Bumgarner Stephen D D S

I was so sad to today to hear that Dr. Bumgarner would be retiring at the end of this month!
My kids have grown up with him as regular patients on his ‘marin days’ in Mill Valley and have seen him for regular exams and occasionally needed other services over the years.
He was absolutely fabulous with both my son and daughter and has instilled in them a distinct ‘non fear’ of dentists — we will miss him very much and are most grateful to had the opportunity to be among his patient families.

We have been going to Pediatrics Dentist for over 4 years and I was so disappointed with Dr. Bumgarner for my 9 year old daughter’s last visit. We have seen him before for a teeth cleaning, but never experienced anything like this before. She needed to have sealants and she was a little nervous. He was so harsh with her since she wasn’t keeping her mouth open. He kept tapping on her shoulder, asking her «what is wrong with you?, what is wrong with you?» in a tone that was not acceptable. I told him not to talk to her that way, and he said «I have been doing this for 35 years and she needs to keep her mouth open!». Then he inserted a mouth guard without telling her about this first and she started to gag on the cotton and the water squirted into her mouth. That didn’t make him happy either! She was in tears and so was I! After the 2 sealants he gave her a break and came back 5 minutes later for the 2 bottom teeth. He said to her, «promise me one thing». I was a little nervous, then he answered his own question, «don’t get any cuter». Seriously? It was a horrible experience. Dr. Jenny Wong is great at Pediatrics Dentist and so are the hygienists and the ladies at the reception desks, but we won’t be seeing Dr. Bumgarner again. Perhaps we caught him on an off day, but as a pediatric dentist, you would think he would have better behavior. The mama bear in me came out!

I have been going to Dr. Bumgarner, and sometimes his associate Dr. Wong, for over ten years, and I have always had a very positive experience there. Everyone there is friendly and professional, and scheduling appointments is easy too. They once took me on a walk in basis when I needed an x-​ray quickly.
I was dreading the day that I would have to leave for an adult dental practice, but they assured me that they don’t ever make anyone leave due to their age. And at 21 I’m not even their oldest patient — they have one who is 30 years old! That says a lot about the care and professionalism of Dr. Bumgarner and the staff at 5233 Geary. Your kids are definitely in good hands there.

We have been going to Dr. Bumgarner for 8 years now and in general he is a really nice, friendly, apporachable guy. My kids both felt good about their experiences there – until our last visit. When the doctor was doing an exam, he poked my son and my boy started to cry. Dr. B’s reaction though uncharacteristic, was unforgivable. He told my son to get over it, that it was just a little poke, to sit up straight, and to stop his crying. My son does not cry easily, and I was speechless. After taking x-​rays, Dr. B discovered that my son had a huge cavity and needed a root canal in the area where he just ‘gave a little poke’. He told me ‘ah, NOW i understand why he was crying’, but didn’t apologize to me or my son. That experience along with the fact that they don’t accept my dental insurance, is the reason we will not be going back. I would have hoped that someone with years of experience working with children would have better techniques for soothing children in pain, and admitting his mistake.

Dr. Bumgarner is a wonderful pediatric dentist; my 3 children adore him. He is highly knowledgeable, amazing with children (and adults) and makes the entire dental experience fun and stress free. If I could give Steve 10 stars, I would! We love Dr. Bumgarner!