Sellwood Dental

I recently moved to Sellwood and chose this dentist based solely on my ability to walk to the office (big fan of supporting local businesses). The staff was incredibly friendly, emailing me all necessary forms before my appointment and working with my former dentist to transfer xrays and all relevant information.
I had my first visit today and was extremely happy with the service. Dr. Rodriguez is very informal (and does perhaps use «dude» too liberally) but I appreciated it. A chill dentist makes for a relaxing visit as far as I’m concerned. Most importantly, Dr. Rodriguez explained every aspect of my dental care plan of attack (regular cleanings was the extent of it) and maintained a nice balance between humorous banter and professional instruction.
Some might find him brutally honest. He is. But I appreciate that. My insurance has a limit and I prefer to know bluntly how I should spend those funds and what I need to be doing better when it comes to my dental hygiene. Being told I need to floss more or have a potential cavity forming is not off-​putting to me; it’s valid – no need to whisper it for discretion.
My cleaning also went extremely well. I was thrilled to get a new flossing tool because I fully admit flossing is the worst. It makes my fingers hurt and it’s pretty awkward stuffing my fingers in my mouth to access my back teeth. No excuses… they hooked me up with a tool that should make flossing do-​able.
My chompers are sparkling today, which is great because I’m a happy, smiling client.

Love Sellwood dentist, they are the best dentist and office I’ve been too. I see Jen for cleaning and she is by far the best hygienist I have seen. She’s even got me to floss everyday! I have been searching for a good dentist and office for a while and this is it! I took my child there at first but she needed more care and Dr. Rodriguez recommend a wonderful pediatric dentist for her. I go there because a friend recommend them and now my mother in law goes there too and she’s been very happy. If you want a good overall dentist and office to go to it does not get better then this!

My wife and I have been going to Sellwood Dental for four years and have NEVER had even the remotest hint of the problems Jennie R. claims to have had. We’ve had cleanings, x-​rays, fillings and crowns during this time, and have always been treated with warmth and professional service by the doctor and his staff. While Doctor Rodriguez is very friendly and somewhat informal, this should not be mistaken for lack of skill, as he is a professional and knowledgeable dentist. We’ve never had a problem getting in on short notice for emergencies and I highly recommend him and his staff.

Worst dental visit of my life!
I went to Sellwood Dental as their office is close to mine, several of my co-​workers go there, and it was easy for me to sneak out of work for an hour for an appointment. I will NEVER go back!
I am originally from NY, and I had some dental work done back home before I moved here. Recently, I have been having some pain around the site of the two crowns I had put in, so I thought I should get myself established with a new dentist in case the issue turned into an emergency, and to also see if there was some sort of an infection that needed to be delt with; that happens when you have bridges that are difficult to floss. I also scheduled myself for my general cleaning that my insurance pays for once per year.
I arrived to the office on time, and the hygienist gets me right in and begins the typical intake paperwork that you need to deal with when you first see any sort of doctor. She was very nice, and was as quick as possible when it came to taking the X-​rays. She did seem like she was trying a little too hard to make me feel relaxed by calling me dude and being overly casual, but I appreciated what she was going for and just went with the flow.
Once my X-​rays were done Dr. Rodriguez came in to do the exam and look at the X-​rays, and his level of unprofessionalism was astounding! I told him about the pain that I was having around my crowns and that I was concerned that there was something wrong with them, and he proceeded to tell me that the entire course of dental work that I have had done over my life has been wrong, and that I NEEDED to have fillings on almost ALL of my bottom teeth and several on the top, along with implants at the site of all of my crowns because the work that had been done was (and I quote) «soooo bad, dude»! And of course, before he could even do implants I would have to allow his brother (the orthodontist) to put braces on me as my need to be in line before the implants are put in as they will be ruined by the shifting of my teeth otherwise. To make matters worse, they wouldn’t even do the general cleaning on me that I had asked for because he insisted that I needed a full perio scaling of my gums, which was going to cost me over $ 300.00 out of pocket. In the end, he gave me a written price quote for the course of treatment he was suggesting for me which totaled over $ 28,000.00, and sent me on my way without having cleaned my teeth and without having address the issue of a possible infection in my gums. I left his office furious, broken out in hives from stress, and practically in tears thinking that my teeth were going to fall out because they were in terrible shape and that I was going to be in debt for the rest of my life paying off the loans I was going to have to take out to pay for this!
Thankfully, after talking to my dentist back home that told me to get a second opinion, I went to Gentle Dental and they saved me. To begin, Sellwood Dental never sent them my X-​rays like they were supposed to, so Gentle Dental took new ones for me free of charge as my one set of x-​rays per year was wasted on the office in Sellwood. Then they did a full exam, and confirmed that there did seem to be a small bacterial infection in my gums at the crown site, that could easily be fixed with perio scaling ON ONLY THOSE TWO TEETH. Once I had that done, I could come back for my general cleaning and white composite fillings, all of which will only cost me a grand total of $ 356.00 out of pocket! And my new dentist made sure to tell me to call her if my gums start hurting again between now and my scaling appointment, and she will be happy to call in a scrip for me for an antibiotic.
All in all, I will never set foot inside Sellwood Dental again.

Located in a little yellow one story building right next door to the Sellwood Community Center, Sellwood Dental is pretty unassuming when you happen upon it. And inside, it stays pretty unassuming.
BUT, I live in the neighborhood and was looking for a new dentist that was easier to get to than my previous one (in Beaverton). So, I decided to give them a try.
A new consult takes 2 hours plus cleaning time. We had a little snafu during my first visit where I ended up waiting for 45 minutes with no word in between my exam and cleaning. When I finally asked when they might see me, they said it could be another hour. I grabbed my bag and said I couldn’t wait that long and walked out sans cleaning.
BUT, here’s where the story gets interesting. A few days later I get a personal letter from them, apologizing for the mishap and asking me to try their business again for my cleaning.
I called in the next day, got scheduled and walked right in for my appointment. The cleaning was thorough and fast. The dentist and dental assistant I met were nice. They tried a little too hard to be informal (kept calling me girlie and dude… um… am I 13 and a man?), but overall, I appreciated the effort they put forth to keep my business.