To find a good dentist in Ukiah, start with the 35 dental practices Dental.me tracks across the city, 22 of which carry enough patient feedback to hold a rating that averages 4.52 stars. Sort by that score, weigh how many reviews stand behind it, confirm the office details you need, then book with confidence.
Ukiah is compact for a Mendocino County seat, and its dental market is compact too. Thirty-five practices sit within a short drive of the US-101 corridor, from the offices near Perkins Street downtown to the clinics closer to the hospital district. That small number is actually good news for a patient: it means you can read the whole field in an afternoon instead of drowning in options. The work below is separating the practices that have earned a track record from the ones the directory simply cannot say much about yet.
How Ukiah’s 35 practices break down
Of the 35 Ukiah practices in the directory, 22 have accumulated enough feedback to hold a Dental.me rating. The other 13 are not necessarily worse offices; they are simply thinner on record, and a thin record is a reason to call and ask questions rather than a reason to rule a practice out. Across the 22 rated offices the average score lands at 4.52, which is a healthy bar for a town this size and tells you the typical Ukiah dentist is doing right by the people who review them.
Those 22 rated practices do not cluster in the middle, either. They split into clear tiers, and seeing the shape of that split is the fastest way to understand your real choices in town.
The story here is a strong top tier: 13 of the 22 rated practices sit at 4.8 stars or above. Only two rated offices fall below 4.0. In a market this size, that means your shortlist is genuinely deep, and you can afford to weigh secondary factors like specialty, review volume, and location rather than settling for whoever answers first.
It also changes how you should read a merely good score. In a town where more than half the rated field clears 4.8, a 4.3 is not the safe middle of the pack; it is closer to the back of it. That is not a reason to cross an office off outright, especially if it is the one your family has seen for years, but it is a reason to ask what the lower-scoring reviews were about before you commit a new patient to it. The concentration at the top is the single most useful fact in the Ukiah data, because it raises the bar for what counts as a strong choice here.
The highest-rated dentists in Ukiah
Below are the Ukiah practices with the strongest ratings on file, ordered by score and then by how many reviews stand behind that score. Two offices hold a perfect 5.0, but notice the review counts underneath: a 5.0 built on 18 reviews and a 4.9 built on 308 are telling you different things about how much the record has been tested. Read both columns together before you decide.
| Practice | Rating | Reviews | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Vainer Inc. | 5.0 | 74 | View profile |
| Robert B Tandy Inc | 5.0 | 18 | View profile |
| Jesus Ortega | 4.9 | 308 | View profile |
| Ukiah Dental | Dr. Richard S. Phillips DDS | 4.8 | 291 | View profile |
| Debora Rayhan D.D.S., Inc. | 4.7 | 582 | View profile |
| KM Jeffers Dental Corp | 4.7 | 86 | View profile |
Debora Rayhan D.D.S., Inc. is the volume story of Ukiah dentistry: 582 reviews behind a 4.7 rating is by far the largest body of feedback in town, and a score that holds up over that many reviews is hard to argue with. Jesus Ortega pairs a 4.9 with 308 reviews, and Ukiah Dental under Dr. Richard S. Phillips sits close behind at 4.8 across 291. Those three carry the bulk of the town’s reviewing, and together they anchor the directory’s overall count.
What a website on file tells you
Sixteen of Ukiah’s 35 practices have a website URL on file with the directory. That is not a verdict on the office itself, and it is not the same as saying a practice lacks a website; it simply means the directory does or does not have that link recorded. Still, it is a useful sorting signal. A listing with a website URL on file usually gives you a faster path to services, new-patient forms, and hours before you ever pick up the phone, which matters when you are triaging a toothache on a weekday morning.
When a practice has no website URL on file, treat it as a prompt rather than a penalty. Call during business hours, ask what services they offer, whether they are taking new patients, and which insurance plans they accept. Several of Ukiah’s strongest-rated offices may fall on either side of this line, so let the score and the review history lead, and use the website only as a convenience filter.
Specialty care available in Ukiah
For a town its size, Ukiah is surprisingly well covered on specialty and elective care, so you often will not need to drive over the hills to Lakeport or down US-101 for routine specialist work. Nine practices in the directory offer dental implants in Ukiah, and nine list periodontal care for gum health and the foundation work implants depend on. On the elective side, eight practices handle cosmetic dentistry and eight offer teeth whitening.
If implants or gum treatment are on your horizon, the overlap here is worth using: a practice that appears on both the implant and periodontal lists can often carry a case from foundation to final crown without a referral across town. For whitening or a smile makeover, the eight-practice cosmetic field gives you room to compare before-and-after work and pricing rather than taking the first quote.
How to read the Dental.me Score
Every rating in this guide is a Dental.me Score, and it is earned, not bought. The score weighs a practice’s star rating, how many reviews stand behind that rating, and whether the office’s details have been confirmed, among other signals, so that a well-reviewed, well-documented practice rises above one with a single glowing note. Only Featured placement can be paid for; a practice cannot buy its way to a higher score or a better rank. That is why the review column in the table above matters so much. A 5.0 across 18 reviews and a 4.7 across 582 are both real, but they carry different weight, and reading them side by side is how you tell a promising newcomer from a proven Ukiah mainstay.
Start from the Ukiah dentist directory to see every practice, filter by the service you need, and open the individual profiles for the offices on your shortlist. From there, a short call closes the remaining gaps: new-patient availability, your specific insurance, and whether the first appointment can include the work you actually came in for.
Building your Ukiah shortlist
With 35 practices and a clear tier structure, a working method beats scrolling. Here is the order that gets a Ukiah patient to a booked appointment fastest.
Start with the rated 22, not the full 35
Begin with the offices that carry a score, because those are the ones the record can actually speak to. The 13 unrated practices are worth a look only after you have exhausted the rated field or if one of them is unusually convenient, such as being two blocks from your job or the only office your plan lists in the valley.
Match the score to the size of the record
Once you have three or four candidates, put their ratings next to their review counts. Debora Rayhan’s 4.7 across 582 reviews and Jesus Ortega’s 4.9 across 308 are heavily sampled numbers; a perfect score on a couple dozen reviews is promising but younger. Neither is wrong, but knowing which kind you are choosing sets your expectations correctly.
Filter by the care you actually need
If you need implants, gum treatment, or cosmetic work, narrow to the practices that list it before you compare anything else, since a slightly lower general rating at an office that handles your specific procedure in-house often beats a higher-rated office that would only refer you out. Convenience and continuity of care usually win once the quality bar is met.
Close with a phone call
A five-minute call settles what no directory can: whether they are accepting new patients this month, whether your insurance is in network, and whether the first visit can include the treatment you came for. Bring your plan details and your top two offices to that call so you can book the moment one of them says yes.
Looking just beyond Ukiah
Ukiah sits at the center of a cluster of Mendocino and Lake County towns, and widening your search by a few miles can open up appointments when the in-town field is booked. Just north up US-101, the Redwood Valley dentist listings are only minutes away, and Willits dental practices sit a short drive further along the same highway. To the east over the ridge, the Lakeport directory on Clear Lake is a reasonable option for specialty care or a second opinion. Compare those nearby hubs the same way you read Ukiah: score first, review volume second, and a confirming phone call last.
Put together, the picture for Ukiah is encouraging. A tight field of 35 practices, a 4.52 average across the 22 with a track record, a deep top tier at 4.8 and above, and real specialty depth mean most patients can find a strong, convenient match without leaving the valley. Use the score to build your shortlist, the review counts to gauge how tested each option is, and the profiles and directory to close the deal.
Frequently asked questions
How many dentists are there in Ukiah, CA?
Dental.me tracks 35 dental practices in Ukiah. Of those, 22 have accumulated enough patient feedback to carry a Dental.me rating, while the remaining 13 are listed but not yet rated.
Which Ukiah dentist has the highest rating?
Two Ukiah practices hold a perfect 5.0: William Vainer Inc. (74 reviews) and Robert B Tandy Inc (18 reviews). Jesus Ortega follows at 4.9 across a much larger base of 308 reviews.
What is the average dentist rating in Ukiah?
Across the 22 rated Ukiah practices, the average Dental.me Score is 4.52 stars. Thirteen of those practices score 4.8 or higher, so the top tier is unusually deep for a town this size.
Which Ukiah dental practice has the most reviews?
Debora Rayhan D.D.S., Inc. has the most feedback in Ukiah, with 582 reviews behind a 4.7 rating. That is the largest review base among all local practices in the directory’s total of 1,488 reviews.
Can I get dental implants or specialty care in Ukiah?
Yes. Nine Ukiah practices offer dental implants and nine offer periodontal care, while eight handle cosmetic dentistry and eight provide teeth whitening, so most specialty and elective work can be found in town.
How many Ukiah dental practices have a website on file?
16 of Ukiah’s 35 practices have a website URL on file with the directory. If a practice has no URL recorded, call the office directly to confirm services, new-patient availability, and accepted insurance.
Dental.me organizes dental directory data so patients can compare offices with confidence. Use each practice profile and its available website, map, and phone details for current appointment, payment, and care decisions.