Hoku Pediatric Smiles

Mealoha · 1 out of 5 stars · 4 months ago

Yep. We had similar poor experiences with Dr. Sanchez many years back and I can still recall clearly how upset she made us feel. Very condescending, insulting, and zero social skills & awareness. Her attempt at being client-friendly comes across ingenious and with mixed feelings.

Anjelica DiNorscio · 1 out of 5 stars · a year ago

My two daughters have been seeing Dr. Sanchez since before Covid. Should have stopped taking my children after she made a remark to me about my two year old still nursing and it being very bad for her teeth, to the point she was very condescending to me about it and acted in a way that a cavity she had was my fault, for still nursing her. I thought it a bit strange that Every single time my kids have gone in there she has used laughing gas (nitrous oxide) on them. We just drove up today from the south side to get my 12 year old her last filling. Two months ago we saw Sanchez at the lihue office and another time before in Kapaa. I have a 22 month old son who is like most toddlers- all over the place and I walk him in and out of their office while my daughter is being worked on- because I have been asked to keep him up front as not to bump or climb anything while they work. When my daughter was done the dental assistant walked her out to me and I asked about a follow up appt. She told me there was none and we are free to go. I got an email about an outstanding balance and called them on drive back south to ask what it was about. Front desk (who have never been great, always on phones eating etc. when we come in) told me we had a balance for the laughing gas and our insurance stopped covering it LAST April. I asked where they had informed me? Email? Text? While we are in office waiting or checking out? I was quickly put on hold and the woman came back and stated that she didn’t know why I hadn’t been sent anything or informed but this was my valve due. I told her I wasn’t going to pay for something I want informed about and to have a manager call me back. When the manager called me back she stated Dr Sanchez had “mentioned it to my daughter.” …..”My twelve year old daughter, who would have been 11 at the time… and then you put laughing gas on her and thought this was an appropriate form of communication?” So unprofessional! I was told I could take my business elsewhere if I didn’t want to pay and told them I gladly would if that’s how they communicated through children. There were many opportunities the front desk could have spoken to me while in either office etc. YUCK. Bad taste in my mouth. Always thought she went too hard with that laughing gas and truly hope she doesn’t do permanent damage.

Bri Checkley · 5 out of 5 stars · a year ago

My baby saw Dr. Kanoe Baird for a consultation this morning. It was easy to make an appointment and they had availability pretty quickly to be seen. The staff was very friendly and the office/operatories were very clean! Dr. Baird was great with my baby and very knowledgeable and kind. Will continue bringing my child here for future dental visits. Highly recommend!

Noelani Kaui · 5 out of 5 stars · 2 years ago

It’s not often that you find medical/dental care for your child that isn’t driven by “quotas and routines”…..When we first met Dr.Patricia Sanchez, many years ago, she was not only professional but had the biggest HEART for special needs children like my son. She was never just about the “visit”. She took her time getting to know the individual needs and personalities of each of our children and always made us feel comfortable and valued as her patients. She is well accomplished in her career as a pediatric dentist but you’d hardly know because she isn’t ego driven. She is down to earth, kind,caring, patient, warm, genuine and always putting our children first. She takes the time to inform us as parents of the appointment for the day being sure to include any discussion of what to expect and making time to answer any questions or concerns before she proceeds. She then walks the child through each step talking to them and explaining exactly what she will do-and if needing special care to keep the child comfortable, she accommodates that. What dentist does that?! Dr.Sanchez does!The emotional needs of the child is just as important to her as the physical needs. She does an excellent job at keeping balance of both. Creating a safe and informed environment for the child and parents is a huge part of her priority in oral care. She has made herself available even after hours to receive an emergency concern or to simply check on the healing process of the procedure. Honestly, I’ve never met such a caring doctor/dentist like her, she truly is a blessing to have here on Kaua’i. I have such a deep respect for her because she equally values and respects our rights as parents and what we feel is best for our children. We love being able to have a safe space for healthy, thorough and well informed discussions with her. For example; Despite the benefits Dr.Sanchez says fluoride has in dental care, fluoride isn’t a good fit medically for our children and Dr.Sanchez completely respects that. She will continue to recommend what she feels is best but never pressures us or makes us feel less valued if we opt out. She, in fact offers other options to support our family choices in oral care. Again, she is always aiming to do whats best and suits us as a family. There are pros/cons, risks/benefits to all things during oral/dental care treatment and she respects different points of view. It’s been roughly 6 years that we’ve been fortunate to be in her care. It’s such a great feeling to have a dentist whom cares about us just as much as she cares about healthy teeth and gums. Nothing makes for better health care than a great and respectful relationship between both parties. She’s more than just our dentist, she’s Aunty Patricia because we have so much aloha for her! Hands down, the best care!

Robert Gaetano · 2 out of 5 stars · 3 years ago

My almost 6 year old has been seeing Dr. Kanoe since the the very beginning and it has always been positive. The front office and everyone there has always been great. On my last visit, my son had Dr. Patricia and it was a terrible experience. I felt pressure to put colloidal silver on his enamel. She kept drilling me about it to the point where I said I felt pressure and needed time to think about it. I asked if it was something that needed to be decided today. Boom, that was it she said I needed to find dental care for my son somewhere else. She didn’t explain much of anything. Didn’t share any info about his X-rays that were just taken. Just told me it was a “vitamin” And to go somewhere else… yikes!