. The waiting area is open and pleasant and has a bathroom available.



The interior is elegantly furnished with dental equipment discretely hidden away to be made available as needed giving the place an uncluttered appearance. I found the pricing comparable to that of other dentists in the area, and Dr. Antolin never pushed any unnecessary procedures or products, always explaining what we were doing and why. Great doctor, good communicator..