Smile Stars Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics - Baton Rouge

We really like our visits there, the dentists are always very sweet and patient with my kids. But the lady who answers the phone could totally have a better attitude and not be really rude. So, everything it's good, just the lady at the phone a very very bad impression, super rude and not empathetic at all.

I’ve seen a lot of stories from others about smile stars, until I myself as well as, at the time my 7 year old brother experienced something horrific. I’m a grown adult now, but I’ll never forget what he did to my little brother. My little brother had an appointment to get his front teeth removed and at the time i was young and didn’t necessarily understand what for, however now that i’m older i’ve come to the understanding. I watched Dr. Ripple as well as several other of the dentist employees holding my brother down as he screamed through the room in shear pain and terror. Dr Ripple had a pair of pliers in his hand gripped on my brothers teeth pulling away. I approached them doing this in broad daylight in front of the MANY children in the room and they yelled at me to get away. I was young and scared and didn’t know what to do or say so I ended up going back to playing with the variety of toys and waited until we were all finished. My little brother and I ended up telling my mother, but my mother didn’t necessary believe us. A couple years later i had an appointment of my own for caps in my molars. Dr Ripple is accompanied by another dentist employee. My mouth was held open by this very thick steel tool that was already cranked open, opened enough that my jaw already hurt. Later in the procedure I’m still laying on my back with my mouth wide open (Held by the tool) and im collecting saliva at the back of my throat, I swallowed and then the dentist employee goes on to tell me to stop swallowing. I try, but again im fairly young and couldn’t quite control it without feeling like i was gonna drown in my own saliva. When Dr Ripple returned from what he left to do they continued with the procedure and i kept swallowing because my throat kept filling with fluid. They began threatening me to open the tool further and stretch my jaw more than it already was if i kept swallowing. Me not knowing any better kept swallowing and they did exactly that. Opened it enough to nearly pop my jaw. When it was all over i got in the car and told my mother and that was the last time my family ever went to smile stars. I hope that anybody who was scarred by this man get the justice they deserve. SHUT DOWN SMILE STARS!!

We had an appointment for 8am. We got there at 7:48am. At 8:25am, I asked the receptionist if they were running behind. She said that they had one ONE GIRL bringing patients to the back which didn't make a bit of sense to me. If she's just BRINGING PATIENTS TO THE BACK, what kind of energy does that require? After that she said that my son was going to be going back next. He was escorted back at 8:28am. I told my son to let me know when they put him in the chair. He texted me at 8:45am to let me know that he was in the chair, but waiting!! This is RIDICULOUS!! If I didn't ask, they would have probably had us still waiting. If we were LATE, they probably would have pushed him so far down the appointment list that it would have ruined the day even more. It's a SCHOOL DAY and a WORK DAY!!! They don't give a dang!! I'm NOT IMPRESSED with today's visit at all!! We got out at 9:24am!!

Dr Steve and his staff have served our family for 2 generations and are always amazing! They are timely and meticulous and treat every patient like their family.

The doctor is good, but the office policy and communication were disappointing. My child was in pain and had an appointment scheduled a week out. The office was aware he was hurting, but there wasn’t availability to get him in sooner. As any parent would, I found another dentist who could treat him immediately so he wouldn’t have to stay in pain. After his emergency was handled, I called Smile Star to schedule the remaining dental work. I was told they could no longer see him because we chose to go to another dentist in the meantime. I explained that he was in pain and I did what I had to do to get him relief. I was also told that if I had informed them he was in pain, they would have tried to squeeze him in — but that had already been communicated. It’s frustrating because they are one of the only offices nearby that accept our insurance and offer sedation for children. I understand offices have policies, but refusing to continue care for a child who sought emergency treatment elsewhere feels unnecessary and disappointing