Douglas E Cowden, DDS

He retired in April. It was definitely time. I had to change dentists when it became apparent he no longer had the skills for more advanced dental work. understand the young man who bought his practice is very good. Vita, a dental hygienist in the office, is excelllent.

I can’t say enough good things about Dr. Cowden. Quick summary: Exceptionally honest, very particular, and very very nice.
Longer story (and entertaining):
I boarded Amtrak to go to Tahoe. Took a bite of a sandwich made from a big thick Sourdough roll. Snap! I actually snapped my top front tooth! YIKES! I was toothless :). I just moved to Lafayette and didn’t have a dentist. While still on Amtrak, found Dr. Cowden on Unilocal (thanks to the previous review) and liked what I read. I called and the office was incredibly helpful and flexible. Changed trains in Davis and returned to Lafayette where I saw Dr. Cowden. They quickly fitted me with a temp (that looked better than my original!) and started the process of having a new crown made. After the crown was made, he fit it in, looked at it, and said, «ya, I just don’t like the color. I’m going to send it back.» I looked in the mirror and thought it looked great, but trusted his judgement. Went back a couple days later and he said, «Its better, but I still think it could be better.» Again, I thought it was super, but trusted his judgement. I now have a gorgeous smile again thanks to Dr. Cowden. My wife is amazed because it looks incredibly natural.
I have a new dentist for life. He is fantastic!

So if you’re looking for one of those modern dentists that has a foot masseuse rub your feeties while they give you a cleaning… this is not the place. If you’re looking for one of those dentists that give you goggles that show movies while you get a root canal, again… this is not your place. BUT, if you’re looking for a dentist you can trust, one that knows what he’s doing and doesn’t shy away from coming into the office on the weekend if it’s an emergency, then Dr. Cowden is the right dentist for you.
I’ve been going to Dr. Cowden since I was a little girl. And while we didn’t always have the smoothest of relationships (when I was 5 he had to take me by the hand to my Mom in the waiting room and patiently explain how I wouldn’t open my mouth when he was trying to give me novacaine), after… well I’m not going to out my age so let’s just say «some years», we’ve worked it out.
At any rate, I’ve been coming here for a long time and I will continue to until he retires. Why you ask? Well I can sum it up in a single story. Couple of weeks ago I was out with Betty D. and had the most expensive ceviche ever. It was expensive because in the process of biting down on a chip, I broke a tooth in half! Well on Sunday it really hurt, and I called Dr. Cowden’s answering service hoping to leave a message. To my surprise, I was connected immediately to him and he agreed to meet me in the office in a couple hours for a temporary fix. Well one fake tooth, a crown and a whole lot of molds and fittings later, I’m sporting my new grill (well one tooth of a grill anyway). So long Unilocal short, Dr. Cowden is Woohoo! As good as it gets!