Jennifer D Terry, DDS

This is not a review of Dr. Terry’s dentistry skills, this is a review of her practice’s customer service.
I received a bill for a no show recently, and wanted to speak with someone about it. I cancelled my insurance months ago and must’ve forgotten to cancel my appointment. Since I am in a financial hardship, I called the office to see if there was anything they could do to help. When no one returned my call for a few days, I called and left another message. A week following that, I tried emailing them. Still nothing.
Since then I have been contacted, and apparently the receptionist was out for a week for a legitimate reason, but I’m wondering why her place was left temporarily unfilled.
Update: I appreciate being contacted by the owner as well to inform me more about what happened. Sounds like they just had a bad week. Thanks for clearing up the confusion on my end!

I always receive amazing dental care here. I never want to move because I don’t trust any other dentists!

Dr. Terry is a fantastic dentist and her staff is wonderful! The office is reliable, courteous, and helpful. Also, the office is very close to BART and very accessible. I moved to Oakland recently and I am so sad that I will have to find a new dentist because I know I will never find another dentist as good as Dr. Terry!

This review is very late, but I feel it’s important to write. I made an appointment to visit Dr. Terry based on the awesome Unilocal reviews. When I went in, they made me reschedule and said I had to do a deep cleaning instead and it would take more time. Ok, that’s understandable I guess. So I went for my appointment and Dr. Terry was really nice and made me feel comfortable. I had a problematic gumline/​tooth and her hygienist who did the actual cleaning slipped with her tool (whatever you call it) and further damaged the already compromised gum. One of my pet peeves is clumsy butterfinger hygienists. I tried to be forgiving, but, now comes the unforgivable part. Dr. Terry told me in her visual exam that I had some tooth decay, but then after my appointment there was no follow up on whether it should be filled. Some time later (a couple months!), I got a call saying there was a cavity, but by then I was already traveling for an extended period, so I didn’t go in to have it repaired. Fast forward a couple years (multiple dentist traumas makes it really hard for me to get the balls to go in), today I went to a new dentist (no way I’m letting her hygienists touch me again) and neither a visual exam nor xrays revealed an cavity. I really hate to think they would have lied to me, but what other explanation is there? Spontaneous healing? I doubt it. This has just made me distrust dentists even more. I feel so betrayed.

Dr. Terry is an awesome dentist — very sweet, courteous, caring, and knowledgeable. The staff are also very professional, reliable, and helpful. The location is very convenient, and the admin staff offer the option to call people to see them earlier if there’s a cancellation. The environment is very comfortable, and I’ve received awesome cleanings and check-​ups. I 100% recommend Dr. Terry: D

Excellent staff. Even though I’m a new patient, they squeezed me in within a few weeks to get a chipped tooth checked out, even though their normal wait is several months.
They did their due diligence with my insurance and were very aware of what it covers and all the little rules; they were definitely on my side in terms of not wanting to charge me anything that I shouldn’t be paying out of pocket. And usually a new patient like myself needs a special first-​time check-​up appointment before getting something like a chipped tooth fixed and actually getting it covered on insurance, but they worked it out so that I was able to do that all in one appointment.
On top of all that, Dr. Terry is so sweet. She doesn’t feel like a doctor or a dentist (in terms of bedside manner); she makes you feel completely at ease and is just so laid back. She never seems rushed even though she’s the only dentist running the place. And overhearing her with some other patients who’ve come for longer, it seems like they really develop a rapport and are almost like friends. She remembers her patience and is just really sweet. Of course, I thought she did a great job with my check up too!
The x-​ray took a while as they took a lot of shots at different angles, and you have to have that uncomfortably hard piece of plastic in your mouth. But the staff doing the x-​rays was nice and a little apologetic about how many shots they needed.
They told me Dr. Terry would email me if anything came up from my x-​rays; I like that there is a way to communicate by email!
My only small gripe: I just wish they had wi-​fi in the waiting room.

As a dental school employee, I have sky high standards for dentists. Dr. Terry and her staff has exceeded every expectation and is the DDS I refer all my friends to. Dr. Terry is incredible because of the following:
1) Patient centeredness– Dr. Terry is honest with you and your needed care, and doesn’t try to sell or push any unnecessary treatment or sales during your visit.
2) Qualify care– Dr. Terry has incredible hand skills. She decides on care based on what’s best for you opposed to what will make her office the most amount of money.
3) Saturday appointments-She’s open one Saturday per month for appointments.
4) Bike parking– Her office has secure indoor bike parking in partnership with the adjoining apartment complex.
5) Eva– Eva is the nicest and most professional receptionist I’ve ever met. Her friendly smile and quick email responses and insurance verifications makes your visit a pleasure every time.
Note: Dr. Terry is booking 2 – 3 months out for new patient appointments, so be sure to book in advance. She is worth the wait.

Update: I am increasing my stars from 4 to 5 since she is great :)

Awesome, efficient, friendly service! Dr. Terry knows her stuff and puts you at ease, and the support staff take their time to give thorough attention.

I’m a big fan — as is my wife! We’ve both been going to Dr. Terry for years, and despite moving to a further neighborhood, we still go. Dr Terry is kind, effective, efficient, and has a great personality. Her staff is similarly talented. Two thumbs up!

Dr. Terry is the best dentist I have ever had. She is very kind, reasonable, and understanding. Sometimes when she works on your teeth, she hums to the radio playing in the background. Amazing. I have been her patient for 6 years. Eva, the receptionist, is awesome too, very professional and nice. Terry Dental does not overcharge you or insist on more dental work than is necessary. My current dental insurance is not accepted by her office, but I will still go and just pay out of pocket, that’s how great Dr. Terry is! Appointments fill up quickly, so be sure to schedule in advance.

This was such a wonderful dentist experience. Dr. Terry was very kind, gentle, thorough, and informational. She made it very easy to understand what she was doing procedurally, and my teeth have never felt better! I also appreciated the minimal waiting room time.
There is a bit of a waiting period for new patient appointments (3+months), but she also offers squeeze in appointments when others cancel. She’s definitely worth the wait though.

Best dentist I have ever been to! Dr. Terry takes the time to answer all of your questions and is incredibly warm and personable. I have never been to a more professional or thoughtful dentist, and I recommend Dr. Terry to all of my friends in and around the city.

What an incredible dental experience! Dr Terry is warm, thorough, professional, gentle — I cannot say enough good things about her. Her staff are also fantastic.
The office does both general and cosmetic dentistry. I went for a routine cleaning and check-​up today. In other dental practices that offer cosmetics, I’ve felt pressured by a sales pitch — but not here. Which makes me contemplate getting teeth whitening even more than if I had been offered it.
I’m hesitant to leave yet another glowing review, as this will make it even harder for me to get in! I waited MONTHS for this appointment thanks to all these (richly deserved!) glowing reviews.
Also, mad props to the old school R&B radio playing in the background. Very soothing.

Dr. Terry is a solid professional and a master of her craft. On Friday, one week ago, I was eating chips at about 8pm, when surprise, something crunched in a «funny» and «unusual» way. I flossed, and cleared my mouth of any chip debris and discovered that a filling had cracked and come off the tooth. I felt tremendous sensitivity on the tooth and immediately regressed from grown adult to feeling like a big baby that needed a hug from his mom.
I contemplated not eating for the rest of the weekend, among other non-​sense thoughts and solutions, when I remembered my dentist has an emergency number. I’m not sure what qualifies as a dental emergency, but it couldn’t hurt to give it a try, so I called the number and left a voice mail message. Within minutes I received a text and email confirming receipt of my message and providing appointment options to resolve my problem. I scheduled for the following morning. And just like that, I’m back to normal in about 12 hours, which made it feel like it was just a bad dream.
It is clear that Dr. Terry cares about her customers and enjoys her chosen profession. She has found her calling in life and that in turn makes going to the dentist a pleasant experience.

I always have a good experience here, even with the gnarly crown I had to get last year. It was unfun but Dr. Terry shepherded me through it — she’s gentle and stays cheerful and kind even if you’re freaked out. She’s always given me good care over the years without overdoing it. Also she hums to herself while she works on your mouth, which I find really soothing!
I just went for a cleaning today and everyone was so great I felt inspired to leave yet another good review for Dr. Terry and her wonderful staff.

Dr. Terry is fantastic. She is very gentle in her cleanings, is thorough, and always takes time to explain how my teeth are doing. The only down side of her practice is she’s so popular, getting an appointment is difficult. Unfortunately I had to cancel my last appointment due to work travel, and the next available time was not for another four months!
If you can afford to wait a while before your next cleaning, you can’t do better.

I can’t ever tell you how much I love this dental team. I have a moderate dental phobia but top notch care can put me at ease and even make me more timely with check ups. For the first time in my entire life I did not feel the novocaine needle! Dr. Terry credited the numbing gel but I have a feeling it was her expert hand. Plus she is just lovely and makes you feel so comfortable. The tunes they play in the office are also fun. Keep in mind that because she’s so popular, you’ll have to book months in advance. Do it now! She’s worth it.

I had my first appointment with Dr. Terry today and I was extremely satisfied. The receptionist had called me a few days before to remind me of my appointment and to verify my insurance. I was surprised that they actually checked with my insurance beforehand if all of my services would be covered.
The dental office is a bit small but clean and homey. The x-​ray technician/​assistant was very kind and did not make me gag, which I usually do when I get x-​rays.
Dr. Terry was very friendly, respectful, professional and down to earth. She is very aware of her work space and surroundings and made sure that I was comfortable at all times. She also has a very light and gentle touch.
As a new patient and someone who has been burned by a dentist in the past (see other review on my page), she is by far the best dentist I have ever encountered.

Hello!
Since this is where I found Dr. Terry its my pleasure to endorse all the good words that brought me to her in the first place.
Its been a while since I’ve had work on my teeth. There were some issues,
kind of all over the map. I finally accepted it was at that point that if something wasn’t done soon than the problems would just get worse. I was embarrassed at the state of my teeth which is probably what kept me from going.
I knew when I set out to find a dentist was that I just wanted to find someone really really nice, who I could immediately trust to turn the situation around and thats Dr. Jennifer Terry.
She is amazing. So purely talented, precise, professional and completely positive and good hearted. Her staff shares these traits so the atmosphere is very pleasant despite whatever procedure has got to be done during the appointment.
Every aspect of interaction with her office is great. From appointments to figuring out insurance with fabulous Eva to the diligent, exacting and sweet hygienists and staff throughout you are in GREAT hands.
My teeth have never felt or looked better and I have never liked going to the dentist more!
So if love your teeth but are in denial or just looking for a new dentist let this note be another for Dr. Terry!
Thank You!
Brian A.