One dentist, one office

Dr. Robert J. Brosi graduated from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry in 1981 and has been in dentistry for more than forty years since. He has been the sole proprietor of this Oakhurst office since 2007. His California dental license number is 029875, issued by the Dental Board of California, and you are welcome to look it up.

A single dentist office works differently from a larger one. Your record is not handed between associates. Nobody has to read a chart cold and guess what the last person meant. When a filling placed eleven years ago starts to leak, the dentist looking at it is the one who placed it, which usually shortens the conversation about what to do next.

It also sets the limits honestly. One dentist can only be in one chair at a time, so the schedule is finite and popular hygiene slots book out. Get on the schedule when you are due rather than waiting for a reminder card. More about Dr. Brosi, and the team who works alongside him.

How an appointment here actually runs

Nothing here is unusual. It is written down because patients ask, and because knowing the order of events takes some of the edge off a visit.

  • We find out what is happening first. An examination, and the images needed to see what an examination cannot. Treatment decisions come after the diagnosis, never before it.
  • You see what we see. Digital images come up on the screen next to the chair. If we say a tooth is cracked, you get to look at the same picture we are looking at and ask what you are looking for.
  • You hear the options, including doing nothing. Most teeth can be treated more than one way. You get the reasonable choices, what each one asks of the tooth, and what usually happens if the problem is left alone.
  • You get the fee before treatment starts. Not after. For anything substantial you get it in writing. See payment options and how dental benefits work.
  • Then you decide. Nobody here works on commission, and nothing gets booked in the same breath as it is diagnosed unless you are in pain and want it dealt with.

If a question you have is not answered here, it is probably on the common questions page or worth a phone call.

A general dental practice, and what that means

Dr. Brosi is a general dentist. General dentistry covers the great majority of what a family needs across a lifetime: cleanings and exams, fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures, root canal therapy, gum treatment, implant restoration, clear aligners, night guards and the emergencies that arrive without warning.

It also has edges. Some cases are better handled by a dentist who has done nothing but that one procedure for years, and a few need a hospital rather than a dental office. When a case is one of those, you will be told plainly and helped to find the right place. Being referred out is not a failure of the practice. Being kept in a chair by a dentist who should have referred you is.

The point of a general practice is that one person keeps the whole picture in view. Gum health, bite, wear pattern, old restorations and what you can realistically maintain at home are connected problems. Treating them in isolation is how a mouth ends up with expensive dentistry that fails early. See what we treat for the detail on each area.

What we treat

Every area below has its own page explaining what the treatment involves, when it is the right answer, and what the trade-offs are.

Preventive care
Exams, cleanings and low dose digital imaging, which is the least expensive dentistry there is because it is the dentistry you end up never needing. Preventive dentistry and what happens at an exam and cleaning.
Rebuilding damaged teeth
Crowns, bridges, dentures, root canal therapy and implant work for teeth that are broken, failing or already gone. Restorative dentistry and dental implants.
Appearance
Veneers, whitening, bonding and porcelain work, planned so the result still looks like your own mouth in ten years. Cosmetic dentistry.
Gums and bone
Diagnosis, non surgical treatment and long term maintenance for gum disease, which is the most common reason adults lose teeth. Periodontal care.
Alignment and jaw problems
Clear aligner treatment for crowded, gapped or shifting teeth, and conservative treatment for jaw pain, clicking and grinding. Orthodontics and TMJ and jaw pain.
Sleep and snoring
Custom oral appliances for obstructive sleep apnea that a physician has already diagnosed, particularly where CPAP has not worked out. Sleep apnea treatment.
Things that cannot wait
Broken teeth, lost crowns, swelling and severe pain. Call early in the day and say it is an emergency. Dental emergencies.

Where we are, and when we are open

The office is at 49414 Road 426, Oakhurst, CA 93644, just off Highway 41. Mail and payments go to PO Box 2407, Oakhurst, CA 93644-2407. The phone is (559) 683-4694, the fax is (559) 642-6219, and the office email is drbrosi@sti.net. Please do not send health information by ordinary email, because it is not encrypted.

Hours are Monday to Wednesday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, Thursday 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, and the office is closed Friday to Sunday. The early Thursday start exists for people who need to be at work afterwards, or who are driving in from further out and would rather do it before the day fills up.

Plenty of our patients are not from Oakhurst. They come down Highway 41 from the north, up from Coarsegold, across from Bass Lake and Ahwahnee, over from North Fork and down Highway 49 from Mariposa County. If you are driving a distance, say so when you book and we will try to get more done in one visit. Areas we serve, or directions and a map.

If you are new here

A first visit takes longer than a routine checkup, because it covers ground that only has to be covered once.

  1. Call or send a request

    Call (559) 683-4694 during office hours, or send an appointment request. A request is not a confirmed appointment. Someone will call you back to agree a time.

  2. Fill in the forms before you arrive

    Medical history, medications and doses, allergies, and how you would like to be contacted. Doing it at home beats doing it on a clipboard while you are already nervous. Patient forms.

  3. Bring the useful things

    Photo identification, your dental plan card if you have one, and a current medication list. If another office has recent x-rays of your mouth, ask them to send those over rather than repeating the images.

  4. Expect an examination, not a sales pitch

    Teeth, gums, bite, existing dental work, an oral cancer screening of the soft tissue and neck, and any imaging that is needed. Then a conversation about what was found. What new patients need to know.