Indu Sharma, DDS

Although everyone in Dr. Sharma’s office is really nice, they are very disorganized. On multiple occasions, they’ve scheduled me for an appointment and then called me to reschedule at the last minute (so last minute that I was only five minutes from the office when they called me). They also do a horrible job confirming with insurance. They told me that I needed cleanings more regularly than every six months, and scheduled me to have them four months apart without checking with my insurance first. Turns out my insurance only covers two cleanings a year, and since I’ve already had two this year, I now won’t be able to get another one for at least eight months.
I also find that I have to probe for information about why I need certain procedures. They don’t seem to want to explain things. I much prefer medical professionals who walk me through what’s happening to me at each step of the way.
I won’t be going back to this office — it’s time for a new dentist.

I love my dentist! I have been to many dentists in my life, and Dr. Sharma is the best of them all (with apologies to my cousin). She greets me with a warm smile, and has great technique administering novocaine. She is considerate and careful, and she recently did a wonderful job on porcelain veneers for my lower front teeth. They look and feel great. I have complete confidence in her, trust her 100 percent, and recommend her to all my friends.

I have Delta Dental HMO and based on Unilocal reviews I decided to give Berkeley Family Dental a chance. BIG MISTAKE! I give this office 1 star based on their customer service. I was having a dental emergency and needed to get in for an emergency appointment as soon as possible. I called at 11:10 am, the receptionist picked up to tell me she was on her way to lunch and couldn’t schedule an appointment and would call me back within the hour. 24 hours later she never called me back. I called the office several times after that and left at least two messages to schedule an appointment and never received a call from them. My final attempt, I finally reached the receptionist and explained that I was in a lot of pain and needed to get in as soon as possible and her response floored me…“Im sorry we dont have any openings until October and we will call you if there is a cancellation.” Wow!!! Really? This is how you treat your new patients? Needless to say, Berkeley Family Dental just lost a potential patient. I will be telling all of my family and friends about the unprofessional treatment I received before even setting foot in the office!

Dr. Sharma is WONDERFUL! Very skilled and takes her time listening to you. Minimal wait as well. Highly recommend this place.

Now a days, getting quality treatment and pleasant dental office trip is getting rare.
Last week, I got the rare experience. I visited this dental office. Office has honored my appointment time and I was called in exactly at time I have been given.
I have to repeat again. Dr. Indu is gentle and very knowledgeable. As usual, she explained me what is happening. What is recommended next action and how shall I provide future risk.
Office staff is very prompt & efficient. My insurance related tasks were already taken care.
I highly recommend very few businesses on Unilocal.This Dental office is one of them,
Thank you Dr. Indu and all staff.

Be careful! If you want to move on, they will charge you $ 25 per person for releasing X-​Ray copy.
My husband and I decided to see a new dentist, we want to take our X-​Ray records with us, they charged us $ 50 for sending the X ray copies by email. Very Unreasonable!
Luckily my new dentist don’t charge such kind of fee.

My family had been with this office since before Indu Sharma purchased it. Things were more or less OK until recently. The office cancelled my children’s cleaning because the hygienist needed to be out, and then… nothing. I’d call and they’d promise to call back with an appointment and nothing. No appointments available, for weeks on end.
In the meantime, I went in for my own cleaning, and it became clear that the office had missed a cavity right at root level: both this time and last time (a filling had fallen out, and become filled with goop, so they called it «brushing too hard damage to the root». Once cleaned out it was plainly a cavity, visible even to my six year old).
They had no appointment available for a filling, so I got a next day appointment across the street. Sharma’s office stonewalled me on getting copies of the X-​rays, finally releasing a fuzzy «summary» X-​ray that was nearly useless. The new dentist took his own sharp X-​rays and found the visible cavity was the tip of the iceberg: the next tooth over had an ugly black crater between the teeth that Dr. Sharma had completely missed. And, there was a third problem: back at the first tooth the X-​ray showed the root was retreating from under a decades old prior filling. Underneath: decay. The old filling was slightly cracked and the area underneath was black and soft. So Dr. Sharma missed two of the three actual cavities. Last time she missed the area completely.
Mistakes happen. Dr. Sharma could have learned, apologized, and moved on. In fact I gave her hygienist the chance to see the area she had twice told me to brush carefully (the area that was in fact a cavity).
A week later, out of the blue, I get a letter from my insurance company saying that «for the interest of all concerned» that my entire family (kids included) would be transferred to a different office. Meaning, Dr. Sharma fired me and my family as patients.

Dr Sharma is gentle, genuine and personable, I got a few fillings and a bridge done with her and she made me feel safe in her hands. i tend to cringe when i think of a dentist, but she was very gentle through the whole procedure.
I am very happy with her service and will be going back to her for more work next year. I highly recommend Dr.Sharma.

Dr. Sharma was fine, she was attentive and did a good cleaning. Her staff, however, has been a nightmare to deal with. She recommended I get 6 fillings, which seemed excessive since I’ve never had a cavity before. After requesting to get my x-​rays for a 2^nd opinion from a family friend, they refused to waive the $ 25 fee to have my own x-​rays e-​mailed to me. They were supposed to send me a release for to my e-​mail which I am still waiting on; I’ve left about 10 messages because they never pick up. I’ve decided to have the work done elsewhere because of how I’ve been treated by the staff.

I went to this dentist practice when the dentist was Hongyu Yang, and I wasn’t impressed with his service. I was actually pleased when I found out that the dentist had changed to Dr Sharma, as I hoped it would be different. Unfortunately, I was wrong. For starters, they are desperate for your phone number. I sometimes run out of phone credit and so am unreachable, and this clearly made them uncomfortable as they asked me today if I had another phone number they could reach me on. Uh, no, I don’t think so. Like I want their constant badgering about cleaning appointments anyway.
So I saw Dr Sharma today because I had two root canals and crowns done by Dr Yang last year (that I’m pretty sure weren’t 100% necessary) and I had some swelling on that gum I wanted checked. She had a look, and asked her assistant to take some x-​rays. The assistant wasn’t very good, taking multiple x-​rays because she couldn’t get the x-​ray bit thing in my mouth right. Yeah, no worries, extra radiation is cool.
So Dr Sharma comes back in and says that it looks like one of my root canals has failed. Oh, and by the way, one of my crowns is being marked for replacement. They’re only meant to last ten years, but hey, who cares about that when they can get sweet, sweet dollars for another out of my insurance? She then proceeds to tell me I need a huge amount of fillings, and then drops the cherry on top and says she «doesn’t deal» with the endodontist that practice referred me to before, so I can deal with the whole root canal thing by myself. She doesn’t offer to send over the x-​rays to them, meaning I had to get yet MORE x-​rays done at the endodontist later today. She didn’t seem remotely sympathetic that there was shoddy work done at the practice before her. As I left, the receptionist asked me about scheduling a cleaning for my husband (wtf, why I am suddenly his proxy), and that was it. Or so I thought.
Later tonight, I get a call from the receptionist, wanting to go through my treatment plan. This is the first I’ve heard of any treatment plan, but whatever, fine, maybe I’ll get one or two of these fillings done. She then proceeds to quote me around $ 250 for the top right section of my mouth, whilst telling me I need fillings on the left and right, top and bottom. I have no idea why it’s so expensive all of a sudden, since last time I got a filling it was like $ 40, same insurance, but I tell her I can’t afford it, and ask her which are the worst, as I’ll prioritise them. She leaves me on hold for ages, then comes back and says Dr Sharma says they’re all really deep, and all need to be done ASAP. Yeah, bullshit. I’ve no doubt I have a couple of fillings that need to be done, and I was willing to do that, but if you try and squeeze me for all the money you can, I’m going elsewhere.
In conclusion, Dr Sharma is just another money-​hungry dentist who wants to put fillings in all your teeth, regardless of how much you need them. Avoid.

Still a very happy customer after almost one year. The staff is superb. When you enter Dr. Sharma’s office I am always greeted warmly with a great big smile by the receptionist Natasha. Sadly, Dr. Sharma is not a «preferred provider» on my current dental insurance plan. I choose to pay extra out-​of-​pocket because I like the service I get here and don’t want to switch dentists.
This is the only dental office I’ve been to that is on-​time with appointments and don’t keep you waiting. The office is clean and uses state-​of-​the-​art equipment.
The hygienist is always friendly (even when it’s obvious I don’t floss as much as I should) and they give constructive suggestions on how I could improve my oral health and hygiene. I’ve never felt like they were up-​selling products or services. They’re merely suggestions, and they don’t care if you buy stuff from them or from Amazon or Target or nowhere at all.
Everyone in this office is the best at what they do. You couldn’t ask for anyone to take better care of your teeth and gums. Healthy gums don’t bleed. I had bleeding gums for my entire life until I changed to this dental office. My hygienist Michelle treated my gum disease and coached me in improving my home routine until my gum disease was in remission. NO more bleeding gums!
These guys are the best! If you are looking for a fantastic dental office, I highly recommend this one.

I’ve been going to her for over a year now for cleaning, and this is the first time she ever worked on my teeth. She not only took care of filling in a chipped tooth, but with no extra charge went after the adjacent tooth which was also developing problems, and at no extra charge! Skilled preventive dentistry at its best, delivered with a smile and reassurance! Indu is tops in my book!
One year later: had as usual, a top cleaning visit with her, and realized a few days later I’d need a new sonic toothbrush. I emailed her for advice, and she responded promptly, in person! How often can you say that about a dentist? She and her staff are tops!

I fully agree with everything the patient below wrote. I signed up for Unilocal just to sing Dr. Sharma’s praises.

I love Dr sharma. She is honest and kind.
She made perfect crown for implant. The crown looks same as my real teeth. I am happy with her job.

Had a visit with Dr Sharma and a cleaning with Michelle. Both were fabulous. I did wait for 20 min prior to my appointment, but that wasn’t bad. Otherwise, Dr Sharma was knowledgable and kind. Michelle who was the detal hygenist was gentle and considerate and communicative througout. All in all a very good experience.

After I posted the original review, the manager Vic contacted me several times telling me to remove the review or he’d lose his job.
I was actually considering editing my review until I received this private message:
hi,
I saw your x rays as i am final year student i could see 4 cavities in x ray may be the doctors you saw before dr sharma has not seen xrays thats why they told you 2 cavities dr sharma was teaching for past 10 yrs in university of pacific san francisco and she is very consevative dr regarding treatment plan that what i have seen in her trust me you can have second openion with other dr and show him these x ray so what you wrote about dr sharma was wrong and belive me she does lot of treatment for patient who cannot afford for free so i can, t undestand why will she say you regarding 4 cavities instead of two .You promised me that you will edit the contents once you get check i would like you to remove everything you said about dr sharma that was not true. Secondly i talked to my front desk she told me you camr early 35 mts as you wanted x rays right than so all together you wated 20 mts was not an hour. Please stick to your words and edit these contents as if you don, t i will for sure loose my job if you want me to lose my job you can do what you feel like, I am afinal year student inUCSF dental school and that is my only source of earning that is this job please edit that review i promised you that check and i did my part of bargain now you do yours so i can save my job i am father of 1 kid also so please consider that or else i won, t be able to pay my and my son bills. I know you are leaving country so do a good deed to me by removing that review so i can save my job my boss has given me altimatom if that review is not taken care of i will lose my job. ple…ase.
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I responded to him via private Unilocal message as well:
Dr. Sharma’s incompetence has nothing to do with your job, unless you cover up for her, which could cost you your job and potentially your career.
My doctors made their own xrays, and if I were you, I wouldn’t question competency of a military dentist. I did not ask for xrays the first time I came to Dr. Sharma, she told me I needed to get them done even though I had emailed her a copy of my July 2012 xrays 2 weeks prior to the appointment. I know that she bills my insurance for xrays, so this is another suspicious thing I’m noticing.
Your front desk person is obviously on your side. I did NOT come in 30 minutes early. I actually came in exactly on time — maybe even 5 minutes late. I called the office a few minutes before my appointment time (9am on Jan 7) to ask if you validated parking. The response was negative. So it took me about 5 minutes to park and walk up to the 3^rd floor. I obviously have a record of that and it can be printed.
Please, don’t lie in my face as this doesn’t really help your case here.
You gave me the check to reimburse me for the horrible time I had at your dental office.
As an act of a good will, I was considering editing my review thinking you were genuinely concerned about your patients and wanted me to feel better about my experience.
Well, now I can see it wasn’t the case. All you care about is the number of patients your office can bill.
I didn’t «bargain» with you. I said I’d edit the review when the check clears, not when I receive it. Don’t twist my words.
So I am now editing the review. I won’t be taking it off, as my experience was real and it is imperative people take it into consideration before dealing with you and Dr. Sharma.
You’ve been way too pushy and I don’t appreciate that. Several missed calls from your office in less than 2 hours seems a little too much, sir. Calling me everyday telling me to remove my negative, but truthful review is definitely not okay.
I could care less about your job because your Dentist didn’t do hers properly.
Your statement «what you wrote about dr sharma was wrong» implies that I lied in my review. Well, guess what, since you’ve gone that far, I refuse to edit my review.
As a matter of fact, I wil add this message to the review to show people how shady you people are.
Unilocal was created for the public to be able to evaluate businesses independently, with no pressure. I don’t appreciate the pressure you’re putting on me and I will not let it go.
Fix your office, not patients’ complaints against it. If your dentist was as competent as you’re claiming, this review wouldn’t be here in the first place.
Good luck with your school, and please, don’t contact me ever again or I will get a restraining order from you for harassment.
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We shall see what he thinks about that.
Honestly, all I wanted was my 2 fillings. This drama about reviews is just way to extreme, but I feel that trying to bribe me to remove my review just because it’s negative is not a proper way to do business. Especially when it has to do with HEALTHCARE

* Dr. Indu Sharma is kind, friendly, and very understanding. She frequently check on my pain during the cleaning and later provided a lot of tips for Happy Teeth.
* Making an appointment is very easy.
* Reminders are promptly provided.
* In addition a lot of +‘s.
It is great experience having Dr. Indu Sharma on my dental work and I strongly recommend her.

Dr. Sharma is a wonderful, kind dentist… but expect to wait… I have an HMO policy and I waited over an hour to be seen. The office is in mediocre shape and not what I would consider to be state of the art. You may want to look elsewhere for your for your next dental experience.

So as a context, I have had, well, not great dentists in the past. Whenever I needed work done (a cleaning or a cavity filled), it always came along with a lot of discomfort or straight-​up pain.
With Dr. Sharma and her staff, I have finally been able to put that fear to rest. With my initial cleaning, as well as my two cavities, I have experienced only slight discomfort (the unavoidable discomfort of having things shoved into your mouth).
I have had no pain with the drillings, beyond the first pinch of the local anesthetics. Her technicians are very friendly women, and her desk staff are solid.
Dr. Sharma is very down to earth, warm and skillful. I easily relax in her care.
One thing I did experience on all three of my visits was waiting. I was there on time for our appointment, but they were not. Dr. Sharma did acknowledge and apologies herself for one of these.
I know the medical profession from the inside, and know that it can be challenging to keep up with patients that come in late themselves and other issues. Nonetheless, these experiences convey to me that either there is a lack of respect, or that the office is not self-​regulated enough to get me in on time. The longest I waited was 20 minutes extra. This is the reason for 4 stars.
Besides this, I have no critical feedback. Go see Sharma! You will be happy you did =)

Dr. Indu is great. I was expecting to see another doctor when I discovered this office, and I was surprised to be greeted by her instead. I am quite happy to have had her service. She ended up finding 2 cavities (d’oh!) after my routine cleaning and I came in the next week reluctantly. I was trippin’ for no reason! She expertly numbed my mouth with ZERO pain, taking the care to massage my cheek to distract me from my fear of needles. That was the hard part. She took care of both cavities within 20 minutes and I was out of there. She rocks and I can tell she cares quite a bit about her patients. Good doc. Go see her!