Dr. Kaur and her entire team are consistently professional, efficient, and always on time. Every visit feels smooth and well-organized, which makes a big difference. What truly stands out though is their kindness and compassion--they take the time to make you feel comfortable and genuinely cared for. Shout out to all the office staff - Katrina and Kerrie are the best! Highly recommend! read more

Dr. Kaur and her staff set the bar for what dentistry should be: honest, detail oriented, efficient, and genuinely caring. She is meticulous, gentle, and absolutely trustworthy. She treats your teeth with the precision and artistry of someone who truly cares about the outcome. I came to her after a traumatic experience with another dentist involving two failed bone grafts, infections, and unnecessary upselling. Dr. Kaur immediately did a CT scan, confirmed I had plenty of bone for an implant without a graft, and created a plan that was smooth and successful from start to finish. I also completed Invisalign with her, as did my 17 yr old son. In less than a year, our smiles are perfect, and we are both thrilled with the results. Her staff is equally wonderful: warm, reassuring, professional, and highly efficient. I've never waited more than a couple of minutes for an appointment. Everything about her practice reflects the highest level of care. If you are looking for a dentist you can fully trust, this is it. read more

I have been coming to Smiles by Design for a couple years now and they have always been amazing. Extremely friendly staff across the board, chatty but efficient cleanings, it's great. I got Invisalign with them in October of 2024 and by March 2025 I was done with my retainers! Throughout the process they were extremely communicative and helpful on the process and the office staff were extremely helpful with the billing, completely handling the insurance process (even with a change over to a new provider halfway through), resulting in a significantly decreased cost to me which they let me split up over time. I have always felt like I received the best dental care from this team, compared to all of my previous experiences. I highly recommend this team for anyone looking for a dental group in the Livermore area. And the added plus of being able to text them questions or to reschedule appointments is a huge win for a gen z like me! read more

Smiles by design staff is very welcoming and Dr. Kaur work is very clean to where you feel comfortable with her. This is the only office I feel good to go to because you know they will take care of you very well! Well recommended! read more

Always a pleasant and thorough experience at Smiles by Design. Happy, friendly, accommodating staff who enjoy what they do and who're great at it! Highly recommended for all your dental needs. read more

This is in response to the Dr's copy and pasted response of my review from FOUR YEARS ago. I don't care what your resume says. I called your office in tears multiple times due to the trauma caused by that over priced poorly fitted crown you put in that was absolutely never right, that ended up needing a root canal. I see from your other poor reviews another patient had a very similar experience to mine. Your response all these years later just added insult to injury. I'm disgusted to even have to mentally revisit this experience. Did you fully read my reviews? That all happened to me. It was a nightmare caused by you and your office. read more

Switched over after my dentist retired and had gone to a few other offices that were terrible. I started with cleanings and was very happy but today I had some restoration work done for some chipped teeth. I couldn't be happier! My Ortho commented later in the day how nice the work was read more

The treatment I receive as a Smiles by Design patient is great! They have very up to date dental procedures and are professional but also very approachable and remember me and our past discussions about my dental care. I read more

I would give Smiles by Design 10 stars if I could! I chipped my front tooth yesterday and my original dentist could not see me until next Thursday :( Because it was my front tooth, I was desperate to get it fixed before next Thursday, so I called Dr. Howe's office and was greeted by a very friendly and caring Katrina who said you can't possibly go another day with a chipped "front" tooth. Let me see what I can do to fit you in. She fitted me in IMMEDIATELY which I was so grateful! Keep in mind I had never gone to this dental office before! Dentists, along with doctors and hairdressers, are amongst the most important professionals to replace when yours retires. After moving to Livermore 17 years ago, it took me many months to find a replacement for my retired dentist; however, after what happened to me yesterday with my chipped tooth and not wanting to wait 8 days to see my current dentist, I had to see if I could find a dentist office that could help me asap. And thankfully I did! I was very pleased with the instant appointment and temporary repair until my appointment next Tuesday. The staff was extremely kind, thoughtful, and excellent in their care and we are now looking forward to a new dental relationship with Dr. Howe and his staff! read more

Had a great appointment, great care and talked me through each step. Very gentle with me, which was my #1 best take away.

Best Dentist ever, Dr. Kaur is amazing I didn't feel a thing, she explained everything very thoroughly and they figured out the best treatment plan that works with my insurance . I highly recommend Smiles By design read more

I recently went to Smiles by Design for dental work and I'm pleased with my visits. Dr. Kaur and her staff are so friendly and caring! I get a bit anxious when I go to the dentist and this time I actually had to get a tooth bonded and a crown on another one so it was a pretty big deal. Throughout the whole procedures, Dr. Kaur and her staff were so patient and reassuring. They made sure that I was satisfied with my smile! Thank you Smiles by Design :-) read more

My family and I have been regular patients of smiles by design for many years. We all have always received what I would describe as far above excellent treatment. I would recommend smiles by design everyone who wants to get the best of care for their dental needs. read more

Dr. Howes is a wonderful doctor! I've been a patient for over a year now and absolutely admire the whole team!

Always a very nice experience at Smiles by Design because the staff is so knowledgeable and friendly. Makes a visit to the dentist the best experience one can have. I would certainly recommend making an appointment for all tooth issues. read more

I don't use this dentist nor do i want to after the phone conversation. I had to interact with Jo from Smiles by Design for work, and this lady is either impatient as hell or just simply on crack. Yea, Jo, i hope you're reading this, b/c i said it, i think YOU are on C-R-A-C-K. She cut me off at every, oh did i mention, EVERY, SINGLE sentence. You know sometimes people cut you off b/c they think they know what you're going to say? well, Jo, unfortunately, DID NOT know what i was going to say so she basically annoyed the F* out of me and DID NOT ANSWER my questions. And really, spare me the details. IF YOU WOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME then you would have known that i didn't need to know all the minutiae of everything you explained. yea, that's right, you wasted your breathe. YOU WERE AN AWFUL WASTE of my THIRTEEN minutes that i will never get back. I hope you are more helpful to your patients. read more

My family is former patients of Dr Howes. We have had to have many of the fillings he put in our mouths replaced much sooner than might me expected. In addition his office promotes expensive laser treatments that are not covered by insurance due to their dubious medical effectiveness. This guy went into dentistry for the money and it shows. There are much better dentists in Livermore. read more

I regret coming here. First of all, the office and everything in it is old and gross... It looks like a dentist office out of an OLD magazine. Every time I've come here, the people working look confused and frantic. Shouldn't they be awaiting your arrival for your appointment time? They also say they'll get back in "a couple days" and months go by of you having to call and set things up yourself. Richard isn't welcoming, warm, friendly, or anything of the sort. I felt uncomfortable around him. He barely cracked a smile. I don't recommend this place to anyone. read more

This is the best dentist I've ever been to. Everyone who works there is awesome. They helped me and my mom to figure out the best treatment plan that works with my insurance. I had some fillings done, as well as a route canal, and everything went very well. I ended up with a permanent crown replacement that the dentist designed himself. It looks amazing. I just had the temporary crown removed and the permanent one placed in today and I'm already able to chew with that tooth. Anyways, great Dentist's office. I definitely plan on returning. read more

I paid this office THOUSANDS of dollars to do my vaneers and they've come off at least 15 times in the 6 years I've had them. THEY WONT STAY ON. They've even switched them to CROWNS over the years without me knowing and against my permission. I DIDNT PAY FOR CROWNS. I PAID FOR VANEERS. VANEERS THAT STAY ON. The woman working the front desk is in the wrong industry; communication, empathy and customer service are NOT her strong suits. SMILES BY DESIGN should be renamed SMILES BY DISASTER. It's an extremely violating feeling to suddenly have your tooth fall off in the middle of talking to someone, time and time again. And as a busy mother of five, to have to continue taking time to keep having my teeth PUT BACK ON. I HIGHLY DISCOURAGE anyone from getting cosmetic dentistry here unless you want to spend a significant amount of your life in the dental chair repairing your teeth. MALPRACTICE AT ITS FINEST. read more

WARNING: I went in for a Root Canal and several months later ended up with an abscess, facial swelling and throbbing unbelievable pain!!! I seen another dentist with an emergency appointment and had x-rays done again and found the root wasn't completely taken out which causing a pocket for bacteria to grow and gnaw away at bone tissue. Hundreds of dollars out of my pocket to get this fixed and two rounds of antibiotics. read more

Think dentist office meets spa....The candles smell inviting, the coffee and tea cart is a nice touch but the best part is getting a parafin hand wax and a warm blanket when sitting in the chair. Then when the appointment is over, the 10 minute chair massage is AWESOME...I don't want to leave. I started seeing Dr. Howes over a year ago and have had several appointments ranging from basic teeth cleaning, zoom whitening and filling replacements. Dr. Howes and his staff are experts in their industry and keep up on the latest in technology. It made my previous dentist procedures seem prehistoric. As an example, they use some sort of light to determine exactly where the tooth is decayed so that when they are removing tooth, they don't remove more than they have to. Compare that with my previous dentist saying "Well, this looks like it MIGHT be decayed too so let's just keep removing it!". I do recommend Dr. Howes to all my friends and family! read more

The team at Smiles by Design is always super friendly and thorough with the treatment they provide. The admin staff, techs, hygienists and Dr. Howes are awesome. read more

Super excited about my new friendly super thorough dentist!! Such nice warm staff and extremely thorough first time exam, the e got my teeth!! read more

I just left Dr. Howes office after having some work done, Dr. H and his staff are over the top and always do a great job, and no pain at all. I don't like going to the dentist however I am glad I found him and if you want a good dentist give Dr Howes and his staff a try and find out what a good doctor can do. read more

been a regular at Dr. Howe's dentistry for many years...my kids were small then (7 and 9)...they're in their 40's now to give a sense of my experience with Dr. Howe..I've had nothing but pleasant experience with Dr. Howe and his friendly and professional staff..retired now still seeing Dr. Howe for all my dental needs.. read more

My family went to Dr. Howes for over 5 years. He and his office were extremely nice and friendly, and I truly liked them. However, the dental work was definitely subpar. Each time I had a crown done, it took multiple visits to adjust the bite. One crown he did on me developed an infection beneath it and he had to remove it and do a root canal. Unfortunately, his root canal missed one canal and I developed an abscess that ended up rupturing into my sinus cavity! So I had to have another root canal on that tooth(this time by an endodontist) and a new crown done by my new dentist. The "icing on the cake" however was his work on my daughter's teeth. On her first visit, he told us that her previous dentist had missed 13 cavities. Believing him, we had them all repaired--at the time feeling that he really saved her teeth. However, many times those fillings fell out and she had to have them re-done. She moved to another city for grad school and when she found a dentist there, it was discovered that EVERY SINGLE FILLING done at Smiles by Design had decay under them. This necessitated an emergency root canal, two other root canals and 13 crowns to repair her teeth. After over $15,000 of treatment to fix her teeth, she is now free of those problems. None of this treatment was cosmetic--it was only to save her teeth. So think twice before using their services. I truly regret going there. read more

This was a really great dentist office, I've been going to Dr. Howes office for many years and I would choose to go to anybody else. The office is very inviting and the Becky at the front desk is always helpful when it comes to appointments or just having a friendly conversation. I had to see Dr. Howes on several different occasions, whether its just a run of the mill teeth cleaning or having my smile redone with porcelain veneers Dr. Howes has done it all and every time he's been great. I've never had a doctor care so much about how comfortable I am while in the chair. The first time I ever needed to have an injection with him he took extremely good care of me, he talked me through the whole thing and when I had asked him when he was going to give me the novocaine he just laughed and said he already had. This is the kind of dentist that I'm going to keep coming back to, and that is why I am giving him 5 stars. read more

Dr Howe's and team are wonderful! Friendly, professional and accommodating. Top notch!

I have always been a real 'fraidy cat' to go to the dentist but Smiles by Design's staff made me feel totally at ease. I even got a FREE massage before my appointment. It didn't smell like a dentist office they had great smelling candles. This wasn't like a "normal" dentist office. The front office lady was so friendly and then Dr. Hows and his assistant didn't talk down to me like other offices in the past. They helped me get four teeth fixed including a front one that I've always hated and now looks great! I smile with confidence now and I feel better as a result of getting my teeth taken care of. I am grateful to have found such a great office. I recommend them to all my friends especially the dental "chickens" ;o) read more

Outstanding customer service. You will not find a friendlier dentist or staff in the Livermore area. My entire family has been going to Dr Howes for several years. Becky at the front desk is extraordinarily helpful. My parents do not have dental insurance and Dr Howes is very helpful in working creative financing solutions. Interesting that another rater had a bad experience because this is one of the most customer service oriented dentists I have ever been too. In the mornings you can get a 10 minute neck massage while waiting for your appointment! read more

I've been a patient of Dr. Howes for about 4 years now. I am extremely happy with him & his awesome staff. Cindy, Katrina & Beckie to name a few. Thanks for always working with me & being so kind! I would & do recommend you to others. read more

Such a pain to make an appointment, don't expect to be seen till several weeks later.

My family has seen Dr. Howes since he started seeing patients in Livermore. For cleanings, his office is good, however, I have had root canals done by him that had to be reworked not only by him, but then again by other endodontists in Livermore. Not only that, if you need to have work redone, expect that you will be charged. read more

I am still dealing with the horrible dental treatment that I received in the careless hands of Dr. Howes 8 years ago. I just thought I should read his reviews and see that there are others who are saying the same thing about him - charging for more than you need and performing subpar dentistry. My husband went in for a crown replacement and had to go back when the novicane wore off because of the pain. It didn't hurt when he went in to replace it. The first thing out of Dr. Howes' mouth was that he probably needed a root canal. I went in shortly after that not knowing how my husband's experience went down and I found that he was drilling on my tooth for what seemed like a very long time after he took off my crown. The exact same thing happened to me. I had to go back to him in great pain and he immediately said "sounds like a root canal." Unbelievable! After my husband heard my story, he told me his. He cost us a lot of money that we didn't have as I was just getting laid off from work due to the crash. He may be a bad man or a bad dentist, either way - stay away! read more