Karen N Larson, DDS

I love this office! I have been seeing Dr. Larson for many years now. She and her staff are very friendly and professional. I always feel welcomed there. I got my sister and her family to start going there and they love it, too!

The office staff is friendly and sweet. Dr. Larson is personable and thorough. My teeth still feel clean weeks later! I had been looking for a dentist for a long time and a coworker suggested her-​so glad! To top off the awesome factor-​they called and refunded me for an exam. There was no up selling, just honest and amazing work. She really cares and is a fantastic dentist!!!

I have been coming to Dr Larson since I had teeth. She is an amazing dentist and overall just an amazing person. My family and I drive from Walnut Creek to see her, and I have two sisters in New York that still make appointments with her when they come back for visits. I think that says a lot. I look forward to seeing her and catching up on our lives. It feels like family. Her staff is amazing as well! Who would of thought the dentist can be an amazingly pleasant experience… well…if you go to Dr Larson it can be!

Dr. Larson and her team are the best. We’ve been going to them since we abandoned the pediatric practice in town after they terrified our toddler by holding him down while working on him, over 12 years ago. Neither child (they are now a teen and an adult) has ever had any fears or problems seeing Karen — she always works with her pediatric patients herself, even for cleanings, and they absolutely trust her. Wonderfully gentle and distracting while cleaning or doing procedures, and encourages parents to sit in the room with pediatric patients. She’s even suggested to my son that he have a small cavity filled without novacaine because the needle would sting more than any pressure from the filling process; he agreed, and she was right.
To clarify, this isn’t actually a pediatric office — they don’t have toys or a jungle gym or other kid stuff, but local parents in the know bring even their youngest kids to Karen. My husband and I liked her so much, we switched to her care, too. As others have said, even if I was living in another part of the Bay Area, I’d trek twice a year to Dr. Larson’s office. Happily, it’s just a short hop from my home.

Moved to Alameda 8 years ago. The first dentist I saw was for a cleaning, which he did, but he kept trying to sell me a procedure that was not necessary and VERY expensive. The next dentist, I made a noon appt so I could use lunch time. I arrived a couple minutes early & sat down to wait — there wasn’t anyone at the desk, but I heard voices upstairs. So I started reading and lost track of the time. Someone finally came downstairs around 12:30…I told her my name and why I was there. She said they had decided to have a lunch meeting. I told her my appt was for 12. She shrugged & told me that someone would see me at 1 instead. No apology, so I left.
Dr. Larson’s office was the one I wish I’d gone to first. Everyone there is warm, professional, on time, caring, effective, considerate, and they even have a parking lot.

My tooth starts hurting-​pain went all the way to my ear and down my neck. It was time to find a dentist. I could not have asked for a more gentle and kind dentist. Her and her staff put me at ease. The cavities and other dental work I needed was not as bad as the last dentist made it out to be. Dr. Larson made me feel that it was easy and manageable. However, I had to have a root canal and went across the street to someone they recommended.
My root canal cost 1,725 and I still have to get a permanent cap for the tooth. I then had two cavities filled by Dr. Larson and it cost $ 521. These prices are ridiculous. I will have to go elsewhere.

Before I found Dr. Larson I had decided never to go to a dentist again no matter what. I had been tortured by dentists as a child and lived in utter fear of them. Of course trouble with the teeth cannot be ignored forever and eventually you have to *ahem* grit your teeth and bear it. So about 12 years ago Dr. Larson was recommeded as a gentle soul, modern, caring, and as good a dentist as you could hope for…
And it was all true. Pain management, gentleness, thoroughness, all foremost in her practice. I cannot recommend her highly enough. Its actually to the point where I don’t fear the dentist any longer, and have, over the years, fixed a lot of dental problems.
(My son, now 11, has been seeing her his whole life doesn’t even know the concept of dentist-​fear. He goes in and apart from a numb lip he dosen’t know what all the fuss is about…)
Office staff, hygienists, assistants are all top notch. There is a casual, open atmosphere in her office that keeps things relaxed.
Free parking!
I’d see her no matter where in the Bay Area I lived.

OK, I admit it – I have good teeth. So, I get suspicious whenever I feel a dentist is trying to talk me into something (replacing silver fillings with white ones, teeth whitening, «hidden cavity repair», whatever). I’m been with Dr. Larson for over 10 years (time flies…), and, aside from a brief stint of the hygienist trying to sell me an electric toothbrush about 8 years ago (and she’s no longer there), they have NEVER tried to «educate» me on a product or an unnecessary service, unless I’ve brought it up first.
And I keep coming back because they do a great job of cleaning what needs to be cleaned and keeping track of my personal quirks (NO FRUIT FLAVORED POLISH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH)… and once you have a hygienist, you’ll continue to be scheduled with the same person (unless you ask for a change, or if there’s the rare turnover). The free travel-​sized toothpaste and floss samples don’t hurt either :-).
The one minor non-​cleaning-​related procedure I had done here (filling in a super-​deep crevice in one of my back teeth that kept catching food) was easy, painless, and fast.