Dr. Mark Botsford & Dr. Erika Leenders

I am very skeptical of dentists. I have a phobia of getting work done on teeth and I have an irrational suspicion that dentists say you have more cavities than you do so they can make more $ on insurance.I moved to Strathroy in 2006 and I left this dentist in 2009 after 1 appointment because they weren't offering adult sedation. I found Dr Viana in Komoka took my fear of dentists seriously and made me feel comfortable, and did the sedation for my fillings.However I had the opposite experience with my daughter. We took her to Dr Botsford in summer 2015 and we were told that she had 6 cavities.I floss and brush her teeth religiously every night and morning because I didn't want her to have cavities.So I was suspicious that they were saying she had these cavities when I took such good care of her teeth. I took her 3 months later to my dentist in Komoka for xrays and a second opinion - to my dismay he not only confirmed that she had 6 cavities, but now she had 8.We scheduled her in for fillings with sedation in Komoka, and when we there for the appointment at the beginning of 2016, my wife and I both got a bad feeling. The oxygen hose that they use to administer the laughing gas was kinked, so she was saying she was having trouble breathing. They just kept putting the mask back on until I pointed out the hose was kinked.Someone hadn't told us that she couldn't eat before getting put under. The staff seemed stressed out during the first part of the appointment, and the atmosphere was not very kid friendly during our appointment - they didn't explain what was happening to her. After a couple of minutes we all agreed that since she had eaten breakfast that we should call it off and reschedule.3 months later we made an appointment with a pediatric dentist in London because of the way that the Komoka dentist hadn't explained what was going to happen and seemed to disregard my daughter's concerns over not being able to breath.The pediatric dentist experience was very good - they had a great onboarding process for new clients. They made it into a very nice experience for my daughter with coloring pages and an activity book - but they ended up moving locations and we lost our insurance.So the cavities had gone unfixed for 18 months and in Jan 2017 we brought my daughter back for a cleaning at Dr Botsford's office.During the cleaning we discovered that 2 of the cavities on her molars had gotten worse.We scheduled her in to get the cavities without sedation, just with freezing. We were introduced to Dr. Emily Vegso (formerly Santander) and my daughter really liked her. Emily said she could bring a movie and they could watch it together while she did the operation.My wife and Emily have mutual friends, so we were more confident that this would be a good experience for my daughter.The day came around, after I'd been furiously researching alternative non-invasive procedures like Silver Diamine Fluoride, EAER and laser treatments - I couldn't put it off anymore so we brought her in.I was tingling with stress and feeling light headed as we brought her into the dentist, feeling like I was subjecting my daughter to torture. Thankfully my wife doesn't have a phobia of dentists like I do.Dr Emily was amazing. She explained everything that was going to happen to my daughter in a very kind and gentle way to her.I did not want to project my stress and nervousness onto my daughter in the room, so once Dr Vegso explained what was going to happen, I started feeling light headed and went to wait in the waiting room while my wife stayed in for comfort.My wife says that they were very respectful of my daughter's emotions and feelings, and that they were very discrete about passing tools out of her vision, and being cheery and kind and bright during the filling procedure.After it was all done, my daughter came out with a smile and said that Dr Emily is the best dentist ever, and she wishes that she was her doctor too.Dr Botsfords staff got my daughter to say I love dentists." which is a 5 star feat in itself."

Excellent dentist. Having come from a human butcher, I can honestly say that my times in the chair have been nothing but pleasant. Direct billing available and relaxing atmosphere. Not an 'assembly line' dental office. Highly recomend

Dr. B. goes out of his way to help you... he is fun and very knowledgeable... thanks again for fixing my mouth!!

If You are Disabled--HE WILL NOT ACCEPT YOU" Sadly Prejudice has reaches into Doctors of all Nature."

9 month wait for a simple cleaning appointment. Not impressed…

I've moved a few hours away and still make the trip back to Strathroy because it's such a relief to trust your dentist. Dr. Botsford is exceptional and I am thankful to have one less thing to worry about when it comes to my health. Won't be going anywhere else!