Bright Dental

Good service but good luck getting in touch with them. My wife and myself have left a few voicemails and have yet heard back from them.

Coming from someone who really doesn’t like the dentist and will postpone my appointment as many times as possible without making anyone mad, I can safely say I’m really glad I found Bright Dental.
When I moved into the area, I hadn’t been to the dentist for awhile and really needed to find one. Based off the reviews on Unilocal,I found Bright Dental and decided to give it a shot. I’ve been a patient now for a few years and really appreciate the kindness and professionalism that both Karen Bright and her hygienist offer. No one has suggested I need anything besides the routine cleaning and x-​rays, which I think is appropriate since my teeth seem normal. And while my teeth are fine, I do experience some bleeding during the cleaning since I can’t bring myself to floss. At dentists, the cleanings were always painful and messy, and left my mouth feeling sore after. After my cleanings at Bright Dental, it’s not painful and my mouth feels back to normal pretty quickly. It’s nice to not completely dread going to the dentist for once.
For those who want to drive here, there are 2 free parking spaces in back of the building. Just take a right into a little driveway right before the building the dentist is in, and there are 2 designated spots back there. It’s quite helpful since I tend to drive there and don’t have to worry about finding parking. There are also metered spots out front too.

Bright Dental is simply a wonderful place for me and my family. Our twin daughters are 6, and have been seeing Karen all their lives. They actually cheer when they hear they have a dental appointment. If you have a family, hot-​foot it and sign up with Bright Dental!
Not only Karen but everyone there — the hygienist, the receptionist, everyone — is incredibly welcoming and loving towards children. Beyond that, they provide excellent, pro-​active dental care to all of us. On our most recent visit this week, they were even able to accommodate, with grace and kindness, the challenges of doing dental work on a mother with a nursing baby. I really cannot compliment enough how nice and how capable they are.

Dr. Karen Bright continues to impress. I’ve been coming here since I was a lowly, broke college student (though I took some breaks to go to places that were having first-​time specials), and I’m still going here now that I’m still mostly poor and paying off student loans. The thing about Dr. Bright (and her office) is she treats everyone equally, as if they are her best customer. I have had emergencies and she has gotten me in the same day. She is always kind, always gentle, always willing to go the second mile for ANYONE.
Having said that, avoid those places that offer «first-​time» specials. They are having those specials for a reason. Once you go to a place like Bright Dental, you will get it. Customer Service isn’t dead — it is alive and well here and it DOES make a huge difference. And Bright Dental’s prices are fair & reasonable. I don’t WANT to go anywhere else!

I searched high and low for a good dentist when we moved to Cambridge. I’m glad we were able to find this cozy office with such a kind staff. It’s not the fanciest or technically updated dental office I’ve ever been in, but they know their stuff!

Dr. Bright is the best. I’ve seen lots of dentists and am glad she has been my family’s dentist for the past three years. One year we didn’t have dental insurance and paid out of pocket — it cost $ 80 for a standard checkup for me and $ 65 for my kid’s cleaning. The other two years we had different dental plans and it was never a problem.
Dr. Bright remembers every tiny detail about me and my family even though we only see her every six months. It’s amazing and makes me wonder if she has some cheat sheet she reads right before we come. She is super-​nice and will chat and chat while she’s got her hands cleaning out your mouth. She is super-​gentle, by the way.
Her assistant, Ellie, is also fabulous. She cleaned my kid’s teeth last time and didn’t mind at all that he held an iPod out to play Angry Birds the whole time she did his cleaning. Six months before that experience, I’d forgotten to bring anything for him and Ellie let him play on her phone.
Only once have I had a dental emergency and Dr. Bright fit me in the next day. I chipped my tooth when I was a kid, had it rebuilt, and after two decades it fell apart. I expected the repair to cost a few hundred bucks (and this was the year I was paying out of pocket, of course), but she only charged me $ 120 and did a great job.
Seriously, Dr. Bright is the best.

I used to go to Bright Dental once a year for my yearly check-​up and cleaning, and had a generally positive experience with that. Both the dentist and hygienist were very friendly and nice. My problems began when Dr. Bright noticed a bit of decay around one of my old fillings one year, and she did the necessary work to repair it. As soon as the procedure was done, I started experiencing intense cold temperature sensitivity on that tooth. (Fyi, one of the reviewers below has had the exact same experience.) Just drinking room-​temperature water would cause intense pain. I thought it might be part of the healing process, but it didn’t go away so when I next went in for a cleaning, a few months later, I asked about it. Dr. Bright wasn’t sure what it could be, and suggested re-​doing the filling. She did so, but the sensitivity did not go away. I told her, but she didn’t know what to make of it and didn’t offer any other suggestions about routes to take.
A few weeks after this, when I was in another city, I started experiencing a gentle throbbing at the root of that particular tooth, which quickly escalated into intense, excruciating toothaches. I went to the first doctor I could locate in the area, and I was told that the filling I had had replaced was quite close to a nerve, and had developed an infection. Long story short, I had to get a root canal done.
Painful and expensive as all this was, I thought the story was done, but it has now been two years and it turns out that that initial infection never healed properly after the root canal, so I am undergoing root canal retreatment and may possibly have to get an apicoectomy. (More money, more pain.) I guess I can’t blame this last development on that initial filling repair, but it certainly seems to have been the source of most of my dental problems in the last few years. I felt that I should have been directed towards someone else right away if Dr. Bright didn’t know what to make of my symptoms, rather than letting it get to an emergency situation.

I moved to Cambridge after living in California for 10 years where I’d been going to the same dentist and dental hygienist who I trusted and liked. After a friend told me a Boston dentist — at the end of her cleaning — said, «You must feel very self-​conscious about your smile. Your gums show too much… but we can fix that,» I felt nervous about finding someone I could trust who wasn’t just looking to sell me on procedures. I mean — can you imagine hearing that as you’re lying prone with a dentist hovering over you? (BTW, I think my friend’s smile is beautiful.)
I somehow lucked out and found Bright Dental. I really love the people here and Dr. Bright doesn’t push x-​rays or procedures that aren’t necessary. I love that she’s as concerned about my budget and health as I am. And she takes care of her work; once a filling she did started to feel weird a couple years later. I called Dr. Bright and she fit me in the same day and repaired it at no cost to me. I highly recommend Dr. Bright and her staff.

I ski at breakneck speeds like there’s no tomorrow. I tried skydiving for the thrill, and was disappointed that I never got that «oh crap!» scare. I’ll dive in front of a slapshot without a blink. But dentists have always terrified me – we’re talking procrastinate-​for-​a-​decade fear, here. The only thing that even made me pick up the phone to make an appointment was the realization that either I’ll never go to the dentist again, or each passing day I’m making my eventual visit that much worse. I seriously considered the former option.
But everyone at the office was incredibly friendly, sympathetic and non-​scary. There was plenty of friendly chat to keep me relaxed during, and there was no scolding at the end. I don’t know if it’s just them or if this is standard dentistry these days, but I didn’t have to spit my plaque, blood and self-​worth into a toilet-​like bowl of swirling water every few seconds. My days of terror are, in short at an end.
I don’t know that I’ll ever enjoy going to the dentist, but I’m not going to mind it from now on.

I have been a patient of Dr. Bright for a few years now, ever since a horrific experience at New Era Dental back in 2007.
I am very satisfied with Dr. Bright and her friendly staff. She is very personable and sweet, it actually makes going to the dentist not so bad! There is parking behind the building so it is convenient for me to drive and there is a bus stop right around the corner.
I also like that they have chocolate-​mint tooth polish, makes my teeth happy: D

Karen is fantastic. Great bedside manners, attentive to your needs, and is willing to go the extra mile for her patients. I never had a rapport with a dentist until I met her 6 years ago. I can’t imagine going anywhere else.

5 stars for a filling replacement! I am «differently innervated» so it can be challenging for dentists to numb me well. Also, I need the non-​epi variety of novocaine which just isn’t as user-​friendly. Needless to say, I was very nervous about the filling replacement but Dr. Bright pulled it all off without a hitch! I didn’t feel a thing plus she was very sweet and patient the entire time.
Huge bonus points: I am usually annoyed by a new filling for weeks after I leave the chair but not this time!
Signed,
A very happy customer
PS– I’ve been once for a cleaning and her hygienist is also nice and thorough.
Don’t be put off because this is a small and somewhat plain office. They do a great job.

I’m not a huge fan of dentists, and once I found one I liked in Boston I wanted to stick with her. Unfortunately, when I switched jobs my new insurance didn’t agree so I had to look again — and I found Bright Dental. I just went last week for my first time, pretty nervous, and my expectations were exceeded on many levels.
Of course, first and foremost, I didn’t have cavities for once. So this review might be somewhat biased.
However, from the moment I walked in everyone was overwhelmingly nice. The receptionist was very nice as she checked me in. Then, as I waited, the dentist ushered out a previous patient and helped another one, calling them both by name and seeming to know them. Then I got brought in (after about a ten minute wait) and the dental hygienist was extremely apologetic I had to wait. I’ve had longer lines at McDonald’s.
The hygienist was a lot of fun and very nice. Then Dr. Bright came in and while I’m not convinced she is old enough to have graduated in 1993 she was also very nice.
All in all, it was the best dental experience I’ve ever had, and definitely the best in Boston.

I like Dr. Bright quite a bit. She is very friendly, gentle, and during oral surgery, she asked me several times how I was doing and if I needed more anesthetic. Given that my previous dentist was rather stingy with his anesthesia, and fillings were always very painful, Dr. Bright is very refreshing. She and her hygienist also took the time to explain things to me in detail, and answered all of my questions. Even though I’ve now moved to the other side of Boston, I still make the trek out to Somerville to see her.
Only complaint, and it’s a small one, is that this is a busy office, so appointments are often booked way in advance. I’d give this place 5 stars if I could make a 7AM or 7PM appointment.

Dr. Bright is probably the nicest dentist you’ll ever find! (especially in the Boston area.) She’s thorough and is great at explaining what she does.
Even though she’s not in the most convenient location, there’s a reason why it may take months to get an appointment. With her attention to detail and the friendly staff, (as weird as it sounds), you almost look forward going to the dentist!

Ok, so here is my sad, sad dental story. I skipped the dentist for a few years and when I finally went, I had 11 teeth with cavities. My insurance covers $ 2,000 a year in dental work, so in 2007 and 2008 I had several cavities filled, a root canal and a crown. With only a few teeth left to take care of, I moved from San Diego to Somerville in October 2008. In January of 2009 I started looking for a dentist and chose Karen Bright because of good reviews and how close she was to my home. When I had my first cleaning, the hygienist took off her white coat only to reveal a sleeveless shirt. She dangled her hairy armpit in my face while she cleaned my teeth (NO LIE). Ew.
When I saw Dr. Bright she looked at my X rays and seemed to disagree about how many cavities I needed taken care of. For example, I have a tooth that has a big black indentation on it and hurts. Dr. Bright says this is not a cavity, while my other dentist did. I don’t care, it just hurts and I want it fixed. Dr. Bright filled 6 cavities and they were all sensitive to hot and cold after, but one is ridiculous. Just standing outside when the temp is below freezing makes this one tooth hurt to the nerve. I have to warm the water from the tap to room temperature to brush my teeth. I called and told the receptionist about the pain I was having and how all my teeth were so sensitive, I couldn’t eat anything that wasn’t room temperature. I was told that there was no availability for me to come in before my next appointment, 2 weeks later. When I came in for the next round of fillings, Dr. Bright told me she was going to put a «desensitizer» on my tooth. She also told me to use a certain toothpaste and massage it in on that tooth. I did that for 2 weeks with no results.
I called back, trying to get an appointment. For some reason, the only time they ever have available is 11am, and that is a very bad time for me to miss work. Neither Dr. Bright or the receptionist seemed to care about that. I finally gave up and found a new dentist.
For the most part Dr. Bright is nice, but that doesn’t fix my aching tooth.

I was apprehensive about going to a new dentist, simply because I had been going to the same one for about 15 years. My boyfriend had made an appointment at Bright Dental, and raved about his experience there. I soon followed, and I had a great experience as well!
The hygienist (wish I could remember her name) was GREAT. I feel badly for hygienists — it’s not like people are ever excited to see them. But, this woman was excellent. She was extremely pleasant, and did a fabulous job cleaning my teeth without me feeling like my gums were about to crawl out of my mouth and hail a cab.
Dr. Bright was also incredibly, ridiculously nice. In the past, I’ve felt like my dentist was almost trying to find things wrong with my teeth (filling almost non-​existent cavities, etc.). It’s hard when you’re a patient — you don’t know what is extraneous and what’s necessary. I really liked that when Dr. Bright saw something vaguely questionable in one of my teeth, she wasn’t in a mad rush to fix it. She just said she was going to keep an eye on it and make sure it didn’t get worse. My mouth AND my wallet thanks her for that!
All in all, it was the most pleasant dentist experience I have ever had. Furthermore, I have to go back to have her replace a broken filling, and I am not gnawing my lips off in dread. A+!

Dr. Karen Bright is the best dentist I have been to. We started seeing her a few years ago when my daughter needed to go in for her first ever dentist visit and hopefully we’ll still be seeing her when my son needs to go for his.
She is very good with children. My daughter wants to stop in and see her every time we pass her office and eagerly asks when she gets to go in for her next appointment. If we’re walking past and Dr. Bright sees us she’ll usually come out and say hi/​get a hug. I’ve had some really bad experiences with dentists in the past and Dr. Bright has made it so I have no qualms about going to see her for any dental work I may need.

To say that dentists make me nervous is an understatement. When I first met Dr. Karen Bright, she was laughing at the note I’d made on my new patient form: «You, as a dentist, scare me. Please be gentle. I swear I’m nice.»
Somehow, I’ve managed to find the nicest dentist in the greater Boston metro area. Dr. Bright is good at what she does and nice enough to make appointments tolerable. When I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed in May, she referred me to a fantastic oral surgeon who made the process almost painless (seriously).
I almost look forward to going back for my regular checkups.
OK, fine. Not look forward, really… but not mind it as much as I otherwise would.

Last year I finally decided to stop driving to my hometown for a dentist appointment (I had been seeing the same dentist for over 30 years) — but it’s kind of scary to just find a new dentist. After all, what if I don’t like the person, or I feel like they aren’t qualified or something? That wouldn’t be good.
So I came onto Unilocal and found the positive reviews here on Dr. Bright and decided to give it a shot. Happy to say I just had my second cleaning there last Thursday and I’m still happy about my decision to make the switch to Bright Dental.
Dr Bright is very personable and doesn’t make what I think are unneeded suggestions — like pulling my wisdom teeth (which all 4 grew in just fine, but my other dentist asked me every visit to pull them, why would I if they aren’t bothering me and all 4 are totally grown in?)