Michael Hawkins, DDS

(This is the daughter of the owner of this account, not the owner herself)
As an actual patient of Dr. Hawkins, I can say that at first I was happy to be receiving what felt like extremely professional care. I am 16, and was very happy to finally be getting my teeth fixed. After about 2 ½ years of braces, I was told that I would be getting them off soon, and that I needed to wear my rubber bands to align my jaw since my teeth were already in place. After a few weeks of wearing them religiously, and I do mean RELIGIOUSLY (I forgot to take them out at times because I was so intent on getting my braces off) I was told that I wasn’t wearing my bands enough. After a few more weeks I was upgraded to having 3 bands on one side of my mouth, and 2 on the other, which is an extreme to say the least. Then one day I was smiling at my mom when she noticed that something about my teeth was off. My entire upper row of teeth had been shifted to the right so much that front left tooth was now in the middle of my mouth, if not slightly to the right. Both of us were freaked out that this had happened, and expected Dr. Hawkins to again be professional and just correct the alignment of my teeth so that I’d be back on track. Instead I was told that this was to be the final result of my teeth because he had warned us this would happen if I didn’t wear my bands. The biggest shock to us was that he refused to do anything about it. After a meeting (in tears) with another orthodontist in Issaquah, I was told that the excessive amount of pressure dragging my teeth to one side (me constantly wearing the three bands on one side of my mouth) had completely shifted everything over, and that to fix this, I would need an additional year of braces. I have since switched orthodontists to someone who I know will put my best interests first, and make sure that the finished product of my teeth is well worth the money paid to get them there. Dr. Hawkins was willing to let me walk out of his office with a seriously misaligned smile, and that should speak volumes about his compassion for his customers. I suggest to all of you out there considering his practice for yourself or your children; please research other options before you make a commitment. I would not wish this whole ordeal on anyone else.

Our second child just finished her braces with Dr. Hawkins and his «team» as they like to be called. I can truly recommend this office and doctor for anyone in the area of the Issaquah/​Sammamish plateau. The work has been excellent and the kids have enjoyed going there. It seems like they are always doing something fun in the office with decorations or contests or something. Very kid-​friendly.
One thing I really liked is that you can go get other things done while your kids are there, like grocery shopping, dry cleaning, mani/​pedi and coffee – all right there next to his office.
His prices were about the same as two other orthodontists we visited before our first child started braces that were further away. We didn’t check for the second because we were already very comfortable there so I can’t say much about prices now. I was surprised by the cost because of his more «retail» location which usually means things are going to be more expensive. Anyway, it was a fair price, especially for the two great smiles and the convenience we’ve had going there.
One last thing, to be honest, I didn’t spend that much time with the doctor, which I think is typical when you aren’t the patient, but I have spent a lot of time dealing with his receptionist, insurance persons and office manager and they are the best group I’ve ever dealt with in a doctor’s office. Unfortunately that’s pretty rare these days. I wish they all worked at my doctor’s office!
If I could change one thing it would be to have appointments on Saturdays so that my kids didn’t have to miss school or their practices. Getting after school appointments was difficult sometimes. This is a pretty common problem as I talk to other moms at our school. To be fair, there were before school appointments available we just had a hard time getting there that early. One thing I did find out is that in WA State your kids can’t fail a class due to absences as long as the doctor provides a note, which Dr. Hawkins’ receptionist always did.

Let’s be honest: Going to see the orthodontist is painful for the kids and for the adults… especially painful on our pocketbook. So don’t you want to see someone who will give you different options, cares about the best treatment approach for your wee ones, and is an all around nice guy? That’s Dr. Hawkins. His staff is always courteous and extremely helpful. Plus, they look like they like what they do. Go see Dr. Hawkins and you won’t be disappointed.