Dr Achyuta is a caring and knowledgeable Professional. She is understanding & recognizes the fact Dental Health is sometimes neglected. She does not berate or lecture her patients. I feel she took care of me as if I were her Mom! Made me feel good about the work and the results. She explains everything and is open to changes in the plan...TY Dr Achuta read more

Dr Achyuta is thoroughly professional and highly capable as well warmly personable. The office is tidy and well run. Staff is always friendly and supportive. read more

I started in 2017 with Lalitha Smile Dental Services & Dr Surya Manga Achyuta. I'm not a fan of going to the dentist in the first place but she & her staff puts you at easy with being there. Her care is excellent and she is a step ahead on new procedures in the dental field care. From my recent root canal to having a new crown (in a day) to my annual 6 month checkups. She works with my schedule to accommodate me on my appointments and on a very rare occasion when she had to reschedule my appointment (due to a dental emergency procedure) tells me she cares for her patient. I highly recommend her. read more

Dr. Achuyata is a highly competent, friendly dentist and her staff are the same. She educated without being "pushy" and always provides thoughtful response to questions. read more

I went to Dr. Achyuta when I retired and moved to Medicare dental insurance. Within a short time I began questioning The procedures she was claiming I needed. There was a cavity at the edge of a crown. But, she said the tooth below this crown would also need work. I went in for the final visit for this procedure and as soon as she finished, she then said two other teeth would need work. This without additional x-rays, work she did not mention before. This work would amount to $5,000 in fees, beyond the $4,000 + I had already paid. I made an appointment at another dental office and was told they did not see any need for work on those teeth. This has caused me to lose confidence in this office. read more

Sadly, I would not ever recommend this dental practice, they make you pay 100% up front out of pocket and say that they'll reimburse you're credit card after the billing is complete to the insurance company. The problem is, the owner does all of the billing and takes a long time to get to it (like several months). Meanwhile you're racking up credit card debt and then with ongoing appointments, you have to do your best to try and figure out what should be owed to you and then hassle the owner for your money back. It should be illegal to run a business this way. Dr. Achyuta also includes ALOT of additional charges for what she calls "applications of medicines"... Once I realized what she was doing I looked further in to the billing to my insurance company and she was up charging hundreds of dollars for applying a q-tip of a $12.00 bottle of gum desensitizing toothpaste after my cleanings. My old dentist used to sell me the tubes for that price and send me home with the a bottle. Ugh So basically, she charges me $175.00 for a cleaning, says I'll get a refund after she bills insurance, then turns around and bills Starmount $1,200!!! Did I ever get anything refunded to me? Nope. That was the last time I'll go there. I also wanted to mention that during the several years that I saw her, she gave me one set of X-Rays. This is not normal and it coincides with the other reviews left here. She was always very gentle, sweet and I always liked her, until I realized I was being taken advantage of. She is profit driven. read more

All Lalitha Smile Dental cares about is charging you as much money as possible! My first appointment I was a bit unsettled as we didn't even get to a teeth cleaning - I have never gone in for an initial session with a dentist to not have enough time for a teeth cleaning...? Making me divide that first session into one for X-rays and one for cleaning was not only inconvenient but a total waste of time. Upon returning for my next appointment, there was alarm as the doctor said that I had 12 cavities!! I had been going to the dentist regularly every 6 months and while yes, Covid did extend that a bit longer than 6 months, it felt impossible to have gotten 12 cavities in the matter of 9 months while still brushing and flossing my teeth every day. The alarm did make me worried and I started with four cavities because Dr would not do them all at once. It was evident that her fear tactics and continuous charging was simply driven by greed of the company, with no real explanation when I was trying to gauge how important it was to get all 12 cavities filled, or if I could spread them out over months or a year. Finally, I just went to a new dentist who confirmed my teeth are far better than Lalitha reported and confirmed my suspicion that Lalitha Smile is a scam. I would never recommend anyone to Lalitha Smile and regret the work I had done there. read more

My wife went to their office, and they are in network with Anthem Blue Cross Dental PPO. They gave us an estimate of the costs, and billed us for the full amount $3685. Customarily, their estimate is reduced by the negotiated fee they have with our insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, and then further reduced by the claims the insurance company paid, and we should be billed for the balance. Instead, they billed me for the entire balance. They never pick up their phone or answer my phone calls--- they lie an say they submitted the claim, but it's been more than a month and their small claims showed up in Anthem's database in under 1 week, and now more than 1 month and nothing shows.... I told them that if they refuse to pay file the claim to Anthem, which is their duty as a preferred provider, I will do it and to send us copies of the itemized receipts, I can't reach anyone at this god forsaken office or get any call backs, so I will be forced to pay over $3800 for what should probably first be reduced to aprox $2000, and then we pay 20% so we sould be paying $400-$600. I question if my good natured wife who brushes and flosses every day, and never has had cavities in her life, and always had a clean bill of health when going to our San Francisco dentists, suddenly REALLY had 7 cavities and was in need of a wisdom tooth extraction & periodontal root planing at the age of 37 now. If they are not honest with their billing practices, and can't even return a call how do I know if the work they did on my wife was even warranted? I'm an insurance broker... I know how dental insurance works. If they do their basic due dilligence and submit the claim paperwork on our behalf after spending $5500 or so on their services (there were more in July), just maybe I'll adjust this. At present, I'm supposed to believe they "submitted the claim* weeks ago, and ANthem just didn't receive it. Pretty sure Anthem and major carriers have online claim filing now and it's not done by mail. I feel like we are being lied too. read more

I tried this dental office that was near me and was not happy. She charges you up front, then took for ever to get me a a receipt for reimbursement. The dentist was nice enough but the receptionist was not so much. I found out that my old dentist now took Medicare so I changed back to them. I went to sign a release form so she could e-mail my new dentist with my records and was charged $40.00 to send a damn email. I'm through, and would never recommend to anyone to go there. read more

This dentist is a complete thief. Do NOT go to this dentist. The first time I went to the dentist she charged me extra because I needed a deep cleaning. It had been 10 months (because of covid) and I was new in town, I don't mind paying a bit extra if the service is good, so hey no problem. The cleaning is fine, no problems. During this session, she recommended that I come back in 3 months for a cleaning which was a first. I travel a lot for work and my schedule is slammed, so I made another appointment 5 months later, no big deal. On this visit she tried to say that I needed an "appliance" to fix my mouth, take moldings, etc. When I asked her to be specific, explain the issue and the fix, she couldn't, at all! It sounded sketch as hell. She also said that I had numerous cavities that needed filling - she claimed 6! Also she was going to need to replace my older cavities despite them causing me zero discomfort. I brush, floss and use a waterpik every day, there is just no way! So for my next cleaning I went to a separate dentist who said everything looked fine. No cavities, minimal cleaning. When I asked about the appliance, replacing of fillings and any new cavities, he said I was good to go. Do NOT go to Lalitha Smile, she will over charge you for ANYTHING. read more

Dr. Achyuta has been very kind and patient as my dental care provider throughout the years. She has gone the extra mile providing extraordinary care. I've been to many dentists and have to say that Lalitha Smile Dental Service is top notch. read more

Hi I must say first of all that Dr. Achyuta is oh so very patient , caring and kind! I have never worked with a dentist as gentle and kind like her! I highly recomended Dr. Achyuta to people who are scared of going to go see a dentist , she will make it a plesant experience!! read more

I was referred by another patient who said Dr. Achyuta was great - and she was right. She is patient and takes time to explain everything very clearly. Her office is state of art. You get to watch movies while she works on you which is the best part. I'm making an addition to my review. After going to her several times I still think she is wonderful but she has the most inefficient office staff I have ever encountered. They ended up overcharging me $700. I had to catch it myself. They were so frustrating to work with. read more

I believe Dr. Achyuta is a good person. But something is very wrong here. They do not have proper staff. They propose extra procedures without doing the basic treatment first. Posters everywhere of Botox and filler treatments (this is a dental not a dermatology practice). I wish them all the best but, in good conscience, I have to post that I would stay away from this place. :( read more

Dr Surya Manga Achyuta Lalitha Smiles Dental of Petaluma Dr Achyuta is a compassionate and understanding professional. I do not know why but I have a fear of anyone Dental! Dr A has a gentle manner and soft touch. I have neglected my dental situation for years, it took a couple of serious conditions for me to make an appointment. She assessed my problems, took XRays & a complete Medical history. During these times she discussed the problem area, set a plan which addressed some health conditions that required RXs. Appointments made, work done & successful results!! Part I liked the best was the absence of rehashing my errors & lack of proper care. No "Gum Gospels or Endodontic Epistles" You will not regret having Dr Achyuta take care of your dental needs. In addition all equipment is cutting edge high tech! Plus Dr Achyuta can do many procedures in house without going to an additional doctor! read more

I went to Dr. Achyuta with amazing insurance... they paid 80% of every service. I told her I was so thankful because we didn't have much money to put towards dentistry, but I knew I needed work. She said I needed a deep root cleaning... which, I went ahead with. I had looked at our insurance and it would be about $150. Mid-procedure, when I was already a nervous/shaking/numbed up mess... she told me she'd like to use an antibiotic on my gums and she wasn't sure my insurance would cover it... but that she strongly believed I needed it. I thought about what it cost me to get an antibiotic at the grocery store from the Dr.... $20... that was in my head. I never saw a price, I just saw an electronic sign pad and was told to sign... so, unfortunately, I did. My bill was over $2000.... yes, I did not put an extra 0... it was over $2000... closer to $2500. I went to her office in tears (to which I wasn't even offered a tissue)... I sat in her office and explained to her that I was never told a price, and I would have NEVER ok'd it, that we did not have the funds etc etc... She did not help me. She did not even bring the price down at all... she said there was nothing she could do. I now have a care credit bill that i will have to pay off over 2 years... and I still have a broken tooth that I can't afford to get fixed. THIS type of thing is exactly why I can't stand going to the dentist. When I shared all of the details with my insurance, they told me not to ever go back to her office. When I shared all of the details with Care Credit (in hopes I could reject the bill)... they apologized that they couldn't reject it, but literally told me to RUN away from that office. I tried, on multiple visits to work with them. I was very honest and heart felt in our financial struggle and that there is NO WAY I would have allowed the antibiotic if I knew... The saddest part to my review... she did all of this just weeks before Christmas. Ugh. I am still very frustrated, angry and actually hurt that someone would treat me and my family this way. read more

The doctor is pleasant while doing procedures, but I had a nagging feeling that she was trying to oversell me on things I'm not sure were needed. Then she recommended $2500 in treatment so I asked for a copy of my x-rays to get a 2nd opinion. She wanted to charge me $35 for this, which frankly I thought unreasonable. I've never been charged in my life for copies of my medical records, x-rays or MRIs before this. I asked her to do it as a professional courtesy, or to forward the x-rays directly to an oral surgeon, but she said she'd still expect me to pay. I remained calm but persistent, and then at some point I mentioned her negative Yelp reviews. Suddenly she said if I continued to press the point she was going to call the police! I immediately cancelled all my future appointments and will get a new dentist as quickly as possible. STAY AWAY FROM THIS UNETHICAL DENTAL PRACTICE ! ! ! read more

Catherine G who works in the front office at Lalitha Smile starts your experience off right. She is friendly and always extremely helpful and willing to discuss insurance issues with you, go over your bill and insurance plan with you so it makes sense. Past front office personal has been inept. Catherine i hope is a keeper. read more

Dr. Achyuta and staff are professional and take the time to explain all procedures and fees quite thoroughly. I appreciate the quality care I have had there for myself and my family. The doctor is quite meticulous about dental care and will go the extra mile to explain exactly what your dental needs are. It is then up to you to decide what is the best course of action. She welcomes questions. Catherine works in the office now and I feel she is also very thorough and professional. She answers the phone promptly, has always been very helpful in my dental needs and of my family, and is quite courteous. She works with the insurance companies and will take the time to explain if I need to do anything on my end to ensure timely service. Catherine called me back right away to be ever so helpful in my family's dental needs, and I really appreciate her and the whole staff at Lalitha Smile. read more

Horribly unprofessional. I went and had a small chip in my tooth filled. Very simple procedure, quick and easy. I've had it done 2 times before in the same location on the same tooth. It's my weak spot I guess. I was immediately asked to pay $150 out of pocket for desensitization (numbing) medication and was told I'd be billed the rest later. I told them I probably wouldn't need that medication because this is not a painful procedure. They said I could discuss that with the dentist (achuyta?). Well I got the tooth fixed around September and I called my insurance provider very soon after because the $150 charge didn't seem right to me. I was told the procedure with our without the medication should cost me $28! I called this office for months asking for my refund. They refused to let me speak with the dentist, the receptionist (laura?) rarely returned my phone calls, they both rarely returned my emails. I then filed a claim with my insurer, who of course, approved my claim and sent me and this office a letter stating they owed me a refund of $122. Months passed. More calls and emails ignored, or responded to rudely. Finally, I called my lawyer, who sent them a letter. Within a week I received a phone call from someone from this office saying to expect my refund in the mail. This was around March! They are scam artists! Liars! And thieves! They saw a young black girl and thought yum! Fresh meat! This one won't give us trouble if we steal from her! WRONG!! They probably thought the same thing about the elderly lady who commented above me about the similar hell she went through to to get her money back from these crooks! I would never recommend this place, but if you must go there, don't take your eyes off your wallet! read more

She wanted to do deep scaling and planning, second opinion was: procedure not necessary. This was twice over a three year period. This procedure was never mentioned with previous dentist. I am in my 70's and have seen a dentist every 6 months my whole life. I think she is simply out to get money from helpless individuals who aren't familiar with what should or should not be done and don't know what to ask or where to go for a second opinion. Don't go there. read more

The front office staff is awful! I was there because a friend of mine recommended the place. When I asked a simple question, the receptionist was beyond rude, explained things to me like I was stupid, almost yell at me. That was the first impression, no matter how good Dr. Achyuta o whoever it is, I just walked away from that place. I am not going to give my business to somebody who doesn't care about good costumer service. read more

I have been going to Dr Achyuta for several years and would recommend her to anyone. She is professional and thorough and a caring and charming person. I cannot say the same for her front office staff. Rude and high handed. read more

These girls are awesome. Getting my front two teeth done, which can be emotional, but the people in this office handle it like trained professionals. They make you feel like family. And Lisa at the front desk always seems to be doing a great job too with arrange my and my sons appointments around my busy schedule. Want to go to a great dentist office this is the place. read more

I am very pleased with the service and treatment I received at Lalitha Smile Dental Services. Folks there are very friendly in general. I had extensive cleaning done in two visits and now my gums are back in good shape. Karin (sp ?) was very gentle and professional. After that I had four crowns done in two visits. Dr. Achyuta was great, her treatment of me was very patient focused by paying close attention to my comfort level. She got a lot accomplished for the amount of time I spent reclining in the chair. She spent the time required to make sure my new crowns were well fitted into the bite with my existing teeth. The office is very high-tech and modern. All the treatment options were explained to me beforehand. My questions were satisfactorily answered leaving me feeling like a well-informed consumer. read more

Compassion, concern, skill and state-of-the-art technology. Broken tooth was of great concern and apprehension for me. Dr. Lalitha was warm, reassuring, skilled and quick.. She also recommended several improvements in the care of my teeth, which I made me wonder why no other dentist ever had mentioned these ideas to me. Although the office staff is not as sharp as the doctor, I definitely recommend Dr. Lalitha. read more