POW Dental (Pediatric Oral Wellness)
Patrick So, DDS & Viviene Valdez, DDS
Parent Q&A
Parent Reviews
Parents, please Sign in to post a review on this page.We use Pediatric Oral Wellness on San Pablo. (510) 746-8234 847 San Pablo Ave
Albany CA 94706
I would highly recommend POW Dental in Albany. Our teenage son has a huge fear of needles. He needed to have some cavities filled at his regular dentist and had a panic attack and they could not even work on him. We eventually received a referral to POW Dental and they were amazing. We had a consultation first, and the procedure was done on a different day. The office staff were so kind and helpful and the consultation was very reassuring. When he had the procedure done, they had him in a quiet, private room with limited noise and distractions; the dentist was so understanding and gentle and somehow managed to do the fillings without even giving him shots (the cavities were not very deep). I never thought that could happen in a million years. It was a real lifesaver for us. I am sorry I don't have the dentist's name but I think he is the main dentist there.
Once we went there I regretted that we had not taken my son there from a very young age. We also have Delta Care USA (through UC Berkeley). I'd really recommend contacting them to see if it would be a good fit for your family. Best of luck!
I take my child to see Dr. Patrick So at POW. He's awesome! He explains everything to my toddler and she actually let him poke around her mouth (something she only recently let me do). The office is super child friendly, decked out with super hero decorations. And they give balloons and stickers at the end of appointments :)
My daughter goes to Drs So and Valdez in Albany – POW Dental. We are very happy with them. Both doctors are great. Very nice and friendly. No unnecessary dental work was ever suggested.
We love POW Dental (Patrick So and Viviene Valdez). We’ve only seen Dr. So, but he’s really great with our two-year old, and she loves going to the dentist because they let her choose stickers and a balloon as a reward at the end. She hasn’t had any dental problems so I can’t speak to anything other than that he’s great with our toddler.
I believe Patrick So and Vivienne Valdez are the fabulous dentists at POW Pediatric Oral Wellness on San Pablo Ave. My daughter is 14 and has a lot of dental anxiety stemming from preschool aged dental trauma on the school playground. They are fabulous with her and take everything slow. She’s very picky about dentists and refuses to go anywhere else even though we moved. She frequently tells me that she’s amazed by all the little kids who come and seem so happy to be at the dentist! As a parent, I have found their COVID protocols to be quite good as well. So, a whole hearted recommendation for POW!
We've been very happy with Dr. Patrick So at POW Dental in Albany. I don't have Delta and can't comment on that, but insurance has not been a problem with this office. https://www.powdental.com/
Rec'd Firoozeh Lavassani in El Cerrito as a warm, professional family dentist who examined and diagnosed my 7 year son and then referred to Dr. So, Pediatric Oral Wellness (POW) in Albany where he received treatment for more advanced care. Both accept Deltacare USA under Kaiser pediatric plan.
Many parents happily recommended Aloha Kids to us as new Berkeley residents. They seem like a long standing pediatric dental practice in Berkeley with high name recognition. We saw Dr. Nakazato who recommended 4 separate treatment visits with nitrous oxide each time. Our cost for the routine visit was already staggering. Then the estimated treatment plan was outrageously expensive compared to POW at 50% more. Friendly and professional staff who put my son right at ease but too slick and profit-oriented for us.
If you need pediatric over general, family dentist, rec POW over Aloha Kids.
We just switched to Alameda Pediatric Dentistry on Grand Ave in Oakland. Previously we went to POW in Albany, which was fun and cute but I wasn’t 100% sold on the quality of care. (I’m the daughter of a dentist and used to work as a dental receptionist.) POW told me my daughter had a lip and tongue tie (our pediatrician and my dentist mother disagree) and never mentioned that she was missing her lower lateral incisors. Alameda Pediatric Dentistry was more thorough and accurate in their assessment of my daughter’s teeth.
We have been happy with POW in Albany. Have tried both Aloha and Dr. Nick and prefer POW for a variety of reasons having to do with how they handle treatment - feel like POW is more considerate of children and their temperaments.
I took my son to Pediatric Oral Wellness in Albany for the first time earlier this year. He is 4-1/2, and while he didn't have any cavities, they were able to get him to cooperate with all the procedures without any issues. Their entire practice is to treat children. If there's an alternative or "second opinion", I would definitely call/see them.
I don't know what to tell you about POW but I am surprised to hear your prior dentist told you to "keep an eye on" a cavity. They don't go away (and as you say, they aren't really visible to the untrained eye) so I'm sure what that was about. As I understand it, cavities, when they appear, need to be filled.
Obviously can't give advice on your daughter's specific teeth, but I take my two kids to POW now after a few very unsatisfactory years with Dr Nick (formerly Dr Ed) in El Cerrito, where I felt among other things they were very interventionist on a potential problem (not a cavity) on a 3 year old. We've been happy at POW with both the dentists there, although I always feel kind of "ugh" since - as you allude to - if you're not a dentist yourself it's hard to know what's really going on! I guess in short answer to your question, we ended up transferring to POW after going there for a second opinion from Dr Nick (also went once to Aloha for a second opinion, wow were they expensive) and my perception is they are better in terms of not being so aggressive about treatment - again, cavities are one thing and this particular example for my kid was different (trauma to tooth after a fall). We have since had a couple cavities filled there on one kid, the other one has skated so far. Anyway, hope it helps.
I've had a lot of dentists in the past propose more than I wanted to do. I now go to Dr. Mizono in Albany, who is great. When I told him my past experiences he said that it's really pretty subjective, and that he takes a conservative approach.
I don't have specific advice about POW, but I had a similar experience with a new dentist practice in another state. I went to this new dentist, who told me I had 3-4 cavities, but I called my previous dentist (whom I had seen less than a year previously) and he told me that he didn't see any indication of additional cavities forming. I went to a third dentist, whose observations were in line with my previous dentist. Needless to say, I never went back to that second dentist. I would recommend getting a second opinion.
I have only taken my kids to pow once but it was a great experience and they didn't recommend any interventions. My daughter has a dead front tooth from a fall and they recommended just monitoring it unless it becomes an issue. Hope that helps!
We have taken our two children there for the last 2 years and have had a good experience. Neither has had a cavity, but one had an unfortunate accident that damaged 4 teeth and they took a watchful waiting non-interventionist approach.
Hi all-- I just wanted to update this original query with a big THANK YOU to all of you in this thread. These responses have all been very helpful in getting a broad sense of POW experiences (and dental experiences generally.) BPN, as usual, is a fantastic resource to us as we get settled here.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply!
Liz
Hi there,
I took my daughter to POW until a year ago. They were nice if you agree to whatever they told you to do. I refused to have my daughter get x ray every 6 months. I agreed with the first one because they told me they wanted to see her adult teeth to make sure everything ok. She was 4 1/2. Her pediatrician was not sure about it, tbut then I told her that the detist said it was ok for her to get x ray that young. Then on the next appointment, they wanted to take another x ray. I refused, because I dont think it was necessary. The doctor was upset, and it was very obvious. She also didnt have much patience with my daughter who was scared (some people are just scared of dentist!). After that I simply take her to Solano Smile for her check up.