Dennis Macaulay, DDS

We have been visiting Dr Macaulay for the last two years. He is very skilled dentist and the whole organization is very professional.

I have been coming here for quite a few years and have always been very satisfied with the treatment from Dr. Macaulay, Dorothy, and Debbie. I see them every 6 months and actually enjoy going for my routine check up.
Dr. Macaulay recently fixed my chipped front tooth and it looks amazing! They were very good about fitting me into the schedule. The procedure was painless and took less than 30 minutes. I’m very happy to have my smile back. Thank you!

Dr. Macaulay has been my regular dentist for several years, but until recently, I had no need for any of his services besides regular cleaning. But due to a recent experience, I am now extremely impressed by his technical skill, meticulous work, and his drive to stay current with latest developments in dental materials and procedures.
While out of town some time ago, I chipped a front tooth, which apparently was difficult to fix — a very narrow surface to attach the repair material to. Another dentist (who came with recommendations from friends, so I don’t believe he was incompetent) tried twice to fix that tooth: the first repair broke off after just a few days, the second attempt didn’t quite last two weeks.
Fortunately, by this time I was back home, and went to see Dr. Macaulay. He used some interesting recent techniques (that the other guy didn’t), and the short of it is that it has now been several months, and the repair has held up just fine (and I assume will continue to do so).
In the end, skill is really the thing I care most about in a dentist, and Dr. Macaulay did not disappoint! Highly recommended.

My wife and I were regular patients at this clinic for over 4 years and I’d give them 4+ stars for the treatments. In November 2013, we decided to use a different clinic since we found a better clinic closer to hime.
However, given we had a better experience at Dr Maclaulay’s clinic, we decided to come back in Oct 2014. My first appointment was for regular cleaning. I reached their office on time and was seated on the chair and the first thing the hygenist (Debbie) mentioned is that they need to take x-​rays.
I mentioned that I had x-​rays taken in May this year and hence my insurance wouldn’t pay for it again — so, I suggested that I’ll get the old clinic fax the x-​rays to Dr Macaulay’s clinic once I was done with my appointment. Debbie said that she won’t be able to proceed with cleaning and that I would have to reschedule my appointment.
I was not told that they needed x-​rays and other documents from my other clinic when I’d specifically mentioned to the front desk that I’m a returning patient. I told Debbie that I found it hard to slot in this appointment into my schedule and it was very hard to move this to another time — to which, she replied that even they were losing chair time.
I’m shocked with such a statement and very surprised how I’m denied service because they couldn’t get an x-​ray (I also don’t understand why an x-​ray is needed for dental cleaning).
In the end, they just lost a very good patient because of the ridiculous replies from their hygienist and because they were careless enough not to mention what all they needed for the first appointment.
Good bye Dr Macaulay.

I decided to visit Dr. Macaulay’s office after developing some pain in my tooth that was treated for a root canal by some other Dentist. I was not happy with my other dentist because she procrastinated tooth filling resulting into yet another ‘potential’ root canal.
Dr. Macaulay did a series of X rays and understood the problem and went over the issues with me and described to me very patiently the steps I should take to address the potential root canal.
It has been a great experience since then. I visited him thrice and everytime I have had a wonderful experience.
Dr. Macaulay is a great doctor and treats every patient with utmost importance and care.
His staff is wonderful too. They return the call promptly, send email reminders and are very patient with any questions a patient may have.
I would certainly recommend this clinic to all my friends and families.

Dr. Macaulay is the best dentist I have been to in my life. He made a crown for me and everything was so smooth. Thank you Dr. Macaulay!

What a dentist! Dr. Macaulay has terrific chair-​side manner. He’s extremely gentle, professional, reassuring, and friendly. His staff is outstanding. Donna & Debbie, the hygienists, are super nice and do very thorough cleanings. Dr. Macaulay won’t ever scare you with exaggerated opinions of your teeth and related expensive procedures. Instead, he’s very conservative, always choosing to wait on treatments if possible.
Counter to Pratik K.‘s review regarding billing problems, I and my family (my wife and two sons also see Dr. Macaulay) have never had billing problems. Seamless. We chose this office because it’s close to our home in Sunnyvale. My wife and I just agreed that we’d travel to him if he was in south san jose or the east bay! This practice is that good!
Super good with kids in the chair, too.

The staff is pretty good with the routine stuff, but in my case, they tried to recommend treatments that were completely not necessary.

I want to write review for Doctor Macaulay for so long but I have so much to say about him I was not sure what I should write! He is very patient and calm, always answering all your questions! I like how he is (when explaining the treatment you need) giving you few options! I like how he always call me back when I have an emergency!
But this is why I fall in love with him and his team… Years ago my little nephew has to have feeling done to his tooth… My sister panick and ask me to take her son to Doctor Macaulay… From the moment me and my nephew walk to this ofice somebody was «giving him 5», smiling, joking with him… He sit at this big chair, had anesthesia applied to his mouth with big needle and tooth cavity fixt with smile on his face!
Great place for whole family!

The service is good. They do know their dental stuff. But my experience as far as the charges goes is not very good. They have always mailed me bills which are way above what my insurance company asked me to pay. This has happend for each of my visit. When i contacted them about the discrepancy of the bills, they said, you’re right you should be paying what your insurance company asked you to pay. Then why the higher bills?
I am changing my dentist just because I dont feel the honesty when it comes to the charges.

I finally understand how anesthesia is supposed to be applied to the tooth/​mouth area.
The needle is supposed to be inserted slowly so the numbing agent in front of the needle has time to make the area in front of it numb so you don’t feel pain.
If the injections hurt when numbing the mouth then find a better dentist.
Very meticulous, takes time to look at xrays and think. Not a high volume shop and not careless.
Very good staff, all helpful with wonderful cheerful personalities. Businesses are successful because of the quality of the people running it.
This business is no exception to other successful businesses.
They are more accessible than other dentist offices, they open at 8am on Fridays. Not all dentists do this. Very accessible 24×7 via pager/​phone.
Looks like this is someone who has a passion for their work and is good at it.

This office is great.
— Dr. M: Excellent dentist — he is a very kind and patient dentist. Super honest Dentist, he believes in: if things don’t break, don’t touch.
— Debbie: Outstanding hygienist — she is the best hygienist — she takes the time to do the job right. Very detail oriented
— Front desk: Dorothy is Dr M’s wife and also the front office manager. She is a very nice person.

One line summary — Best dentist in the bay area. I have lived in the east, peninsula and now the south, hard to beat Dr. M and his «D» team.
My relationships with dentists are in line with Woody Allen’s relationships with his girlfriends (young), Shaq with his weight regimen or any classic love-​hate relationships. I would love to have perfect teeth, but hate the work that is involved in getting there. Before I met Dr M and his «D» team, Debbie (The Ultimate Hygienist), Donna and Dorothy (Dr M’s wife as well the Front-​office person), my gum-​lines score were always deeper than our country’s budget. Debbie was patient with me and told me that fixing my Wisdom tooth is the most important step for me to get back to the love part of my relationship. Where is Oprah when you really need her? I took the plunge and got my wisdom out. Long story short, my gum line is now less red and more love.
Three reasons why I think you should go with Dr M and his team,
— Excellent dentist — Dr. M is a very kind and patient dentist, who won’t run procedures on you to keep his business out of red. He provided multiple better care options that didn’t hurt my wallet and still gave excellent outcomes.
— Outstanding hygienist — Debbie is the best hygienist for multiple reasons — very detail oriented, gives you improvement areas and practical ways to work on it, free gum cleaner devices that you can’t buy anywhere else.
— Genius Bar like service — Dorothy is Dr M’s wife and also the front office manager. She is the one who picks up the phone when you schedule your appointment. She will find you an appointment that works for your schedule, she bills very flexibly, and follows through on all items.
I have not posted this review for a long time because I didn’t want this Sunnyvale jewel to be Unilocaled-​out, but like a Woody movie, at the end, I only want to do the right thing. Go, sorry Run to Dr M to save your teeth.
Your more loving my teeth reviewer,
Fred

I’m really sad that I can no longer come to Dr. Macaulay’s office for my dental cleaning. I barely just found them maybe 2 years ago.
The entire staff here is wonderful. Everyone is super nice and super friendly. They really take time with the cleanings and everything was pain free for me.
I switched insurance providers and unfortunately, Dr. Macaulay is not one of the doctors that are in the preferred network. I am quite sad that I have to switch again!

I HAVE to apologize to Dorothy for the below review. It was NOT Dorothy’s fault in the billing, it was MetLife! Our group number was changed and Dr. Macaulay’s office was not notified.
Again, Dr. Macaulay is great along with his entire staff. Dorothy was very paitent with me when I personally visited the office only to complain about my bill.
Thanks Dorothy, thanks Dr. Macaulay. I would recommend this office to anyone.

I had a dead tooth; or should I say, a piece of tooth.
I had undergone a root canal over a year previously to my appointment with Dr. Macaulay.
I had needed a crown but allowed the remaining top portion of the tooth to break, to be clinging to the gum.
So you can imagine a loose sharp chunk of tooth that I had to deal with. I could have waited a few days to allow to tooth to eventually fall out. But instead, I chose to have it cleansed away via Dr. Macaulay.
I wasn’t in pain.
I just wanted the sensation of a loose tooth jabbing my gum as I attempt to chew… to be removed.
Nevertheless, Dr. Macaulay’s office deemed this to be an ‘emergency’ procedure and hence, charged me $ 158.
I was treated well, and had a couple of X-​rays done on the tooth. Dr. Macaulay’s office would have scored a 4-​star, but I subtracted 1 star for the HIGH cost of merely removing a loose tooth that would have fallen out about 48+ hours later anyway.
As of now, I’m reluctant to pay out-​of-​pocket for a tooth replacement, extrapolating that such a cost, based on what the apparent prevailing rate is… would be equivalent to the price of a small car.
I’ll wait till I’m out-​of-​the-​country to recoup the cost.

Dr. Maculay will fill a tooth then mention you most likely need a root canal anyway. The office will bill you, hold your money, then get the adjustment from the insurance company and return the part you overpay. That is, IF the staff bothers to call your insurance company to check on a claim rather than sending threatening notices even after you explain all the calls you make to the insurance company anyway, and definately don’t count on them to check if the estimate they give you is correct according to your insurance.
If you go in for something specific, repeat yourself a few times. My impression was that Dr. Maculay forgets that we know more about what’s going on with our teeth and that we sometimes know what we actually want.

Super super friendly staff and doctor. They are all really efficient and nice. I have spoken on the phone a couple of times with dorothy and she hooked me up with a good deal. I have been coming her for a couple of months now and even though its kind of a drive from san jose, it’s totally worth it. Thanks guys! keep up the great work!

Dr. Macaulay is definitely not the closest dentist to either my house or my work, but upon reading his stellar reviews on Unilocal I decided to go to him. My last visit to a dentist was 4 years ago and my teeth today are as pristine as Berlin in 1945. On a fateful day in Oct 2009, a molar gave in to a piece of well cooked pork rib and cracked.
Upon initial inspection, Dr. Mccaulay decided a root canal is unnecessary, so today I went in for a filling. Dr. Mccaulay and his competent and courteous assistant Donna met me in the room 2 minutes later and started the hour-​long procedure.
The local anesthetic was administered by Dr. Macauley himself. I was carefully shielded from the sight of needle — a good move considering some patients are freaked of needles — so I didn’t feel the needle prick at all.
Then it’s the lengthy process of placing the cement, pulverizing the whatever-​it-​is, shaping, and polishing. It did last a while, but Dr. McCaulay explained everything he was doing and made sure I felt comfortable (maybe because he knows as a medical device professional I do care to know about these things?). And indeed I was completely comfortable throughout the whole process, feeling nothing except hearing the high-​pitched noise of the drill on my tooth.
Now 7 hours have passed and the local anesthetic has long worn off, but still no pain or discomfort of any sort.
This is by far the best experience I have had with any dentist. When everything is done, Dr McCaulay asked again how I felt. To which I replied —
«I’m hungry.»

This man and his staff are just *fantastic*!
My husband and I have been patients of Dr. Maculay for a few years now. While I have good teeth, I cannot stand the sensation of cleanings, and my husband is extremely dental-​pain intolerant, but Dr. Maculay always leaves us smiling and feeling good.
He is considerate and amazingly gentle, and does not flinch away from telling you what you need done. He has a no-​nonsense, compassionate approach to all his procedures, and he actually LISTENS to your complaints and questions. His staff, from the hygenist to the receptionist, are better than excellent and only too happy to answer questions and help you feel relaxed and at home.
I live in Oakland now, but I happily drive the 45 miles to see Dr. Maculay, and I STRONGLY recommend anyone, even those with exceptionally bad teeth, a fear or dislike of dentists or an intolerance of pain, to give this guy a call.