Knoxville Pediatric Dentistry

After changing insurance, I found out that my daughter's dentist did not accept it. She suddenly had a tooth ache, so I looked around to find a dentist who would take it and that I felt confident in. I found Dr. Bo on our provider list and then looked at these reviews and others about Dr. Bo. We called and they got us in the next day, which was about the only nice thing about the office. I went back with my daughter and she was upset since this was a different office. With a little talking we convinced her to open her mouth for the hygentist. But when Dr. Bo came over, he started out really nice to her. When it came down to him looking in her mouth, she began crying harder and wouldn't open her mouth. Finally, he looks at her and says, " M***, you are five years old and this is just silly." (In a very not nice tone.) This made her cry even harder. I believe that I am never to belittle how my chidlren are feeling but to teach them ways to cope with and show their feelings in the best way possible to come to a solution. Anyway, without any x-rays he tells me that she needs to have a pulpotomy and that she has another cavity on the other side and 3-5 in between her teeth. And he goes on to say that he needs to do this in the hospital to put her to sleep because of "her behavior." As I go to check out the receptionist pulls out this huge book FULL of appointments for the hospital. Well, as we left, I immediately called her old dentist to get a second opinion. We did and she went back no problems, without me. Had her teeth cleaned, x-rayed, and even let the dentist look at her teeth. She had only ONE cavitiy and it was taken care of in office with no "behavior" problems two weeks ago. I would not recommend Dr. Bo to anyone!!!! No dentist will put my child to sleep and butcher her simply because he wants money from well paying insurance. Anytime you are put to sleep there is danger. He doesn't need to be working with children under 6 as he had no patience to work with my daughter, he was with her a total of 3 minutes including his introduction. Later I found out that my cousin took her little boy there and the hygentist just threw down her instruments in the middle of cleaning his teeth and walked out saying, "I can't handle kids." Wish I would have asked her sooner. Dr. Bo and his staff need to reevaluate their skills and whether they are appropriate for working with children.

Posted 07/26/09 | Report Abuse

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After being a wife and survivor of physical, mental and verbal abuse from a marriage that brought fourth four of the most beautiful children in the world, I was apprehensive of seeing a male dentist my insurance and many other parents recommended Dr. Bo Townsend to me for my four children two of which were born premature and the other two being extremely shy and fearing dentists after seeing a dentist that Dr. Bo used to work with years ago, my children's ages are 12, 11, and then the two 7 year old twins, anyway upon our arrival to his office several years ago we were treated with the utmost respect, care and kindness. Dr. Bo and his staff was completely professional and very gentle with my children even though they knew nothing of my children or my life and the pain we have undergone over the years. As of today, I can tell you that my children still love Dr. Bo and his entire staff, they have been seeing him since my oldest was 5 or 6 and he is 12 now, and to my dismay the only disappointment that we have had was today when I was told that Dr. Bo was only seeing children 6 and under but recommends my children to another Dentist who is in the same office Dr. French, we are going to miss Dr. Bo and his great care but he highly recommends my children to Dr. French so I know that they will still receive the great care they always have. Another disappointment we have had is that I just found out that Mrs. Bobbie is gone? I never knew this lol no wonder I did not get a call for Girl Scout cookies this year, she was awesome and always ordered cookies from my girls every year.The greatest disappointment is the finding of the slanderous woman who found it necessary to start this blog about the great Dr. Bo it is a disappointment that some people have to start something in order to put their blame of irresponsibility on someone as great as Dr. Bo.My children and I love Dr. Bo and all he stands for and we hope that he continues his work in the 3rd world countries spreading the word of Jesus Christ and we hope that God continues to bless Dr. Bo with many, many more years of all of his great care and kindness and the strength he needs to continue the great work that he does. Sincerely,I. K.

Posted 05/29/09 | Report Abuse

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Well I just read the blog of a lady who claimed Dr. Bo stared at her breast and caused her to drug her child .. That is just cooky . I have heard by many he is the best , but a couple months ago I went myself to take my 4 year yr old She had to have a tooth pulled she was terrified but ya know he had the bee movie playing above and she was fine . She relaxed when he talked to her and he was very professional and down to earth at the same time . I have rather large breast and well he never stared at mine . I think she wants to blame her bad decisions on someone else by slamming his business . Which I believe is wrong . He has thousands of patients that love his work .I would like to recommend him highly to anyone . I think your child will be in the best of hands. Who just picks a bottle of sedative not knowing how much and just gives it to them anyway with out calling the doctor first and asking . Just seems strange to me . Your child will beg to go back to the dentist when they meet dr. bo

Posted 03/31/09 | Report Abuse

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I just moved here from South Carolina with my husband and our 3 boys. I just called to make an appointment with Dr. Bo because of a great referral and what I had ready here on line! When the receptionist answered she had told me that Dr. Bo only sees children usually under age 6 as new patients. When I told her that my 11 yr old son had PDDNOS and Epilepsy she said that she would be happy to book them with Dr. Bo in that case. She not only booked both my boys with him she was very nice and understanding of my fears. Our appointment is in April I will be happy to write about my experience after that time. Until then thanks you to the receptionist that took my call today!

Posted 03/12/09 | Report Abuse

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We are recently new patients with Dr. Bo. We met Dr. Bo "unfortunately" through an accident that my 7-year old son had in October. He was called in to take care of my child who had knocked his front permanently teeth loose (one hanging only by a thread). He happened to be the pediatric dentist on-call for emergency. Sometimes there is a silver lining where you least expect it. I have searched for pediatric dentists all over Knoxville and was not satisfied with any of them. I finally found a dentist (not pediatric) to care for my children's dental health. After this accident and all of Dr. Bo's genuine caring for my child; my child will remain with Dr. Bo. His staff is always upbeat and friendly. Due to Dr. Bo's hard work and care; my child will most likely keep his front permanent teeth. THANK YOU Dr. Bo!

Posted 12/10/08 | Report Abuse

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As a former employee of Knoxville Pediatric Dentistry I can tell you first hand how things are at this office. First of all let me start by saying If I had it to do all over I would still be there I Loved each and every person that I worked with there and I enjoyed my patients as well. As for Dr Bo there is not a better more caring pediatric dentist out there. He only has YOUR CHILD and there best interest in mind when he sees YOUR CHILD. No one is more important then your child to him. He would NEVER do anything to put any child in harms way. The people he has on staff are top notch and he encourages each and every one to further their education and to keep up with new techniques.Bottom line is if my children were young I would not take them anywhere else. I hope that this will clear up any misconceptions that anyone may have.Miss Bobbie

Posted 07/11/08 | Report Abuse

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Wow! Our daughter had her first dental visit last week. We chose Dr. Bo based upon referral and reviews of him and his facility and staff. We could have never been more pleased! The staff was wonderful, the office was very clean and pretty and Dr. Bo and the hygienist were fantastic with our daughter, Natalie. If you are looking for a great dentist and a caring staff for your child, please consider this practice.

Posted 06/17/08 | Report Abuse

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I have been taking my children to Dr. Bo's office for a while now and we usually have Mrs. Bobbie take care of us and everything. We recently visited the office for a routine check up for one of my kids and I was shocked to find out that Mrs Bobbie is no longer there. I don't know why he let her leave, but my kids were really upset to know that she was gone. They have been begging me to find out where she is so that they can go to that dentist instead. I told them that we will have to see, since we usually have a really good visit with Dr. Bo. But my kids are really upset that Mrs. Bobbie is gone and said that they are serious that they don't want to go back there unless Mrs. Bobbie is there.

Posted 06/09/08 | Report Abuse

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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I don't know why such people would try to bring a business such as yours down. I have always had a great experience bringing in my son. Caring staff makes a big difference! I haven't taken my son anywhere but my dentist whom recommended Dr. Bo. They met my expectation each time and were very consistant, which meant I could expect the same quality each and every visit. I do not have insurance and they treated me the same as if I did have insurance. That shouldn't scare you from making an appointment with this professional place!! I would highly recommend them 110%!! Make an appointment TODAY!

Posted 05/08/08 | Report Abuse

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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My children love to go to the dentist now. They used to cry and scream. Thanks to a caring staff, Stacie and Ceann are the first ones you see they are wonderful. Then the back staff I love them all.
Allison, cute and fun, Bobbi always bubbly and you can tell she love kids, Phylis she is great with the kids and can get them to do anything. And there are some new faces but Im sure they are great or Dr Bo wouldnt have them..

Posted 05/08/08 | Report Abuse

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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well my 4 yr old was terrified to visit the dentist after a bad experience at another practice we had a great expierence with Dr. Bo and his nurses.. my 4 yr old daughter is a live wire and is a mess and they handled it well and with patience she cried and they reassured her very well even let her help hold the mirror... i would recommend them to anyone along with ther caring staff and clean office which is a very comfortable stting for children ...

Posted 04/09/08 | Report Abuse

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While I was in the office with my child. I was shocked Ive been there before and was very impressed, however that was not the case this time. Another woman came into the office I think she was a friend of Dr Bos or his wife annette ( I think thats her name) they were talking about their kids playing together and how much fun they had. anyway we had been there for a long time he had checked other children and let them go then she came back and he ran over to talk to her ignoreing my child completely checked her kid before the assistants even got started then once again left me and my child to sit and wait. needless to say the friend was gone about 20 mins before I was even seen by DR BO, Whats up with that. My kid has TN care does that make us less human or less important, I guess in his eyes it does. I might try again but Im not sure he is a great dentist but I think we should all receive the same treatment no matter who we are or what our Insurance is

Posted 01/09/08 | Report Abuse

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I would just like to say that Dr Bo and his staff are awesome. The office is always clean and organized when I go in there. They have several Flat screen TVs for the kids to watch Disney movies in the waiting room and while they are having their teeth being cleaned.As for his staff, he has excellent receptionists as well as a bunch of wonderful women working with him. With other offices that I have been to, everyone was all grumpy and really didn't seem like they wanted to be there. That is not the case with Dr. Bo's team.

Posted 12/30/07 | Report Abuse

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I was apprehensive as a Tenncare patient my child would not be treated fairly and I met with a wonderful and caring staff and dentist.

I will highly recommend Dr. "Bo" Townsend to anyone. My daughter office visit indicated that she would need to have that front left tooth removed and it was my luck that a cancellation was made giving me the opportunity to handle all of this in one day.

She was a champion. I guess we always underestimate our children. The way she fears strangers I was prepared for the worst experience and she handled it beautifully. Because it is a pediatric dentist they have flat screen TV's playing Disney movies where the children can occupy their eyes while they are being worked on. They gave her a small amount of gas that remained on her face during the entire procedure, she didn't feel nor see one of the five shots he did on her mouth, his tone was soothing so when she got excited he would just simply ask her to lie still and place her hands on her belly and he had that tooth out in about 30 seconds so truly it took a total of about 15 minutes and most of that was prep.

Posted 12/03/07 | Report Abuse

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I just got on here to look up Dr. Bo's phone number, and I am shocked at what I have read. My daughter who is now 10 has been going to Dr. Bo for 2 years now. We have previously been to 3 other dentists. Before Dr. Bo, my daughter had a allergic reaction to the laughing gas. She turn ghost white, her eyes rolled back in her head, she started shaking, and then threw up all over everything ( which is one of the most terrifying experience I have ever been through). This dentist, (whose name I will not mention), acted like it was mine and my daughters fault, and quickly recommended we see another Dentist, although we had been going to this dentist for over 4 years. That is when Dr. Bo was recommended to us. From day one Dr. Bo has been great with Brooke. She is terrified at the dentist office, and Dr. Bo and his staff have always been understanding, patient, kind, and always professional. Every time Dr. Bo and his staff stressed to me to never give the medicine to my daughter, and as a mother I think that it is very irresponsible to give liquid Valium etc. to your own child. My daughter ended up going into the hospital to have all of her teeth work done. Dr. Bo was constantly reassuring not only my daughter, but me as well. If kept me informed every step of the way. I drive almost 2 hours one way to take my daughter to Dr. Bo and I would drive it if it were more. Dr. Bo is a God Send as a Pediatric dentist.

Posted 11/20/07 | Report Abuse

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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My daughter, Jayda, is 6 yrs old and has sensory problems along with Epilepsy. I was concerned when trying to find a dentist that would understand about her "special" needs. Dr. Bo seems to really care about the kids he sees and is patient with my daughter. She listens to him and says she likes him, and that's important to me. I highly recommend taking your child to Dr. Bo, he's a Christian man and he has a sweet bunch of ladies working for him!!

Posted 10/29/07 | Report Abuse

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It pains me to even have to respond to this list of lies. The previous review was NOT accurate. I examined this child and realized with the mother's agreement that due to behavior he would need sedation to render treatment. Our office told her not to give the child the medicine. Also, it was clearly written on the prescription on the bottle not to give the medication. The prescriptions are computer generated - no mistakes. It is common practice for dentists to NOT have controlled substances in their offices. No child is to be given a sedative by the parents until they are in the office under supervision of a dentist trained in sedation. These are guidelines written by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
Also, I never spoke to the mother on the phone. How could I have chewed her out? I was standing next to the staff member when she was on the phone. She was not rude and never recommended to call 911. The mother and grandmother stated they did not even know how much of the sedative they had given their child. And who is irresponsible? Obviously they did not read the label either - which stated not to give the medicine. My recommendation was to bring the child to the office. I NEVER mentioned overdose - I never talked to her.
As for relocating my office, I was an employee dentist previously. I moved to start my own office. My name is on everything that the practice name is on. Fewer and fewer dentists are using their names as the practice name - absolutely nothing suspicious about that. Malpractice? Never has happened, none pending. The part about staring at her? Come on... This is just another lie. I would have no reason to stare at her. I have a BEAUTIFUL WIFE.
As a pediatric dentist, I am an advocate for children. We open our doors to treat all children. I have displayed my nature to help children by traveling to: Russia, Chile, Uganda, and Nicaragua in the last six years to spread the love of Jesus by providing dental care. All is forgiven. I hope the best for this child.
Dr. Bo

Posted 09/20/07 | Report Abuse

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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I urge anyone thinking about going to Knoxville Pediatric Denistry to PLEASE find another dentist!!! Aside from the rude receptionists and perverted dentist, Dr. Townsend, who stared at my breasts, please read my story: I took my son there a few months ago and DR. JOSEPH "BO" TOWNSEND prescribed a single dose of a mild sedative for my son for him to take on the date of his appointment. I gave the sedative to my son (as I had done before at another appointment at a previous dentist) and called the office to tell them that we on our way. Dr. Townsend proceeded to chew me out over the phone because he wanted to administer the drug to my son himself in the office. (If that was the case, then why didn't he have the medicine at his office instead of having me pick it up the first place???) My son will only take medicine for me and has an extreme fear of dentists so I gave it to him myself. He told me that my son would probably have to go to the emergency room and told me that I had probably overdosed him. Well, I got scared and called 9-1-1 and an ambulance rushed to the scene and checked out my son and said there was ABSOLUTLEY nothing wrong with him and that the dentist was IRRESPONSIBLE and UNPROFESSIONAL to have scared us like that over nothing. My grandfather, who is a retired dentist himself, wholeheartedly agreed that this was very UNPROFESSIONAL of Dr. Townsend. I learned that Dr. Townsend had recently relocated his practice, and doesn't use his name in the listing for his practice, but goes by "Knoxville Pediatric Dentistry." This sounds suspicious to me. I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved in a mal-practice suit.

Posted 12/13/06 | Report Abuse

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