Will never recommended this pediatric dentist. Definitely go to another or out of the area. I took both my kids to the office for their first few visits and they were fine. I always paid out of pocket. At some point my son needed cavities filled. I asked if I could make payments and they agreed. I made payments- had paid over half. I get a call shortly before my daughter's apt that they wouldn't see me since my son still had a balance. I explained I was making payments and had paid significant and I was prepared to pay for my daughter's whole apt with cash like always- it didn't have anything to do with my son's account. They refused to see my daughter unless I paid my whole balance before coming in. The front desk was so rude and unfriendly about it. I asked to speak to Dr Heckert and he compared it to buying groceries and just leaving without paying, blah blah - I was shocked. I had paid hundreds if not thousands of dollars to this office but that didn't matter and had no idea until the call shortly before my daughter's apt that this was the expectation. I ended up paying the bill in full and transferring to another local pediatric dentist that day (thankfully!) I explained to the new office that I got into and they shared they've heard several similar stories. I will never give another cent to this business. Ive had several people I know end their care here as well. I'm big on principle and being treated with respect both ways. I've never not paid a bill in full. But to not see my daughter when I had arrangements to be in for an apt after I had made payments was extremely rude and inconsiderate. Have also been made aware of many other questionable choices this business has made. One being about folks who are performing care and not having proper schooling and licensing. Do your homework before choosing the best spot for your child. read more

Will drop you as a patient if you disagree with anything doctor says or seek second opinion. Awful experience! Humboldt county desperately needs more pediatric services. read more

I've been taking my 9 year old daughter here since she was 2 and absolutely love Dr Heckert and his staff. My daughter gets a lot of anxiety during dentist/dr appointments. This last appt she was getting 3 teeth extracted and she was so scared I didn't think she was going to go through with it. Dr Heckert noticed what was going on and told my daughter to just come back and breath some of the gas and then decide.. that was genius! After breathing in some of the gas I could see the fear melt off her face and she smiled, which was a HUGE relief to see. They had her put headphones on and watch k pop demon hunters, they put numbing cream on her before giving her shots so she didn't even know it was happening I couldnt believe it! They extracted all 3 teeth no problem and she left in good spirits! I can't thank dr Heckert an his team enough, everyone is so kind and pleasant and we will continue going to them for many years to come! read more

I want to be fair in sharing my experience with Growing Smiles. Dr. Heckart gave us much clearer options for my daughter's overcrowding compared to the Open Door dental clinic we had been going to. At our first visit, he capped a tooth that needed it and explained that removing baby canines could help with crowding -- something I hadn't even known was possible. Both he and an orthodontist later confirmed that this was the right approach. When my daughter became too scared to cooperate at a later appointment, he tried a liquid "sedation syrup" to help, but it didn't work. He didn't push it, and instead referred us to UCSF Dental, which ended up being the right move. UCSF eventually did multiple extractions, and his guidance proved correct. The hardest part of our experience wasn't with the dentist himself but with the front desk. While waiting for UCSF surgery, my daughter still needed routine cleanings. Even though she had always been well-behaved for cleanings, the staff told me she couldn't come back until after UCSF -- despite UCSF specifically telling us to keep up with them. The interaction was rude and dismissive, and after everything we had already been through, it was really discouraging. What upset me the most is that, even though I have Medi-Cal, I also used CareCredit and spent thousands of dollars at this office, only to have my daughter denied as a patient for something as simple as a cleaning. Dr. Heckart himself was knowledgeable and provided the right guidance, but the way the front office handled things made a difficult situation even harder. UCSF was ultimately where we felt supported and understood. read more

First, you have to understand, this is one of the only pediatric dentist in town, so they have an very unbalanced power dynamic! Second, I rarely leave reviews for spaces, they either have to be amazing, or something had to go terribly wrong. My ex and I have medical and Delta Dental for our daughter. She has gone to every wellness check and dental check. A year ago we were referred to this group as apparently our daughter tooth health went down hill quick! I made an appointment here, the referring dentist sent all our stuff in too. Three times the office calls for her medical "stuff". Twice I call back, the first time they have no record of my daughter. None at all, but they have mailed me letters and called! I send in info The second they have no record of medical card being sent in. All the while I am getting letters saying I am neglecting my daughter, and her dental health. This right here is harassing and really frustrating to be told I'm neglecting my child! If they had their front desk together, she would have been in already! Finally, I ask her dad to take care of it, as they want his medical stuff anyway. And of course he lost his card this time. They/he could have accessed it electronically but the office insisted on a card. No excuses but My ex got stupid at this point, he was tired of the run around and his daughter has been in pain so he did not do the best! He finally broke down and acted really lame...It got to the point he said he was going to record the call. (I should have known better but it is what it is, Dads got to be a part of the struggle too ) He felt like there was no hope! His daughter has been trying to get in to this place for a year! We kept getting the run around...She was crying at him in pain. So then, I get this letter in the mail, that trust is broken, they won't see my daughter. But, I don't live with my ex, I did not freak out on them. Although I felt the same way as him. I was not even in town! I call, I figured it may not help, but I needed our story to be told to the office manager. Maybe we could fix this. I mean it's a two household child, I am not my ex. I explain what happened... In the end, they are so well trained at the broken trust message they were pushing at me, that it seemed like it's a script! They want no mediation, they accept no responsibility and continue to place all blame on me suggesting that I never called or emailed and then which is reasonable that her dad was lame. I know you can't please everyone all the time, but this office manager was more a legal referee and a damage control operator with a set script that it seems to me this office handles a lot of ick. I question why? In my past experience as an office manager, it's because up front staff is messy and not doing their job proper, likely rude with people, losing documents etc. Never have I ever had a medical/dental office be so prepared to disregard an issue of front staff and paperwork, turn it around to broken trust, and not try to resolve what their patient is bringing to them. It shows that an impacted health system truly allows for unequal power imbalances and allows a dental office to treat people poorly because there are no other options available! I know We are not the only family who has experienced this, the way they handled our situation proves it to me! Needless to say, our daughter teeth are still uncared for as there are no others within a 350-600 mile range, and this office could have helped a child, but mediation and care don't seem to be skills the office staff wish to employ. They just don't need to, they are to busy and have scripts to follow.... Mediation and conflict resolution is powerful. When you are one of the only dentists who can help children, maybe it could be about them, not policies and procedures. You all know you have the power, you all know there are next to no options here in Humboldt County. It would have been amazing to have had a way to find a solution, instead of kept a child in pain. And to top it off my daughter tells her dad he really messed up. He knows he did and feels so bad. He felt helpless and reacted poorly. read more

As I sit here in the office waiting for my son to come out I remember the first review I made. It was not a great one due to some billing confusion. I want to follow up and say they definitely made it all right and each and every visit since then has been great. My children can be difficult at the dentist and each and every person in the office has been caring and patient with us. We will continue here until the kids are too old to come here! I highly recommend growing smiles! read more

I gave them 5 stars last time we went in because the staff was wonderful and so was the experience, however I made an appt for my son to get his teeth drilled and they messed up. They told me they numbed his teeth but he still felt it. So the next time he got a cavity they insisted that he be sedated. I refused to sedate my 4 year old, and asked what would happen if his system shut down, and asked if it would incite a lawsuit. The girl told me that I threatened her(though I did not I simply asked) and started chewing me out. She refused to listen to me and would not listen to a word I was saying even after I told her she was being rude. She told me that if I refused to sedate my 4 year old that they refused to see him. They took both of my kids off their schedule and refused to see us. My son has a cavity that has to be treated, but since I won't give him a dangerous sedation treatment they refuse to see him. I can't believe how poorly I was treated. No one should say you can only be seen if you consent to sedating your 4 year old. I just had my son seen. They said that his cavity was not treated right and it ate away under the filling growing smiles put. Wow. So not happy. They called me the other day to ask when my daughter would be in. She won't. read more

I took my little kids to Dr Heckert a few months back and X-rays were done. After he examined the X-rays, he told me my son had TEN CAVITIES! I had a REALLY hard time believing that, since I brush and floss his teeth every day, and he never showed me the X-rays either. It was going to be about $700 after insurance to fill all of them. I decided to take him to a different dentist for a second opinion. He showed me the X-rays that were taken by Dr. Heckert and pointed out how most of the areas that supposedly had cavities were completely clear. He did have 4 cavities in very hard to reach spots, but 6 were completely incorrect...You draw your own conclusions. If you do go to him, ask to see the X-rays and have him point out the cavities or get a second opinion like I did. read more

Get a anesthesiologist with bed side manner. Someone who isn't going to raise their voice at the patients parents because of their concern. Tell them that their daughters heart rate jumping up is irrelevant while she still hadn't woke up from anesthesia . & for the Dentist to not say a WORD! Not even to apologize for the way his worker has acted is beyond me. Also not to mention my child's cap fell off 2 days later while eating CEREAL. I call and they're on vacation. Not a word was mentioned to us, they didn't send us home with any paperwork explaining care either. Just sent us on our way. I could dig further into our nightmare experience but I think you get the point. read more

Very polite lip service. Had a recommendation and an appointment, two forms of insurance but was turned away because policy States they can't treat a kid unless they have a court-ordered paper saying I was allowed to bring the child to the dentist. I had the child health passport being his foster parent and all. I guess that doesn't work even though it works for the hospital the dentist that referred us to them and for me to pick them up at school. Asked if the father could come so the child could just get in to see the dentist, was told that wouldn't work either because of the Foster kids status. And that they were uncertain who had the right to bring him to the dentist. Wow! 2 month wait to get that one! three more headed their way but I think I'm going to reroute these other little ones elsewhere. read more

Very clean office. Very nice staff. Dentist was super nice to my son. It was his first visit to the dentist. The actual dentist...you could tell he loved his job. he was great. It took along time to get in this office, but it is totally worth it. read more

I took my 5 year old in for some cavities that had gotten pretty bad. Dr. Heckert advised that we pull those two teeth. We would then need to put in metal spacers to keep the space where the teeth had been pulled. He also wanted to put caps on two other teeth. I went home and researched spacers and found a bunch of horror stories about them being really painful and needing to be removed and then people realizing that they didn't need spacers after all. I told Dr. Heckert that I would do all the work that he suggested but didn't want to have spacers put in. He then let us know through his office workers that he would not work with us if we didn't follow all of his suggestions. If you don't want to have any say in your child's treatment plan then this is the Dentist for you. Sadly, he is one of the only pediatric dentist in the area. My son is now 9 and we take him to Santa Rosa for dentistry. He didn't need caps at all and his adult teeth are now coming in from where Heckert had pulled the baby teeth. No spacers needed. Thank goodness I didn't fill my kids mouth up with mercury for no reason. read more

Always nice to my son and I. He has a huge fear of needles and they have always been willing to try and avoid them. He lost a crown at Christmas and got him in on new years eve to fix it. I couldn't ask for a better pediatric dentist! read more

This dentist office is very clean. The nurses the dentist and the staff are very kind. My son had never been to the dentist and was very dramatic about being there. They handled this very well. The reason I can only give 3 stars and the reason that there is a good chance I will not be taking my son back here is because of the billing Issues I have had. It would take forever to tell the entire story but the short story is I was very misled. There were multiple times on the same treatment plan that the price went up. After a payment plan was agreed upon prior to the work being done the price had change 3 times. Then after the work was done and the nurse came out and said that they found no further work needing to be done, I received a call weeks later saying that there was more work they had done and I owed 800 dollars more than the original total. When I asked why they had not discussed this with me they said the nurse did and that I don't have to sign for further work done because I signed a consent paper that said there is the possibility of more work needing to be done. I am checking back in and adjusting my review and giving 4 stars instead of 3. I just received a phone call regarding the discrepancy of price and they agreed that they didn't have the proper documentation to charge me more that originally agreed upon. read more

Amazing Visit! We had our appointment on one of the theme days and my kids LOVED it! The staff is very caring and Dr. Heckert answered all my questions and really was able to talk to my kids and make them feel important. I would recommend his office to anyone with kids. They really work to make a fun atomosphere. My kids can't wait to go back. read more

We just moved down to So. Cal and I'm looking for a new dentist. This is the reason why I have to write a review about how happy I was with Growing Smiles when we were up in Eureka. The staff was always friendly. "Dr. Randall", as my now 5 year old called him, was always wonderful. Here is an example of just how dedicated and caring they are. A day after getting a cavity filled, my little one seemed to have been sucking on his lip (didn't feel it due to the anesthesia) which caused the side of his lip to look yellow. I freaked out and thought it was pus or something. I called the dentist office and they saw me within 15 mins. Dr. Eckhert came in, saw it and told me it was normal. He cleaned it and it turns out it was only the skin that turned a weird yellow color (guess from all the sucking). He gave me a solution to keep his lip clean and said it would clear up in a couple of days. On my way out, they told me not to worry about the visit cost. By the next day, the skin had dried off and by night it was all clear. I realized then that I freaked out about nothing but they never treated me like that. I really do miss them and hope I find someone caring and nice like the staff at Growing Smiles. read more