Bright Smiles Children's Dentistry

Negative experience: No room for two parents to go in so was forced to sit in the waiting room listening to my son cry. Won't be going here again

Fantastic experience: Was there today for my 6 year old girl getting a tooth removed and the staff we saw were so kind and professional this eased my worries as a mum My wee girl felt comfortable being able to watch Moana during her time at this dentist today Thankyou for making this experience pieceful for myself and my wee girl

Fantastic experience: 5 star for the whole experience. Both Dr Callum and lovely assistant created a welcoming and calming environment for my 3.5 year old. Dr Callum was great at giving us options based on his clinical expertise without putting any pressure to follow his recommendation. The clinic is very well equipped for treating little kids and an addition of TV on the ceiling and wireless mufflers definitely help to relax little one. I would highly recommend this practice and Dr Callumfor little ones. Additionally, amazing receptionist helped to fix the ACC form mistake. Thank you for the amazing visit.

Negative experience: Went to take my daughter this is the second time I have taken her to this dentist practice. They have refused to give her dental treatment and have put us on the public hospital. The female dentist I seen today was patronising and didnt listen to my concerns for my child she has not been able to eat due to pain she also has an abscess. Her tooth is acc covered and also she is 2. They spoke to me about paying $4000 to put her under anaesthetic to get her tooth fixed. Prior to the appointment the receptionist called me to let know that they have a different dentiemst seeing my daughter and most likely won't do surgery on her today because there will be requirements that she will need to obtain. I wouldn't reccomened this dentist practice it is a waste of time. I will be making a formal complaint to the dhb as while.

Negative experience: So surprised Joanna is a pediatric dentist. She has no patience and goes not have and understanding or empathy for anxious and Neuro divergent children. She is rude and harsh . Ellen is slightly better but no way I would let them work on my children. Do not recommend if you have children with additional needs.

Negative experience: I give this dental clinic a 0 star rating. After reading through the reviews the way I felt for my grandson was confirmed. Omg do you people have no compassion towards your patients. Especially when dealing with children. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDREN HERE! Thank Goodness Strafford dental clinic are more friendly from beginning to the end. And I must say they allow fo support to be with you. And have a way smaller reception. And the vibrating vibrator wnas not comforting for my grandson at all. And if you had read your files you would have found you removed the tooth u said was taken out else where adamantly. Rude! Suggestions to better your clinic all staff take note the client is always right. Customer service skills needed!: Or you need to be shut down!

Negative experience: Wouldn’t recommend Joanna Pedlow. Super unprofessional, patronising and not the overall experience you want to give your children (unless your interested in creating anxiety around dental visits.). As a Senior “Dr” you would think compassion, patience and care would be priority in such an industry to which Joanna lacks.

Negative experience: While getting an appointment for my son I clearly enquired whether there would be a charge, they said it would be covered by community dental. While being there, without any intimation of any payments they simply did a cleaning for my child and charged 92$ !! When I asked about it at the counter the lady said it's free only if referred by community. They could have let me know if so, rather than making an appointment. Being a single mom, managing that 92$ all of a sudden seemed a bit harsh on me !!

Fantastic experience: まずメールの返信が速く、知りたい情報を正確に教えてくれるので、とても助かりました。プライマリーとプリスクールの子供2人に、チェックとクリーニングを受けました。ほぼ予約時間通り案内されました。ドクター、他スタッフの方々計3名とコミュニケーションしましたが、どなたも感じが良かったです。久しぶりの歯科受診、ましてや初海外だったので、子供たちが拒否するかと構えていましたが、単なる気苦労でした。ドクターの落ち着いた口調と、無駄のないアクションで終始動かず良い子にしていました！

Negative experience: Dr Joanna is not dedicated, not flexible to handle at the request of the patient. Have an unhappy attitude When we asked the specific problem of the teeth, she didn't say the details, but just opened the x-ray for us to see for ourselves. she showed a very condescending attitude. I didn't agree with her brutal treatment and she said angrily: then take your child home. Why is a doctor so irresponsible? The doctor's task is to have multiple treatment options suitable for many conditions, and it is important to change to be flexible. She was too impatient and gentle, a necessary character of the doctor but she didn't. I never come back

Negative experience: The following is my correspondence with Brightsmiles Dentist after a recent appointment for my daughter. I believe in giving direct feedback for the opportunity to improve and reply. My initial email and their reply is below so you can make of it what you want. But we won't be going back. ============================= Some feedback from a simple dental checkup which did not go well for my daughter at 8:40 am on Wednesday 21 August. I am referring to her as ‘your Dentist’ because she never introduced herself so I don’t know her name. Your Dentist seemed in a rush, was loud and sticking to a script. So there was no patience, no listening and no compassion. When my daughter was reclined completely flat the Dentist wanted my daughter to rinse her mouth. The Dentist asked if my daughter could drink from a hose the Dentist put in her mouth. My daughter said she didn’t want this and pulled away but the Dentist suddenly and unexpectedly sprayed water from the hose directly inside my daughter's mouth. This caused significant distress since my daughter was lying flat and couldn’t swallow the water and it was up to me to get up and ask for a cup so my daughter could sit up and spit it out. My daughter said she didn’t want the water before the Dentist sprayed it and the fact that the Dentist did not offer for my daughter to sit up drink from a cup herself to rinse was disappointing. There is always more than one way to achieve anything, but this dentist seemed to be stuck in one track and one way of doing things. When my daughter was crying and in distress while taking photos of her teeth the Dentist and assistant were both asking loudly what was wrong which completely overwhelmed my daughter, so I had to stand up again and ask both of them to be quiet for a moment so I could give my daughter a chance to compose herself and tell us quietly what was actually wrong – which was that the light was bright in her eyes. The fact that I had to intervene twice when the Dentist was responding inappropriately to my daughter's distress was deeply disappointing. I understand there can sometimes be a need to keep going to get something done even when a child is protesting, but this seems like an overly aggressive approach when it wasn’t necessary. A real lack of understanding and inability to consider other options has led to a really negative experience for my daughter on what should have been a very simple check-up, and it does jeopardise our ability to get her to a dentist next time with potential consequences for her oral health going forward. We chose Brightsmiles due to the lovely calming demeanor of Helen, but it seems not all of your Dentists are as good with kids as she is. If we do come back can we insist we don’t have that same Dentist again please. Kind regards, Paul =============================================== Kia ora Paul Thank you for your email and I’m sorry to hear your daughter's appointment didn’t go as well as you were hoping. We are expecting Helen back from parental leave later this year and will make a note on her chart to ensure your daughter's next appointment is with her. I have reminded Dr Fei about introducing herself at the start of a consultation. Kind regards Joanna Dentist/Practice owner

Fantastic experience: My daughter had sedation and 2 fillings, shes 7 and very scared at dentists. Wow, what an easy experience today was. super lovely staff! The dentist and assistants were very kind and lovely to my daughter, and very professional working together. Then we even had help walking us to the car as I was carrying my daughter. Brilliant!!

Fantastic experience: Outstanding service from all staff, could not rate them highly enough! My daughter had work done under oral sedation due to her fear, she was treated with kindness and the procedure was done with no fuss at all. Thank you to everyone for making her experience such a positive one. We experienced incredible service from reception, nurses and the lovely dentists.

Negative experience: Poor service, racist staffs. Unprofessional service.

Fantastic experience: 我的儿子由家庭牙医转介绍过去，修补了四颗牙齿，优秀的华人牙医和友好的工作人员值得大家选择

Fantastic experience: They did great work for our 6yr old son. We were initially anxious and stressed, but they managed to make the whole experience as smooth as possible for us. The consultation was thorough and informative, and the communication was super-efficient. The treatment went very well and we are very happy with the outcome.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous with children

Negative experience: This is my first review as my experience with this dentistry was so catastrophic I wanted to share this with others to prevent other families having a similar encounter. The receptionist was lovely. Our experience with Joanna was unfortunately completely unacceptable. She was impatient, outright rude and unprofessional when questions were asked or treatment was questioned. Her comments in conversation were patronizing and condescending to a degree that I considered changing dentists from the first appointment. I continued with the treatment as I thought her lack of social skills would not hinder her professional work. Unfortunately I was proven wrong. My daughter had only made positive experiences with dentists until meeting Joanna and as such was not nervous or anxious but was calm and as relaxed as possible. Joanna was impatient to a degree my daughter got scared and despite numbing cream and anesthetic injection my daughter was in pain during treatment (which I understand should not happen). This led to Joanna becoming upset. I had previously raised concerns regarding the laughing gas as my daughter appeared to be impacted significantly. Joanna did not take my concerns seriously and brushed it off telling me she has treated thousands of children and what I say cannot be true. Joanna was only able to treat one tooth at a time with a delay of 3 weeks between treatments. She refused to complete the work and made a referral to the hospital or suggested we pay a couple of thousand of dollars to get the work done privately (or wait around a year through the hospital despite my daughter being in pain) At this stage I sought professional advise and changed dentist providers to halswell dentist clinic where all work was completed in one session in less than 1 hour. The dentist was friendly, child focused, patient and the complete opposite of Joanna. My encounter with Joanna was so disastrous that I was unable to attend further appointments without escalating the situation further. This is by far the worst and most unprofessional encounter I have had in my life. I wish I had gone to halswell dentist from the beginning.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic service from very caring and lovely staff. They made our child's dental emergency a quick and easy fix. I would recommend this dentistry to anyone with children

Negative experience: So disappointing how rude, unempathetic and uncaring this place is. The receptionists’ manners should have been a massive red flag when booking. This clinic believes they’re above the human rights standards of this country and can refuse medical attention to children whose parents have valid mask exemptions from the Ministry of Health. The txt came through the day before the appointment (on a Sunday) no indication given when booking with the rude receptionist that they had a policy of no exceptions for those unable for medical reasons to wear a mask. I replied on the same day letting them know I am unable to wear one and they canceled my appointment with absolutely no communication. I had to call and chase that up and find out that was the case. Again, receptionist was very curt and rude. No effort was made to work around their policy so the appointment could go ahead.

Negative experience: Extremely rude receptionist. Wouldn’t see my child without a mask in which I have a MEDICAL exemption from. Disgusting treatment of humans.

Fantastic experience: My son has seen Helen for sedation 3 or 4 times over the last few years. Helen goes out of her way to make him comfortable, and explain everything to him. While at 12 years old he still has high anxiety about dental procedures and hasn’t been successful getting treatment at the community dentist, he isn’t anxious about visiting Brightsmiles.

Negative experience: Soooo grumpy! Very unkind & no patience at all with children. Nightmare for both parent & child.

Negative experience: Probably my worst dentist experience ever, when treating with kids. Just wanting to do everything the quickest way without caring how a kid might feel. Will never come back here. Truly disappointed.

Negative experience: Very disappointed with this so called children dentistry service. From the receptionist to the two dental assistants, all are cold and have no empathy to little children whatsoever. We were rushed in and out the room and our young child was blamed for "not listening".

Negative experience: Unfortunately on our second visit the staff were incredibly rude and not at all sympathetic or understanding (15 month old patient). So disappointed as the dentist we saw on our first visit was amazing.

Fantastic experience: My son has ASD and the dentists were really kind and professional. Thank you very much for being such wonderful people that are caring and know their stuff!! I was impressed. Its not easy for people with ASD to go to the dentist (typically) and it can cause us mums and dad's allot of worry and stress!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I would tell any parent that is a little nervous about bringing your kids to the dentist to relax. These people know what they are doing. Also very strict re: COVID, which is very reassuring. :)

Negative experience: Unfortunately we had a terrible experience with this supposed “children’s dentist” in no way was this service child friendly, welcoming, engaging, easily accessible or worth the across town trip for. We have since received excellent care from another dental provider who was exceptional from start to finish and could not be faulted. I would highly recommend attending an alternative dental surgery as we did.

Fantastic experience: Just wanted to let you know how much we all appreciated the amazing service you have. Lucy, who visited you for the first time on 8 March, was totally relaxed throughout the consultation and came away feeling very happy and proud of herself - she absolutely HATES the sensation of brushing her teeth so to be told all was OK was a BIG relief. She has adopted the floss (and mouthwash) routine very well with the constant, but necessary reminders of course:-) Please let the dentist and staff who attended to Lucy during her visit know how happy and relieved she was. See you next year!

Fantastic experience: Very kind staff, made my daughter feel extremely comfortable and offered great advice. Thanks so much team!

Fantastic experience: Great team. Wonderful care.

Fantastic experience: They staff were absolutely beautiful to deal with. Very kind and made my daughter feel very comfortable. Went there today at 9am 08/03/2021 recommended to anyone who has children. My daughter Lyshia LOVED her dentist Helen. Thank you team =) Do not let the other negative reviews put you off they were very lovely people from the front counter to the dentist

Negative experience: I would rather give O stars!! Considering they advertise themselves as a children's dentist I think the dentist Joanna was impatient and condescending!! she complained about my 5 year old boy not stay still due to nervous (his first time visit and had no experience ever before). It was absolutely normal for this age kids to act this way!! Although the treatment finally succeeded, they refused to see my boy again for another decayed teeth due to spending too much time to comforting him. They only want to treat easy patient so do not call yourself Children's Dentistry!! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO PARENTS HAVE YOUNG KIDS TO GO THERE!! VEYR DISAPPOINTED!!

Fantastic experience: Absolutely amazing place. The lady's were amazing with my 4 year old who had hurt this front teeth at pre school. They had great child interaction and explained everything very clearly. Thank you ☺️

Negative experience: Considering they advertise themselves as a children's dentist i think the dentist my son had this morning was not very competent at interaction with young people. She was impatient and condescending.

Fantastic experience: I am beyond happy with the service my daughter got today she got her tooth pulled out and the ladies wur amazing soo nice soo good to my daughter made her feel not scared and stressed. Thank you so much

Negative experience: Worst experience ever，the dentist showing no professional work at all, with no patience，won't recommend anyone for this place, it's my son's nightmare.

Fantastic experience: A very skilled and empathetic staff team which is apparent from the moment you walk in. My son had two very painful procedures within one week of each other and I cannot believe how well he coped. This was due to the friendly staff and the awesome distraction tools they use. I only wish I'd been there as a kid!

Fantastic experience: I have been coming here since I was young and have always received nothing but excellent, fast and friendly service. Would recommend.

Fantastic experience: I only moved to New Zealand 2 weeks ago, and I had a skin tag in my lower lip so the hospital suggested me to visit a doctor. Very friendly dentist and nurse! Thank you so much for the sunglasses and the movie on the wall. Quick, great, easier for me to move on!