Stephen Marshall Sherwood Dds's Online Review Report Card

Dr. Sherwood treated my daughter for years, from about age 3 or 4 to quite recently for a cleaning (she is now 15). Things were fine until we sought a second opinion after he offered an expensive treatment plan. The second dentist reviewed x-rays sent from Dr. Sherwood's office and examined our daughter. He suggested we watch and wait for a year. In addition, my stepdaughter and her husband, both dentists, also looked at the x-rays and agreed with the watch and wait advice. We were in watch and wait mode when my daughter went in to Dr. Sherwood for her regular cleaning recently. Dr. Sherwood pushed the treatment plan again and wanted to take x-rays (this would have been a second set in six months). My husband declined. So what arrived by certified mail today? A letter firing us as patients, lol. Dr. Sherwood graciously attached his treatment plan, however, and all we could think when we stopped laughing was: Way to win friends and influence patients!

I've been taking my kids here for two years and we have loved it. Dr Sherwood and his staff have been very kind. My son even had a "ridge" that needed to be filled on his back tooth. He filled it with a very easy, inexpensive fill that was painless. And did I mention inexpensive?He accepts our dental insurance. They are great at scheduling. And really nice. I wish they'd be my dentist, but they said I'm to old!

We had a very troubling situation with Dr. Sherwood. We began going to him approximately 18 months ago. At her 6 months teeth cleaning a year ago he saw a small cavity and thought it would be a good idea to "paint" it with fluoride.We then came back again for our next 6 month cleaning and he saw the same small cavity and again decided to paint it with fluoride. By the time we came back for our next 6 month visit the cavity had grown so large that we are now faced with a small root canal and hoping she doesn't lose the permanent tooth in the future. This has created a traumatizing experience for all of us, not to mention a much more expensive procedure! I wouldn't recommend him to anyone!

Dr Sherwood has been our child's only dentist and we would not go anywhere else. The practice setting is lovely and the staff is very helpful, even finding time to squeeze us during a particularly hectic period of our life. Our son loves going there!

The facility is very nice, but the people that work there are not. You would think that because they work with children, they could extend some understanding and patience. Don't arrive late, they will put you on "notice" and make you feel like crap for being 5 minutes late, yet you wait more than 5 minutes to be seen. The office manager is unwilling to budge, policy is policy, very unfriendly. Dr. Sherwood, being the person he is, will stick by his staff and not even think about entertaining the though of hearing your side of anything. Very unsatisfied with this facility as a business as well as a dentist. My son on his last visit was told that he needed to get multiple cavities filled, when I went to their next highly recommended dentist I found, the case was different. He only had 1 small spot that needed filling. In addition, they keep great office hours if you work there, but impossible to schedule if you're a patient because they don't work on Friday's, close early every day and never work on any type of holiday. Valentine's Day...."oh we're closed," St. Patrick's Day, "oh, we're closed," President's Day...."yea, we're closed too." If I could give no stars, I would. I suppose the one star is for the facility.

Everyone here is fantastic. Our daughter's first dental visit coil not have gone better. Everyone here is so kind and gentle.

My two kids go here and we couldn't be happier. They are super organized: when you walk in they hand you a printed school letter and immediately schedule your next appointment. You get text and email notifications. Staff is super warm and friendly. Our son used to fear the dentist but now that we are here, he loves it.

My kids have been going here since they were 3 and 4 (they are now 11 and 12). They have never had one cavity and they LOVE going to the dentist. When I tell them we have a dental appt, they say "Awesome!!" What an incredible experience to have kiddos that are excited to go to the dentist! The office is immaculate and is an excellent environment for children---three's a ride on horse, a train table, videos, a fist tank----the WORKS. The staff could not be better. They are professional and know how to interact with children (off all ages). They have always been clear about any charges whether out of pocket or covered by insurance. We have never had to wait past our appointment time. I had planned to never review them because I really didn't' want to the word to get out, but now they no longer take our insurance. I am heartbroken. I hope we can find a good dentist for our kids. Take your children here with no hesitation. Dr. Sherwood is the absolute kindest, most gentle, professional doctor. His staff is the best. They do excellent patient teaching that is age appropriate. They explain everything to my children so that they can be accountable for caring for their own teeth and they always speak with me to make sure if I have any needs or questions, that I have the opportunity to have them addressed. I am going to miss this office and the staff so much. Any praise I can give just can't reflect how great an experience we've had with Dr. Sherwood's practice.

Dr. Sherwood has always done an especially fantastic job with my two special needs kids. He has a special needs son himself, so he really gets it.There are private rooms for those who need it, and every chair has a flatscreen above it with Netflix streaming, so the child can choose to watch just about any movie or TV show you can think of. They are also the most efficient doctor's office I've EVER been to--we have been patients for 4 years and have never once had to wait around for the staff or dentist to get to us. They are expecting you when you arrive at the front desk, they take you back within minutes, and the hygienist is already waiting at the chair for you. In fact, the kids are always disappointed because they don't get more time to play with all the great toys in the waiting room.

On the positive side, Dr. Sherwood has a great demeanor with children and we had a positive experience in that regard. However, this practice has some of the most totalitarian policies of any medical service provider I have ever experienced. My two children we patients until we were fired for violating their on-time policies. Over the course of 2 1/2 years, my children were "late" for 4 appointments and we missed two appointments. But to clarify, the 4 "late" arrivals were each under 5 minutes late and in the case of at least one of those late arrivals, I had arrived on time and my wife and children arrived withint 5 minutes of the appointment. After these 4 "late" arrivals, we accidentally missed one appointment and received a certified letter notifying us that we would be "fired" from the practice if we violated the policy one more time. We made absolutely sure to arrive on time for the next appointment, but unfortunately failed to show for the next and now we have been fired. A couple of points: I understand that is disrupts a practice when people are late or miss appointments. However, being less than 5 minutes late to anything should not be considered "late." Particularly when your client base is children who have competing obligations, i.e., school, and parents who work and must juggle multiple responsibilities. Also, as anyone that lives in Austin knows, traffic can be unpredictable. In any event, I am frustrated that we've been "fired" from Dr. Sherwood, but am certain we will find a suitable replacement. In my experience, dentists are practically on every corner, and while Dr. Sherwood has a good demeanor, he's certainly not the only one in Austin. So a cautious note to parents considering Dr. Sherwood: Make sure you are never late, even 5 minutes.