Forbes James,DDS

Dr. Forbes has incredibly deft hands. As his patient for over 25 years, I continue to be impressed by his absolute ease and assured manner. He is a *VERY* good dentist.

Review is for his daughter, Dr. Kristen Forbes. Best dentist ever, no joke! Dental perfection at it’s best. Thank you so much! You rock! Can’t wait to come back! (who says that? lol)

Today was my first visit to Dr. Forbes’ office, to have a back tooth pulled. I like Dr. Forbes and his staff! Everyone was courteous, friendly, and knowledgeable. And with many years of professional care, they all did a great job. I now have a new dentist!

Honestly, the Albany office is totally out of my way now, but I will make it work! Dr. Forbes is super knowledgeable, fast, efficient, and dare I say, painless.
I have gotten 6 silver fillings removed and replaced with porcelain and one chipped tooth repaired. I have also had several cleanings by him or the hygienist.
All encounters have been consistently above average.
I have never waited forever in the waiting room.
I have never been suck in a dental chair with a numb mouth wondering when someone will get to me.
I used to think I was especially immune to novocaine, dental work always hurt, no matter what. Dr. Forbes hits the nerve every time, I never feel ANYTHING. I have never had to replace any work he has done on me. I can’t sing enough of his praises.
To the review about missing appointments, I have missed appointments too, and never encountered anything like that. I have been going to Dr. Forbes consistently since 2009 and he also sees my son, who is 11 and has a funny thing about his mouth.
He likes Dr. Forbes just fine, but hates getting x-​rays. If you are considering him, do yourself a favor and go!

I saw Dr Forbes for several years and am overall pleased with the service with one exception — they still use mercury fillings and I forgot to tell them I didn’t want them — alas, I now have a mercury filling that I’m going to get removed at great cost. Mercury is treated as a hazardous waste before and after it is in your mouth, but the ADA says it’s safe once it’s in your mouth — that absurd! What else can they say? I’ve changed to a mercury free dentist. I truly hope Dr Forbes will become mercury free — it is bad for the environment if nothing else.

Not sure how I should have dealt with the revised star rating but Dr Forbes just broke my heart.
He’s still a fantastic dentist but I’ve been 86ed from the place and it was a pretty traumatic ordeal for me. I missed 4 appointments in 2 months. I get it, (seriously, couldn’t be avoided… just really bad luck) but the way they handled it was just awful. Brought me right back to getting in trouble with teacher. Super shitty feeling.
I received a letter basically stating that I couldn’t miss anymore appointments or he would stop seeing me. I just called to make an appointment and was told that he wasn’t seeing me anymore. Very awkward. The receptionist read through the letter and agreed that it didn’t say I was being «terminated» so she put me on hold to ask him, came back and gave me the shitty news.
Probably wouldn’t be such a big deal if I hadn’t been seeing him since I was 15.

Most folks don’t know this, but us cowboys aren’t known for having the best teeth.
Because I wash down my cigars and whisky with chewing tobacco and I pick my teeth with cactus spines, going to the dentist can be scary!
So when I need to saddle-​up and head to the dentist, I head to Dr. Forbes.
The staff and facility are both awesome and Dr. Forbes is a pro. I never reckoned a dentist could be ‘quick and painless’, but this guy is as quick and painless as my old dentist, Doc Holiday. An entire check-​up and cleaning in 45 minutes left this old cowboy enough time to flirt with the pretty ladies.

I had a great dentist in San Pablo, but when I changed jobs, they didn’t take the new insurance (though I would otherwise heartily recommend them as well). I then tried a couple of local dentists who were just okay, and then I found Doctor Forbes.
Every hygenist that I have had there has been top notch, but that’s the easy stuff. In 2009, I was in an accident that required reconstruction. Doctor Forbes was very clear about what needed to be done, and refered me to excellent specialists for some of the details. I am very happy with the outcome of the work, and nobody can tell the difference between the crown and the real thing.
Sadly, my new insurance company put this practice through hell and back (it has taken a full two years to get that mess resolved due to no fault of Doctor Forbes’ nice staff), and while the staff kept me up to date on that end, they never hinted that they wished that I hadn’t shown up with this loser insurance company.
Oh, for those of you who went there in the past and found the waiting room to only be four stars (it really doesn’t matter to me), well, they did a major remodeling job, and it is now five stars. There is even a nifty elevator for wheelchairs.

My entire family goes to Dr. Forbes. He has a great, gentle manner and personality and I trust his knowledge about everything related to dental care. My two kids, ages 5 and 8, also feel comfortable with him. I take them here instead of a pediatric dentist because I couldn’t find a local one that I like. I love all the hygenists, esp. Sue, she is gentle and always give me new advice when I see her every six months. Their office staff is also nice and helpful and they have even managed to fit me in quickly when my kids or I have had teeth pain. Parking is a pain sometimes but I always manage to find parking on Solano.

Best dentist by far. He is the only dentist I will trust to num my mouth so I don’t feel any pain. Went to dr. Lee once and she did not listen to me when I was screaming that I could feel her drilling. Kathy (receptionist)is awesome! Ive been going here for years and now take my son to see Dr. Forbes.

Unfortunately I can’t comment much on Dr. Forbes work because I didn’t need any work done — just x rays, cleaning and exam. However, the dental hygienist was not good. She couldn’t make the full mouth x ray (panex) line up properly so I had to repeat the x ray and absorb the extra radiation. Teeth cleaning was similarly one of the least thorough. The office is a bit like a mobile home and parking on Solano Ave. is a bit of a hassle.

The dental assistance are very thorough in their cleanings, which is a nice touch. I didn’t get an instant request to get fillings, which was heartening.
The entrance is a little confusing because it’s an office of three or four dentists sharing receptionists.