SmileMaker Orthodontics - East Nashville Orthodontist

My son always has a great experience here! Everyone is so inviting and sweet. His teeth are well on the way to being perfect & I'm very happy.

My son has beautiful teeth now and was not worried at all about his visits! We were so happy with the polite staff and Dr. Jay’s professional way with his patients!

SmileMaker and staff have been amazing at treating my children. Dr. Burton truly cares about the long term oral health and development. He is always very kind, gentle, and thorough when explaining procedures and their needs. The office staff is very kind and warm.

This is such a weird review to have to write, because my family has adored the (all female, incidentally) staff at SmileMaker, from the ortho techs to the front desk. They are warm and welcoming and definitely put kids at ease. But my son has been a patient here for six months, and at this point neither my husband nor I could pick Dr. Burton out of a lineup. He seems to come and go behind a wall, and while I'm sure he examines the patients, he does not communicate with parents. Instead, our experience here has felt like one big game of telephone where if we as parents have a question, the (always kind and responsive!) staff has to leave a message with the doctor, and then the staff calls us back, but if the doctor's answer was incomplete or leads to another question, they have to leave another message with him, and it just goes on and on. We loved the staff so much that we stayed here for many months despite feeling weird about the total lack of communication from (or any face time with) the doctor himself. However eventually Dr. Burton sent a referral for our 8-year-old to have some teeth extracted. We were unclear why, and as usual, Dr. Burton didn't speak to us. When our son's primary dentist declined to do the procedure, Dr. Burton referred us to an oral surgeon. During our consultation with the oral surgeon, even the surgeon told us he didn't think the procedure was necessary right now. So back we went to the game of telephone with Dr. Burton, where (through messages via his staff) Dr. Burton told us to go back to the surgeon and do it anyway. Very confused and still with no direct line of communication to Dr. Burton, my husband and I went to get second and third opinions from other orthodontists around Nashville. No other orthodontist recommended immediate surgery, and every other orthodontist spoke to us directly and answered our questions. We transferred our son out of Dr. Burton's care and are very happy with the decision and our son's new orthodontist. We're not saying Dr. Burton is peddling snake oil or anything, just that he has a massive practice where he is trying to get as many patients in and out as quickly as possible. This leads to a) no time or bandwidth for tailored care or comprehensive communication and b) a willingness to cut corners to speed up the process. Maybe this practice is a good option if you have an independent teen who is seeking braces and wants to really manage their own care, etc. But for a younger child (or really any parents who are wanting to be able to have a conversation with your child's doctor) there are many better orthodontists across Nashville who will actually give you the time of day. Clearly many folks love this place—and no surprise, because again, the staff is absolutely wonderful! They manage ALL the care and communications as best they can given they're not doctors. We just hope every one of them is getting paid as much as Dr. Burton is...

Our Family has been a part of the SmileMaker family for over 10 years. Dr. Burton and his team are amazing! They truly care about each and every patient and their individual needs. They strive to continually provide the best orthodontic experience for every person who walks through their doors. Both my children have amazing smiles because of Dr. Burton and his team. If you are looking for a great orthodontic home try SmileMaker, you will not be disappointed!!