After years of lacking adequate dental insurance, I stumbled into graduate school at the UW, and what do you know, but they like their graduate assistants to have good teeth. I've been in town since 2005, and ever since Dr. Sifri opened Smart Dental I knew I would eventually end up there. I'm always impressed by professionals who invest in their communities, and Dr. Sifri certainly fits the bill. I've been hearing about and seeing Smart Dental's sponsorship of community events and organizations as long as he's been in practice here. (And if you didn't know, Dr. Sifri helped establish the AIDS Network Dental Office. I mean, c'mon. That's pretty awesome.)
Armed with my new insurance, I went in for an evaluation and cleaning. Everyone in the office was very friendly, and not at all judgmental when I admitted to the number of sun-rotations since my last check-up. Most impressive however, was the amount of care Dr. Sifri took in not only talking to me like a friend instead of a clueless patient. He listened to my concerns, looked into some information for me, and even helped me find some other care providers for some of my issues. I really felt like he cared to inform me about everything that was going on, what I would need to have done, and why certain options were better than others. In short, I feel like he went above and beyond what I generally expect from most health care providers.
As a result of my check up and cleaning (which was done by one of his very friendly assistants!) I learned I had a few cavities to fill (sadtimes...) I think they thought I was joking when I said the care I was provided was going to receive a glowing Yelp review, but as you can tell, I wasn't joking. I'm not a fan of needles, nor am I a fan of those Godawful dental drills, but my experience had to be the most relaxing, painless experiences I've ever had in a dentist's chair (I'll spare the world my history, but I've had my fair share of tooth grindings, extractions, and orthodontics to last 3 lifetimes...)
Dr. Sifri was nothing short of amazing with his injection of anesthetic. I actually wondered if anything was happening while I was being injected with the stuff. It didn't hurt one bit. I don't know very much about anesthetic injections, so I can't guarantee all injections were made the same, but Dr. Sifri is really good at making it not hurt. My filling went smoothly, and they even got me out 30 minutes earlier than what I expected.
I even got a phone call the following day to check in, to see if I was doing alright. I liked that touch.
If you're looking for a compassionate, patient-centered dentist, (not to mention a dentist who invests in his community-- very important!) look no further than Smart Dental. Dr. Sifri and his staff are wonderful!