Elizabeth Barra DDS

This goes back to about 2001. I just took a job that was near her "practice" so I booked an appointment. The first thing she wanted to do was pull three teeth. Ok, that was unexpected. While pulling the first tooth, she said and I kid you not, "I don't know why I like to pull teeth, but I do". Imagine the look on my face. I went back to the office and in talking to co-workers, the husband of one of my co-workers had gone to her and she wanted to pull three teeth. He walked out. Another co-worker had a sister that worked for her but left after two weeks because she felt Barra was unprofessional. When I went back, supposing to have another tooth extracted. I asked her why she wanted to pull these teeth. She asked me if they were bothering me, I replied no and she replied "well I guess they can stay in". I filed a complaint with the ADA. I doubt it did any good. more

Now that I read those negative reviews, I really ask myself: would I prefer to go to a dentist who is organized but does very poor dental work, or would I rather go to a dentist who does really good dental work and I really don't care if he or she is organized in the office? come on people! I would rather go to a dentist who does good dental work!! I always preferred good doctors who know what they are doing. it makes me mad when I hear people say: I don't go to that doctor any more because he or she has an accent or she or he is not nice and charming, or she or he is not organized. I don't have to live with the doctor, and I don't have to marry the doctor. all I care about is good skills and knowledge. and dr. Barra is nice and charming and knows her skills, what more do you want???? those people who wrote the negative comments should be ashamed, and I always say what comes around goes around. to be so mean comes back and haunts you! more

I just read these negative posts and know for a fact that most of this stuff is from bad employees and the stuff that is bad I can say is not true. Everything that I read is the complete opposite. Dr. Barra trained me from scratch with no dental background. I love it so much that I just got accepted to a dental college in Rochester where I'm going to get my degree in dental assisting. Chelsea has worked for Dr. Barra for the last 3 years and has been on the waiting list for the hygiene program at Hudson Valley for the past 2 years. She started with Dr. Barra right out of high school and never had dental experience either and now wants to be a dental hygienist. Seeing as both dental assistants are going to school for dentistry must mean something positive that Dr. Barra has taught us. Dr. Barra gives 110% to all of her patients and is one of the BEST dentists around. I will be very sad to leave and I sure hope that when I am done with school in a year, she will hire me back! Also, I know of two people who have asked for their jobs back after they left but Dr. Barra had already hired new employees. Everyone who thinks negatively about her should reconsider because your really missing out on not only a great dentist but a great person. If you don't believe this is a real post, then call Dr. Barra's office and ask for me. My name is Ansley and Dr. Barras office number is 786-0979. Chelsea works here too and she will tell you the same thing. I wrote this from my own free will so please take my advice because there isn't a better dentist in Albany. I mean that. more

I took my mother to several dentists and no one would treat her because she was dying of canceer and they didn't want to bother with her. Dr. Barra not only treated my mother, she also gave her a huge discount so she could afford dental work. My mother was so happy that for the first time in her life, she could eat without her teeth hurting her. I am so grateful Dr Barra did that for her before she died. I love Dr. Barra so much. more

Good: Not much...the young girls try hard bu are not professional trained. Bad: She is totally unprofessional; sharing all her personal problems; she is incompetent despite ttelling you she is a perfectionist; she is rude and dismissive if you complain; she has no regard for the patients time, just hers; she extended my treatment so she couold charge more for temp. fixes; She argued whne I was justly no satisfied with the temp and the permanent bridge; I had to actually go to the the lab because she did not give adequate instructions;She allowed untrained assistants to do thprocedures. Improvements: She should close her practice but since she won't someone with oversight should visit and see the real story. Other: I have a multi thousand dollar bridge in my mouth that is not properly fit and I am looking for another dentist who may be able to help fix the problem. She made me sign that I liked the color, which actually I do since I went to the lab myself. However, unless you can wear the bridge for wahile you do not know how it feels. I was heading to urope the next day and she took advantage of that cause otherwise she would not glue it in!! She refused to use temp cement ehich I requested . I was in such a state!. more

Dr. Barra services are extremely high. She doesn't give her patients her undivided attention. She is all over the place very unprofessional for a doctor. I told her I was displeased with some of her services instead of her fixing the problem she charged me to fix what she did wrong. I will never go back to her office and I would not recommend anyone to go there. more

It has come to the point where I EXPECT to see totally new faces everytime I walk in there. Agree that she is contantly training new people. The last hygienist I saw was good but was clearly irritated that she had to check me out upon leaving - clearly not a hygienist's job. Not a good business model for the dentist herself to be doing the receipt. She schedules too many procedures at once and frequently leaves in the middle of a procedure so that the nococain wears off! And I've heard other patients complain about that as well. And they didn't do something right with my insurance and I ended up paying for the full procedure. Looking for another dentist. more

I agree> She is a sweet woman but her office is always in chaos and it seems her employees leave all the time. She is always training new employees. I dont think it is their fault either. He office manager right now is great but I guarantee she wont stay. I think this is her 4th more

Dr. Barra is an incredibly nice and helpful dentist, however her office is really unorganized. The staff is totally lost and it seems like everytime i go in there she is training someone how to do things. I was really uncomfortable with her using me as dummy to teach a nurse what to do. While they are all friendly, literally no one other than her has a clue whats going on. The only good parts are the the small town feel and the TV in the waiting room. more