Happy Valley Dentistry

Abigail Knapp · 5 out of 5 stars · a month ago

I visited in March 2026, and I've been a satisfied patient for three years. As always, the care was wonderful, and the customer service was exemplary (thank you, Lisa!). Happy Valley is a great place for adult or pediatric dentistry! Edit: I'll add that I've had the pleasure of having multiple visits this year to check on various things in addition to a regular tooth cleaning. Dr. Emerson is fantastic with patients and is also a good listener and very thorough. One of the technicians, Jess, was wonderful and patient. And as always, Lisa is a ray of sunshine on the phone or when I come to visit-- and can always figure out an appointment time. If I could give this practice 6 stars, I would. Thanks for being such a reliable place!

Gus Boyer · 5 out of 5 stars · a month ago

Dr. Emerson and his team are an excellent group of consummate professionals. I recently was here for my bi-annual cleaning, and had concerns regarding both my overall oral hygiene and issues that had cropped up prior to my planned visit. The lady staff member who handled my cleaning (whose name I unfortunately can’t recall!) was excellent, taking care of my teeth cleaning promptly. She was also an excellent conversationalist, making a typically dull routine procedure a more pleasant experience. Dr. Emerson was also fantastic, taking a proactive approach to both my existent and new dental issues, while also being both highly professional and personable :)

Lori Turrisi · 5 out of 5 stars · 3 months ago

I had a 5 star experience this week at Happy Valley Dentistry. My hygienist, Kristin did a superb job. My teeth are so clean! Kristin and Dr Emerson were both very thorough and also very nice people. And no review would be complete without mentioning Lisa! She has, and continues to be, amazingly personable and efficient. I highly recommend HVD.

Destiny Schlech · 5 out of 5 stars · 5 months ago

I cannot recommend this dental office enough! Dr. Emerson and Dr. Schimmel are truly the best dentists I’ve ever been to. I’ve had some not so great experiences with dentists in the past, so I was honestly nervous going in, but they completely changed that for me. From the moment you walk through the door, you’re greeted by the kindest front desk staff who make you feel so welcome right away. The entire team is friendly, professional, and genuinely caring. Dr. Emerson and Dr. Schimmel are incredibly comforting, patient, and take the time to explain everything, which made me feel at ease the whole time. You can tell they truly care about their patients and want you to have the best experience possible. Top notch care all around. If you’re anxious about going to the dentist or just looking for an amazing team, this is the place to go!

Irene Mushkin · 1 out of 5 stars · 3 months ago

The members of this practice were intrusive with personal space and unreasonably harsh over minor lateness. During appointments, I had to ask two different dentists and a dental assistant to stop touching and patting me throughout treatment. It was not a single incidental touch, but continual physical contact on my arm or shoulder, which was highly unusual and felt invasive. A hygienist also used my chest as a work surface for her instruments, repeatedly dropping tools onto it during cleanings as if it were a table. I found the experience physically unpleasant and jarring. I continued going there for several years because, to their credit, they eventually noted my discomfort in my chart and the unwanted touching stopped. They also paired me with a different hygienist for my cleanings. I did like Dr. Schimmel and Dr. Emerson, as well as Lois Jean, despite needing initially to assert my physical boundaries with them. They were kind, decent, and patient. However, at my last appointment, I was 7 minutes late because of an unexpected domestic issue that arose as I was leaving the house. I called ahead to let them know I was running 5 to 10 minutes late for a cavity filling. Lisa, the receptionist, sounded unhappy on the phone, but I hurried over anyway. When I arrived, Lisa told me she'd left me a message saying that the doctors were not going to accept me for my appointment that day. Canceling a scheduled appointment for a cavity filling over a minor delay is in and of itself unreasonably severe. But then she said, “and we're not going to be scheduling any more appointments with you because you are always late,” which was simply untrue. I had often arrived on time and had frequently waited 15 to 20 minutes when the office itself was running behind; on one occasion, the wait was closer to 45 minutes. What felt especially unfair was that I was never given any warning about lateness policies before being abruptly dismissed from the practice after arriving for my appointment. Being refused treatment and permanently dropped as a patient on the spot over being 7 minutes late was disproportionately harsh. A basic courtesy conversation or warning beforehand would have made the situation feel far less humiliating, petty, and unnecessarily severe. The fact that I was terminated as a patient at the desk was already a shocking and painful experience. It left me deeply upset for days afterward. But the situation became even more disturbing when I later listened to the voicemail Lisa had left while I was on my way: In the message she said after she told "the doctors" I was going to be late, they said they couldn't see me, and though there was "normally a fee," they would "waive that." She then invited me to schedule a new appointment with them, but I would need to be on time. The logic here disconcerts me. They were the ones who chose to cancel my appointment over a 5 to 10-minute delay, yet Lisa acted as though they were being generous by waiving a cancellation fee, despite there being no mention of cancellation fees anywhere on the practice’s website or in its appointment reminder messages. And given that only six minutes elapsed between the voicemail and my arrival at the office, it is difficult to reconcile Lisa’s later claim that the doctors had decided to terminate me as a patient with the explanation she provided in her voicemail, which referred only to canceling that day’s appointment because I was running late. There had already been an abundance of problems with this practice, from their rigid double standards around time to the repeated boundary issues. Discovering the discrepancy between Lisa's voicemail and her later explanation, and realizing that she had used a 7-minute delay to terminate my care without warning, was just another twist in what turned out to be a distressing experience with this practice.