Karmic Konsumer

I found Daniel Charlton at Del Mar View Dental Care after a bad experience with another dentist. I recently told them they were priceless - and I meant it.

When you walk in, you are greeted by an immediate sense of quality. The greeting staff is always warm, friendly, polite and accommodating and you are surrounded by an environment that was obviously carefully designed to be peaceful and serene. There is internet access, a plethora of magazines and coffee while you wait - which is never long. This dentist is on time.

I think that the cleaning area is actually called the ‘cleaning spa’ or something similar and it most certainly does have a spa feel to it. Although the equipment is state of the art, clean and sterile, there is nothing sterile feeling about the experience. The dental hygienists are knowledgeable, caring and gentle. You can even watch a dvd while you’re being worked on and block out some of the sound with the dvd visors they have.

As someone with autism, sitting in a dentist’s chair is one of my worst sensory situations. The noise, the scratching, the people moving around me, the hands in the mouth, cold, hot, suction… GAH! But at Doctor Charlton’s office, everything that I’m ever irritated by is carefully noted so that they remember every time. Mine says : “This one doesn’t like much of anything. Candidate for telekinetic toothcleaning when Dr Charlton figures out how to do it. Because he will.” Ok, well maybe the first part. Although, I’m sure if it’s possible, he’d totally invent it.

When you ask my son how much he dislikes going to the dentist, he stares at you blankly. In his 9 years (until his recent bad exp with another dentist) he’s never experienced rough or insensitive dental care. He doesn’t know he’s not supposed to like it!

And probably the best part of the whole practice is Dr Charlton. He’s got expertise in such a wide variety of dental specialties (I’ll let you read the bio) that he is able to really make a complete assessment of a problem and give a comprehensive idea of the best approach. He’s assessed me for orthodontic work to re-straighten my bottom teeth as well as / in conjunction with fixing my TMJ and both times, I came away feeling like I could make an informed decision.

I’ve talked to him about a toothache before and even though it was really nothing, he did a very careful exam before telling me that. :) He’s found and filled a couple of cavities in the years I’ve been there and there was excellent follow up. When I felt my bite was just a little bit off, he was very patient with me and attentive to fixing it. I’ve never had ANY trouble out of the work he did.

When my son needed the bottom of his front tooth replaced, we both felt SO much better finally throwing in the towel on our Dental Trek of Doom and just going to Dr Charlton and paying out of pocket. I might not have been able to afford it… but it was worth it. They fit us in at the very last minute. Dr Charlton very carefully examined it, gave me all of the information I needed AND fixed it absolutely perfectly. My son’s teeth are back to beautiful and I know the work will last - AND my son’s opinion of dentists is redeemed and HE knows now, how excellent Dr. Charlton is.

I drive 40 minutes one way to get there making it a 1.5 hour or 2 hour trip every time. There are dentists that are closer and I’ve moved twice since I started going there. But it’s worth it. So, in summary, I would recommend this dentist to anyone - even kids and the most squeamish. :) If you read this and decide to try them, tell them I (Carrie - the one who wrote the huge internet review) sent you because the have a rad referral bonus - Starbucks! :)