We're new to Novato, which means starting from scratch with all the important things, including finding the right doctors and dentists for our 7-year-old son, who is autistic. As many parents in this space know, that can feel daunting. Dr. Espinosa has been an absolute gift. She is incredibly patient, kind, and grounded. From the moment we met her, she took the time to really understand my son's medical and dental history, instead of rushing through the appointment. She has such a calm, steady presence that immediately lowers the nervous energy that can come with a new medical experience. Her entire team was warm, compassionate, and genuinely understanding of what can make a dental visit hard for a child with autism, the sounds, the textures, the bright lights, the unpredictability, all of it. What amazed me most was how she met my son exactly where he was. With patience, flexibility, and zero judgment, she helped him work through the appointment at his pace. There were a few tears, and it took time, but she never once made me feel like my child was "too much." Instead, she gently encouraged us to pivot, try a different approach, and keep going. I honestly wanted to hug her when we left, because it means the world to moms when someone sees your child and cares to spend time to understand them and meet them where they are. The biggest win? My son LOVED his visit and proudly told his teacher the next day that he went to the dentist. I cannot recommend Dr. Espinosa and her team enough. read more

Our middle school-aged daughter's front tooth was knocked loose late on a Friday afternoon, we called in a panic and this office stayed open to attend to her after-hours emergency. We both appreciated the way Dr. Espinosa took the time to explain the process of splinting her tooth, as well as how she answered questions in a thoughtful and thorough manner. Dr. Espinosa has the wonderful combination of being professionally skilled as well as having just the right touch with younger dental patients (and their parents!). Highly recommend this dental practice. read more

We absolutely loved our experience with Dr. Espinosa and her team. It was our daughter's first ever dentist appointment and we appreciated how much time and care was given to us. Dr. Espinosa was gentle and patient with our daughter who hates brushing her teeth. While there were some tears during the cleaning, for the remainder of the visit our daughter was really enjoying herself, the decorations, and the aquariums. We're so, so happy that we heard about Dr. Espinosa via Facebook. We definitely recommend her if you've got a child and are in the Novato area. read more

If you are looking for a great, gentle pediatric dentist DDS Patrice Espinosa,on Grant street in Novato, is the one. She always has the patient's best interest in mind and is very knowledgeable and skilled. My son had 4 adult teeth pulled by her (needed the space for braces) and it was such an easy experience and cost savings as well by not having to go to a high priced specialist. She's great with all ages, making kids and parents feel comfortable. And we just love her Adminstrative staff, so polite and hard working to get you scheduled. read more

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Dr. Espinosa! My younger daughter has severe dental trauma from our last practice and Dr. Espinosa went above and beyond to make her feel comfortable. For the first time ever my daughter left the dentist with a smile on her face. I cannot recommend her and her practice enough and I am so fortunate we switched. She took as much time as needed to make my daughter feel comfortable - service like this doesn't seem to exist anymore. Do yourself a favor and make the switch! read more

I just had to write a review for Dr. Espinosa! My kids are 4 and 2 and had a great experience last week for both of their first check-ups! Her lobby is welcoming for kids. She has super cool bubble dome fish tank that my boys loved, toys in little suitcases which they liked opening and discovering what was inside, and a fun old school dental chair for them to explore. We were met promptly by a member of her staff when we arrived and before we knew Dr. Espinosa was out to talk to us. We sat down and she collected a dental history of the kids, learned more about their diets, etc. I wasn't expecting this so it was a pleasant surprise. When it came time for the check-up Dr. Espinosa was so awesome explaining everything to my 4 year old in a way he could understand and feel comfortable. She was thorough yet quick during the deep cleaning and check for cavities, cleaned his teeth, and then provided a flouride treatment. All in all it was a great experience and he was happy the whole time. The boys loved picking out their toothbrushes and toothpastes, and loved reaching into the giant tooth (her version of a treasure chest) at the end to pick their prize. My two year was squirmy for his appt, as to be expected, but Dr. Espinosa handled it with ease, checked and brushed his teeth, with him sitting on my lap, leaned back into her lap. Besides a great overall dental experience/service for my kids I think what stood out most to me was the attention we got while we were there. She runs her practice so that there isn't a ton, if any, overlap between patients. As a mom wrangling two littles it was nice not to feel rushed or feel like people were waiting on us, or eavesdropping on the action! If you're looking for a qualified, friendly, pediatric dentist with excellent personal attention Dr. Espinosa is your go-to gal! read more

Novato Children's Dentistry - happy kiddo! He got to pick sunglasses to wear during the appt so that her light wouldn't shine in his eyes. - Pediatric Dentists Near Me - Novato, California

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Update: Our second visit, for an unrelated cavity treatment, went *even better*--if that can be imagined--than our experience below. Thanks again! I am writing this review because Dr. Espinosa was able to do something that many other dentists thought was impossible. She was able to extract a badly cracked tooth from our 2.5 year old daughter, tears-free, without relying on heavy forms of sedation. We knew that this could be done with the right dentist, and we prepared our daughter in age-appropriate ways and gave her time to understand that her Broken Baby Tooth would need to come out, and that it was good to make room for her Big Girl Tooth to come in, etc. Dr. Espinosa built a great rapport with us and our daughter, taking time to gain our daughter's trust and allowing her to overcome her fears. She worked with us to explain the process and build a plan that we executed together perfectly on the day of the procedure. Thanks to her expert behavioral management skills, she was able to perform the extraction with the help of only mild sedation and local anesthetic, her skilled hands, and really strong teamwork with her assistant. I do not know if our outcome or approach can be guaranteed for every young child that Dr. Espinosa works with, and I am not sure that the high-stress work of handling dental trauma in small children is any dentist's favorite thing. But in our situation, I don't think we could have found a better dentist. We in fact searched the whole Bay Area before choosing Dr. Espinosa's practice. We read all the reviews, we visited 4 dentists, we received telephone consultations from 2 others, and screened 5 more via conversations with their front desk staff. What makes Dr. Espinosa truly unique, in my mind, is that she operates a small independent practice. She is the only dentist, with one dental assistant. That means three things. One is that once you talk with them and visit, you know what you're going to get. Two, you get more time with her. Three, you have fewer staff handoffs and transitions to manage with a small child. The vast majority of other "pediatric dentistries" that we found had two or more dentists, a small army of RDAs, many rooms, and several front desk staff all running in hyper-efficient voice-dictated computerized overdrive. All very exciting as an adult, and the source of hundreds of five-star reviews, but bewildering if not outright terrifying to a sensitive small child. I have no doubt that many happy patients are served by large practices, but absolutely nobody took as much time with our daughter as Dr. Espinosa. So if you see another dentist who tells you that a tooth extraction will always be a bad time, or wants to resort to aggressive sedation techniques or restraints because your child is "pre-cooperative," or tells your child during an examination that they're going to make them cry and they're sorry, run away and go see Dr. Espinosa instead! Finally, I wish to give special mentions to Joe and Heather. Joe is the office manager and the face and voice of the practice to us parents, and reflects and communicates Dr. Espinosa's approach perfectly. He took his time with us to explain and discuss and listen, and was as thoroughly empathetic and personable as you could hope someone to be. Heather is the RDA and she did her part in the procedure expertly, communicating and taking cues from Dr Espinosa as needed to ensure a smooth experience for our daughter. Thank you to the whole team! read more

I can not recommend Dr Espinosa enough. She took a really scary situation and turned it into a positive experience for my daughter and myself. My daughter was originally seen at the Smiling Turtle in Novato which was acquired by new owners. My daughter had X-rays done, a cleaning and then a Dentist came in and spent 5 minutes making an assessment. My daughters teeth were not in good shape which I knew but they recommended treatment that felt aggressive combined with putting my daughter under with anesthesia for it. This was really surprising because she was always very cooperative and followed direction well. I reached out to Dr Espinosa and my first introduction was to her Office Manager, Joe. He was incredibly nice, super helpful and got me all coordinated with what I needed to get in ASAP. I unfortunately had to reschedule because of a miscommunication between my husband and I but Joe took it all in stride. He couldn't get me right in but placed me on a waitlist and kept an eye out for an opening. Joe was able to get me reschedule within a week which I was really grateful for. The visit to the office followed strict COVID safety precautions and I was really impressed with DrEspinosa's and her Assistant, Heather's interaction with my daughter. My kiddo felt at ease that she didn't even need me for the X-rays or the assessment. What I suspected was true and Dr Espinosa thought my daughter would do well with Nitrous Oxide and did not need to be fully under with anesthesia. Not only did my daughter sit through the whole initial treatment, we had to do a second visit for the other side and she hopped up in the chair with zero hesitation. Because of the care Dr Espinosa and her team took with my little girl, she has happy memories of her visit to the dentist and proudly follows the instructions she was given for at home dental care. I can't thank her team enough for taking us so soon but just for being genuinely thoughtful in the experience young children have when they visit the Dentist to create good habits going forward. read more

This practice is absolutely amazing. Our daughter (2.5 yo) had an accident where her front teeth were in jeopardy and Patrice and team went above and beyond, staying open for us for over an hour so we could have her assessment and X-rays. The office is very clean and COVID compliant and our daughter can't stop talking about wanting to go back. The office staff to the assistants were all very friendly. We will be going back again. Thanks Patrice and team! read more

We found out about Dr. Espinoso when she was so generous with her time that she did a demonstration at the school for the kids. We are so glad she did! We had a rather tearful experience at another dentist so I was thrilled that the kids were actually asking to go to a dentist. Both kids have now gone for about three years. They have never had a bad experience and are so fond of her that they actually wanted me to call to let her know when they lost their first teeth. Don't worry, I didn't. I know she is busy! read more

Patrice is wonderful! She is not our main dentist but saw her after hours for an emergency, I would highly recommended her. Her office is clean and bright and great for kids of all ages. She is very personable as well. read more

We HIGHLY recommend Dr. Espinosa. We are like a similar family here who left a wonderful review. We have a 2.5 year old daughter who had a chipped tooth a year ago that resulted in decay. She definitely needed it extracted. Background: The last few dentists, although helpful in diagnosis, were not really great working with kids. Our daughter always ended up screaming, shrieking, fighting, and we would have to hold her down, just to look in her mouth. We were told she was highly anxious and uncooperative. Our last recommendation for the tooth extraction was that she would have to be restrained in a papoose and they definitely didn't think she would be able to be still for laughing gas, so she would have to be conscious, without even a mild sedative, and in extreme stress while her tooth would be extracted. It sounded like an extreme option. Our Experience with Dr. Espinosa: So we found Dr. Espinosa after asking several FB family groups, and she came highly recommended. OH MY GOODNESS, we are so glad we found her - she is absolutely magical with children, and in a way that is so respectful, gentle, and understanding. She was actually was able to read my daughter and really meet her emotional needs. She gave her space and time to adjust, she showed her everything in advance, she explained everything that was going to happen, and she let my daughter really just be where she needed to be. She also had stuffed animals to demonstrate on, and we brought our own, which she happily used too. Yes, she had prizes, which were helpful, but it was her talented way of being with kids that made the day such a success. Within minutes, my daughter showed a different side to her. She actually wanted to try sitting in the dentist chair (whereas before she didn't want to go near it), she asked for sunglasses, she opened her mouth willingly, and laid still!! When it came time for the tooth extraction, our daughter knew about all the elements, including the mask, and even asked to put it on when she was ready. It felt truly miraculous. Near the end of the experience, she did get scared and started crying, which I feel is understandable if you're 2.5 and getting a tooth removed! Dr. Espinosa was so professional, calm, kind, and didn't miss a beat. She instructed us parents on how to position ourselves and how to be with our daughter, and her tooth was removed swiftly and successfully! I believe our daughter was not traumatized in any way, and when we asked her later in the day what she remembered about the dentist, she said, "the fish!" (there are fish tanks in the waiting room). If you have a child that needs time to warm up to new experiences, a child that is shy or anxious at first, we 100% recommend Dr. Espinosa. I can't even explain how ecstatic we are that our daughter got to have such a positive experience with something that could have been so extremely traumatizing (if we had stayed with the original dentist) or perhaps would have been too much intervention (ie. general anesthesia) when she actually didn't need it. TIPS: We bought our daughter a play dentist kit a few weeks in advance, and she had been playing with it a lot leading up to the appointment today. Also, Dr. Espinosa let us take home the tooth, and the gas mask, and I know that will all help her integrate her experiences!! We will definitely be going back :) read more

Dr. Espinosa is nice and kind with my children. She's easy to understand and answer my questions clearly. The office is very open to schedule last minute appointment. read more

Dr. Espinosa has a way of connecting with children to make them feel comfortable, before she begins the exam. My son (age 9) is very sensitive and has been challenging to take to the dentist. He used to scream and cry. What a difference it has been going to Patrice. Instead of having the kids veg out or trying to distract them with a movie, she talks to them in a way they can understand and helps alleviate fears. She engages them as a part of the process and motivates them to brush and floss without scare tactics. I wish I could go to her!! read more

Best dentist ever! My kids have been going since they were two. Dr. Espinosa really takes the time to make sure your kids are comfortable being at the dentist. The kids love choosing a prize from the giant tooth after their appointment. read more

Hi I'm writing this review because Dr. Espinosa is an amazing pediatric dentist and person alike. My son was with Dr. Putnam for several years before Dr. Putnam retired a few years ago. My 10 year old son transferred to Dr. Espinosa and has great experiences every time. Dr. Espinosa is a very genuine caring person and this translates directly to her patient care as a dentist. Very patient, caring, sincere and talented too. She has the almost rare combo of really caring about her patients as well as being skilled professionally speaking. My son needed an general action plan as well a strategy for a few teeth not doing so well. Do yourself a favor and go to her, you'll see for yourself why I speak so highly of her. I don't write many reviews but when I do advocate for businesses it's because they are top notch and deserve it. thank you for reading, Marc Wilson read more

Dr. Espinosa had been taking care of our daughter's dental needs since she took over the practice from Dr. Putman a few years ago. When our daughter had the misfortune of breaking both adult front teeth, Dr. Espinosa let us know that restoring teeth was something she specializes in, takes pride, and enjoys that type of work. Our daughter was very nervous about the procedure, but Dr. Espinosa reassured both us and our daughter that she would keep our daughter comfortable and ease her nervousness. That was exactly what happened. The teeth repair came out beautifully perfect, and our daughter was smiling when everything was done. I highly recommend Dr. Espinosa for pediatric dentistry and she did very well by us. read more

We are lucky our children like going to the dentist because of Dr.Espinosa. She is welcoming, patient and thorough. She has a calm attentive office where everyone is smiling. read more

I took my three year old daughter in for her very first dentist visit. The staff was very friendly and extremely patient and gentle with my daughter. My daughter was relaxed and calm throughout the X-rays and the teeth cleaning. The room was very clean and they put a movie on for her on the tv. The tv was on the ceiling so that when my daughter laid down she was entertained by a movie during the cleaning. She was also given a pair of sun glasses in case the bright light bothered her and a pair of head phones to listen to the movie. Dr. Patrice was so kind and did a great job! The best part for my daughter was the toy box where she got to pick out one toy and received a sticker. The staff also gave me a rose for Mother's Day! How sweet! I loved our visit and look forward to the next visit at the next check up. Thank you Dr. Patrice and staff! read more

The best pediatric dentists around! Dr.Espinosa is very professional, caring, and wonderful with kids. She performed a filling on my 9 -year-old, and it couldn't have gone better. She immediately put my anxious child at ease with warm and friendly chair side manner and was extremely gentle. The office is geared towards making children and parents feel happy and comfortable. read more

Our 2 daughters (ages 12 and 14) don't like going to the dentist. Dr. Espinosa and her staff make the experience comfortable for them. Always helpful with ways to improve their hygiene, especially challenging with braces! Our 14 year old was terrified when she had to get a cavity filled, and Dr. Espinosa made the whole experience actually pleasant! We would highly recommend Dr. Espinosa and her staff to anyone looking for a compassionate and knowledgeable pediatric dentist. read more

We miss "Dr. P" but Dr. Espinosa has exceeded our expectations. She is competent, knowledgeable, and excellent with kids!

I have two sons, 5 and almost 3 and we love Patrice. My younger son has a very difficult time letting anyone get close to him or touch him and Patrice and her staff were amazing with him. She is extremely knowledge in teeth. My older son at the age of 3 and did an exam and let us know within 6 months he would lose his 2 front teeth, 6 months later she was correct! We look forward to seeing her at our next appointments! Highly recommend her! read more

We absolutely love Dr. Espinosa! My daughter had a dental procedure done when very young (but definitely old enough to remember) that did not go well. She did not want to go back to the dentist after that. Until we found Dr. Espinosa...she was kind, caring and so patient with my daughter that she actually now looks forward to going to the dentist (can't believe it myself)! Thank you to Dr. Espinosa and her expert care!! read more

Dr. Espinosa is a gem! Her bedside manner is warm, gentle, kind and inviting. My kids absolutely love going to see her! Her passion for her work clearly shows. Her "no sugar bug club" keeps my kids motivated to take care of their teeth and the goody box at the end of the visit is a real treat. She also does not push unnecessary treatments but does offer options while allowing you to make your own decision. I can't say enough about Dr. Espinosa! read more

My daughter has sensory issues and has a very difficult time at the dentist. Dr Espinosa was great with her. She took her time, accommodated and found solutions to objections when necessary, and was professional, smart and lovely to deal with. The office is small and personal. It doesn't feel like a factory like some of the bigger ones, which is a huge plus! I highly recommend her!!! read more

Patrice Espinosa was recommended from a forum for special needs parents. My 7 year old son who has ASD and Sensory Processing Disorder has never had a good experience at the dentist until now! She spent more than an hour talking my son through the process and making sure he was comfortable before proceeding. I would highly recommend!!!!!! read more

Im writing this review to tell you how amazing Dr Espinosa is. My son loves going to the dentist. Her and her staff always make us feel like family. I also love how she will always find time to squeeze us in if there is an emergency...even if she has to stay late. She is pretty amazing and im so lucky we found her. read more