When I first arrived at Ashley Down Dental Care, at the top of Gloucester Road, I was a little shocked by the dilapidated state of the building. In fact, it took me a while to find the place, nearly making me late for my appointment. I must have walked passed it about six times before finally narrowing down my search via a process of elimination, using other businesses that had street numbers on their signage, and backtracking. It wasn't a good start and perhaps coloured my opinion more than it should. But for someone, who has had extensive dental treatment in India, to be taken aback by the appearance of a place is quite something! The receptionist was efficient but humourless. She handed me the forms that I needed to complete in the most perfunctory manner, giving nothing of herself in the process. I am sure she is not devoid of humanity, and the job must be repetitive, but the abundant indifference with which she performs her role must exacerbate the level of boredom she feels, and certainly serves no-one. I found Dr Frederick Tomas, my allotted dentist, to be equally cold. Perhaps everyone at the clinic had been instructed in the art of being emotionally disengaged with the clients, just like hospital staff were back in the 70's, (before wising up and realising that this tactic invariably led to people distrusting them at best and surmising that they were arrogant and prone to rudeness at worst). Whatever the case, I felt disparaged by Dr Frederick Tomas's attitude, and would never recommend the place to anyone. In his defence, I was asking for a treatment plan that he didn't agree with, but nevertheless, he acquiesced to my wishes and removed a crown that had caused my jawbone to deteriorate, replacing it with a new one. My understanding is that that the condition of the bone was not really good enough to support the new crown. Dr Frederick Tomas recommended a less expensive option than the one I was determined to pursue, showing integrity on his part. However, the result of following his advice would have left me without a tooth, leaving a gap that would have been visible when I laughed. I tried to explain that as a woman this idea was untenable, but he just didn't seem to get it. Throughout the course of the treatment I visited the surgery a number of times and always left feeling upset owing to his brusque, condescending and dismissive attitude. Nevertheless, the work he performed was adequate, and his prognosis was accurate. It lasted less than two years, just as he said it would. But to my mind, the £200 I spent was well invested. For about thirty pence a day I had a tooth where there wouldn't have been one, which is a lot less than I pay for my disposable contact lenses to avoid having to wear glasses. I don't believe myself to be overly vain, I rarely wear make-up, and don't really take a great deal of care in the way I present myself unless I'm working. But I draw the line at missing teeth, and don't regret my decision in the slightest. Last year I returned to India and had the crown replaced with an implant. It cost me about £500 and the level of care and state of the building was far superior to that of my UK dental surgery. I consider Dr Abraham Sebastian of Cochin to be a friend of mine. His manner is exceptional, as is his level of expertise. After the work was finished I was invited to dinner at his family home, and got to meet his wife and children. It's true to say that this was a rare treat, and not something he does for his other clients, many of whom are from the west. But, I have been visiting Dr Abraham Sebastian for nearly twenty years now, and so his invitation is understandable. We like each other. read more

Ashley Down Dental Care - Dentists Near Me - Bristol, BST

Friday 19 February 2022 . It woudl have been courteous for the surgery to have warned their patients by phone or text message that they would be closed on Friday 19 February 2022 instead of letting people find out when they get there. Poor customer service .Further when providing hygienist service it would be also courteous to le them know before hand that they could not provide the full service rather than tell them afterwards but still charge full price for it . read more

I have had mixed experiences with this surgery: Very good experiences with Dr Felicity Paice. Not just excellent dental work but also top notch patient care. She lets you know what is happening, what the treatment options are and what she'd prefer to do. She clearly cares whether you are happy with the outcome and your expectations are in line. When she mended my front tooth she wasn't quite satisfied at first and had a second go to make sure she got it cosmetically perfect, and not at my prompting. The repair has lasted years and is still in excellent condition. She also performed a top quality root canal (other dentists have praised the x rays!) that left me with barely any discomfort. Not so good experiences with Dr Frederick Tomas. As practice owner he has done some good things including vastly improving the reception area / shopfront. But as a dentist... It's not his work so much as his manner. He doesn't talk to patients about what he is going to do, how it will feel, what it will cost. He's either not good at, or not interested in, communication. I was also frustrated when he wouldn't mend my front tooth how I wanted, saying I should have a crown (a high cost procedure). I asked to switch to another dentist within the practice whom I have found excellent (above). read more

I had excellent treatment under Felicity, but when she was no longer available I was transferred to Dr Frederick Tomas. He took an xray and said I needed a filling replaced, despite me having no pain or anything. I agreed though as he knew best. The filling didn't feel right from the start. I know it takes time for a filling to settle, so at my next 6 month appointment I told him it wasn't right, he accused me of brushing too hard as I had a bit of receding gum that was causing the pain. It turned out he'd also neglected to ensure the filling was the correct height and this had caused me discomfort, so he filed it back a bit and the pain decreased slightly for a few weeks. Fast forward to last week. My tooth is in agony. I can't face going back to Dr. Thomas as quite frankly, I don't trust him. I go to a different dentist for a second opinion. Before even doing an xray they spot that tooth and say the filling is very poor. An xray reveals the filling has been fitted extremely poorly and has caused my tooth to effectively die. It was sat right on the nerve, so no wonder I've been in so much pain. I now am on antibiotics and getting an urgent root canal to try and save my tooth, but the infection I have is severe and could have been cooking away for quite a while as the filling caused it rather than a cavity. Take my advice and avoid this place, or at least avoid Dr Thomas. My husband has also had a filling with him and it's not been right since, I've recommended he go to the dentist I went to for a second opinion. read more

I really dislike going to the dentist. So much so that I didn't go for..well.. a long time. I signed up at Ashley Down Dental Care and was dreading my visit. When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The reception area was clean and bright. The reception staff were very friendly and engaging - in spite of my obvious trepidation. The waiting areas are both exactly how you would want and expect. Gentle music and the obligatory magazines. The tension mounting I was called 'in'. I'm not going to embarrass my dentist, but [they] were amazing. To cut a long story short, I had a problem with a nasty crack in my tooth. Over the 3 visits that I needed (one of which was an emergency pain relief visit - incidentally arranged for the next morning), I was treated extremely well. I was offered treatment which was the right treatment and NOT what would have been the most lucrative. My family were registered at another dentist (high profile, Clifton) and I am more than happy for them to switch to Ashley Down Dental Care. I'm not one for posting reviews, but I did read another comment about this practice and I have to say, I couldn't disagree more with the comments. It may have been written before the surgery expanded as the descriptions about the exterior are just not right now. Each to their own, but I have nothing but good things to say and I am certainly NOT worried about my next visit at all. Keep up the good work. read more

I emailed this surgery as my son who is on the family denplan lives & works in Bristol. They emailed me back saying he could fill in a form & they would sort out the transfer. He went for an initial appointment for which he was charged & given an estimate of treatment needed for nearly £ 300. We spoke to denplan who told us he needed to see his old dentist to get outstanding work completed before he could move. We then asked for the X-rays to take to our current dentist which were refused unless we paid for them. Luckily we did not as when our dentist requested them they were of such poor quality they had to be repeated as all requests to send the originals were ignored. In conclusion the work that Dr Tomas stated was needed is not anywhere what has been done by our dentist who has treated my son all his life. This dentist has no interest in his patients & is cold . I have decided to travel home & continue my treatment with my dentist who is brilliant. Don't touch this practice with a barge pole ! read more

I've seen that the surgery is in new premises now, although I have not had an appointment since then. Even in the old premises, once you get past the facade, the treatment rooms were impressive, a totally different story. I had broken a tooth after, I believe, a few years of the wrong treatment from a city centre practice after an unneccesary filling (no pain before the filling, increasing pain afterwards!). Dr Felicity Paice was excellent, made me feel at ease, sat comfortably to have a proper discussion first, not sitting behind me talking to the back of my head like my previous dentist. On the sencond appointment she reconstructed a tooth with a significant crown and there have been no real problems over the last year. Very good, very approachable. My wife and children have been going too over the last 18 months and the threat of "what will Felicity say?" works brilliantly at getting a 2 year old and 4 year old to brush their teeth. read more

Luckily I only ever have to visit the dentist for check ups. I see Dr Felicity Paice and I think she is great. When I did once have an infection she was very helpful. I would recommend Dr Paice to anyone read more