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Smile Stars Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics provides comprehensive dental and orthodontic care for children, teens, and adults at two locations in Louisiana (Baton Rouge and Prairieville).
About Smile Stars Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics - Baton Rouge
Dr. Ripple and Dr. Matt draw families with special needs children and kids mid-transfer from other offices, though scheduling and handling during procedures draw repeated complaints.
This pediatric dental practice also offers braces, early treatment, and TMJ care, and reviews often mention families with special needs children or kids transferring from other practices mid-treatment. Dr. Ripple is described as building rapport with young patients, while Dr. Matt is noted for personally calling to check on patients after appointments. Some reviews describe long wait times and scheduling frustrations, and a notable number describe children being restrained or handled roughly during sedation or procedures.
Summary of 153 patient reviews, April 2014–September 2026, updated September 2026
Smile Stars Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics provides comprehensive dental and orthodontic care for children, teens, and adults at two locations in Louisiana (Baton Rouge and Prairieville).
The practice features on-site orthodontics led by Dr. Matthew Leftwich, pediatric dentistry by Dr. Steven Ripple, and specialized services including sedation dentistry with a registered nurse coordinator.
Treatments offered
Who They Treat
Smile Stars Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics - Baton Rouge provides orthodontic treatment for the following age groups:
Orthodontists at this office
Dr. Steven E. Ripple, DDS
NPI verified · no bio or photo on file
Dr. Kaede Collette, DDS
NPI verified · no bio or photo on file
Dr. Matthew Leftwich, DDS
NPI verified · no bio or photo on file
Dr. John Sisney, MD
NPI verified · no bio or photo on file
Insurance accepted
12 plans listedWhat patients say
Latest review 7 weeks ago
What patients praise
Things to know
Who it suits
Doctors patients mention
Orthodontic care in reviews
Reviews describe braces treatment as producing lasting improvement, with broken brackets fixed quickly and follow-up calls from the doctor; a few reviews mention alignment or timing concerns, including one child started on braces before baby teeth had fallen out.
| Oct 2023 | 5 |
|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | 4 |
| Dec 2023 | 0 |
| Jan 2024 | 3 |
| Feb 2024 | 1 |
| Mar 2024 | 3 |
| Apr 2024 | 2 |
| May 2024 | 0 |
| Jun 2024 | 4 |
| Jul 2024 | 2 |
| Aug 2024 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 1 |
| Oct 2024 | 0 |
| Nov 2024 | 0 |
| Dec 2024 | 2 |
| Jan 2025 | 0 |
| Feb 2025 | 2 |
| Mar 2025 | 2 |
| Apr 2025 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 1 |
| Jun 2025 | 0 |
| Jul 2025 | 2 |
| Aug 2025 | 3 |
| Sep 2025 | 3 |
| Oct 2025 | 5 |
| Nov 2025 | 2 |
| Dec 2025 | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | 2 |
| Mar 2026 | 2 |
| Apr 2026 | 2 |
| May 2026 | 3 |
| Jun 2026 | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | 6 |
| Aug 2026 | 1 |
| Sep 2026 | 2 |
| Theme | Praise | Criticism |
|---|---|---|
| The dentist | 33 | 18 |
| Great with kids | 33 | 11 |
| Friendly staff | 30 | 9 |
| Gentle, comfortable care | 19 | 10 |
| Scheduling & wait times | 3 | 16 |
| Treatment results | 9 | 3 |
| Office & technology | 7 | 5 |
| Responsiveness | 4 | 9 |
Recent reviews from Google
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.
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.
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!!
Best place ever my son has been going there since he was a toddler and he’s 18 now they are so loving and really great with their special needs kids
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!!
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