Shana Berger Van Cleave, DDS

The main reason I am giving this long review is to warn other people that have gone thru hardship with their childs teeth. I went through a change of doctor in this dental office, and from the moment I met her she told me, my son needed multiple cavities taken care of. She was shaming me as a mom with the type of foods I should be feeding my child. I did not get a soft or gentle approach with this doctor. Her bedside manner was very unprofessional in my opinion. I feel that she is very aggressive with her treatment planning for a pediatric office. I went to another dentist who I used to work for because I was in the dental industry for over 5 years and the doctor that I asked for a 2nd opinion was Dr. Michael Rice at Santa Rosa Dental. And from the moment, my son opened his mouth Dr. Rice stated that my son's crown on his lower right canine was put on backwards. This was a stainless steel crown that was done by the previous Dentist who used to work for this practice who was Dr. Shana Van Cleave. I really enjoyed her a lot as she was very warm and gentle with her bedside manner and she worked with kids with special needs so that was a big plus for me as I knew her integrity was there. Which is extremely hard to find nowadays. Be aware that this new doctor that is now currently practicing is very aggressive with her treatment planning. We were told that we needed $3700+ worth of work for my 5 y/o son. I figured I should get a 2nd opinion which I always do with any type of doctor, so I went to Dr. Rice and when he told me that the crown was put on backwards, it only made sense as to why my son was in pain, it had nothing to do with Cavities at all. Dr. Susan Ryan had told me when we came in for his routine cleaning that he needed 4 stainless steel crowns, and 4 porcelain crowns on his front teeth. This kind of shocked me in so many ways because we are very diligent with his teeth we brush 2-3 times a day and we floss every night and he takes a fluoride tablet. I felt mom shamed by this dentist, she told me that my son had a very acidic mouth and that I should probably try a pH balancing toothpaste in which I did order the following day from Amazon like she recommended. But something didn't feel right about this treatment plan that she presented. So when I took the x-rays over to Dr. Rice on that 2nd opinion visit, and he found that the crown was put on backwards he did do an occlusal adjustment so that when my son bit down the two canines werent colliding into each other to create pain. That is where the pain was coming from. I originally thought the pain was coming from these "so-called cavities" that Dr. Ryan had mentioned. The minute that Dr. Michael fixed my son's occlusal bite, the pain was instantly gone. He of course gave me a disclaimer when he started to do the occlusal adjustment that there was a possibility of a void in the stainless steel crown that he was adjusting. Of course he knew what he was doing and it happened so he just filled it with a little composite white filling. He had my son bite down and he had absolutely NO MORE pain. I was blown away being that I have been in the dental industry for over 5 years, going through this experience was extremely traumatic, and I feel very unwarranted. The moment Dr. Rice saw my sons x-rays from this pediatric office, he informed me that there was absolutely NO cavities. And that blew me away as well considering Dr. Ryan told me that my son needed 8 different crowns. On baby teeth. And granted I am 100% about making sure my son is in optimal health, but this seemed VERY extreme. We had already gone through a major dental surgery when he was 3 y/o with Dr. Shawna Van Cleave and she was aware of that. I now question the integrity of this office and the new doctor. What makes me the most angry about this is that there is trauma that can never be fully repaired from this experience for my entire family. Now we have to deal with the consequences of mistakes that couldve been avoided causing long term damage to my sons jaw and other teeth.
Feb 10th, 2024

The dental staff is very personable and efficient. Prices are a little high but more than competitive for the local area. There are some challenges with military dental coverage -not so much the fault of the dentistry -this is not an "in network" dental office if you have TriCare coverage. One recommendation for improvement would be to include the breakdown of costs on billing sheets. I am confused on what exactly I've been paying for because bills do not include this. There is about half a page worth of white space on the bill that could be used to describe the procedures, materials, and/or efforts being billed. On one occasion I went into the office to request an itemized bill; however, I was informed "we don't do that." The office attendant was nice, and I felt that my request truly was out of their scope and that maybe they are locked in a contract with a third party billing agency that doesn't allow them to include an itemization on their bills.
Oct 17th, 2022

2 of my 3 kids have ASD and Dr. Van Cleave and the staff at the Children's Dental Center in Santa Rosa are so so supportive, flexible, patient and very clear in communicating. I am so grateful to have stumbled on them, we've dealt with a lot of dental problems with one of my kiddos and she was taken care of so lovingly.
Nov 15th, 2021

I was amazed at how comfortable they made my daughter. She's usually a ball of anxiety over medical stuff, and now she's actually looking forward to her next appointment.
Jul 29th, 2021

We found Dr. Shana in a time of need and she has truly been a hero to us.  My son, who has Autism, had never been to a dentist, and has extreme anxieties when it comes to any medical care.  Dr. Shana was able to meet his emergency needs in a manner that not only showed concern for my son's dental health, but also his emotional well-being.  His emergency situation has since been resolved successfully and Dr. Shana now is committed to building a relationship of trust and friendship with my son in order to treat his future dental needs without trauma and fear. I appreciate her open-minded and open-hearted approach to dental care.  I highly recommend her for anyone whose child is on the spectrum.  She understands and goes the extra mile.  Her entire office staff has been incredibly supportive though all of our visits.  Thank you so much to all of you!
Aug 9th, 2021