The Maltings Dental Surgery

Fantastic experience: Very good appointment for fillings and deep clean

Negative experience: have had a very bad experience with this dentist. They appear to be open for NHS patients, but in reality, they avoid providing services under the NHS. I am registered with them as an NHS patient, but when I requested an appointment, I was told I need to book my first appointment as a private patient and pay for it. This is misleading and unfair, and it feels like they are blocking access to NHS treatment

Negative experience: The service was great at the Maltings, I did not have to wait long at all. The big issue is the healthy and safety aspect. I went in for a cleaning and I want to believe the tools they used were sanitized but 1. I felt the metallic material in my mouth and it tasted dirty 2. I don’t remember seeing any of the tools being wrapped with plastic or new tools on the table. After the appointment, I developed a bump in the back of my throat, right on my tonsils that I never had before. I had bad breath for a week and noticed a build up of tonsil stones. My body still feels like it’s fighting off something and I still feel unwell - it’s been 2 weeks since the appointment too! I’m just concerned about my health at this point and hoping nothing was transferred to me during my clean. I’m not sure what to do at this point or how to check I am okay. I have attached a photo of the bump I developed on my tonsils after my cleaning

Fantastic experience: Great service, friendly and professional staff, Receptionists and Dentist make you feel welcome.

Fantastic experience: Staff filled me with confidence as all procedures were explained in detail. I had forgotten to book a hygienists appt but the dentist managed to fit me in to save me returning another day. Really appreciated

Fantastic experience: Dentistry to the max Superb service with a top dental surgeon Beena

Negative experience: The dentistry was fine, but I was seen 40 minutes after my appointment time. No doubt there was a good reason for this, but it would have been nice if someone had said "really sorry to be keeping you waiting, we had an emergency " or whatever. But no one even referred to it.

Fantastic experience: Excellent care and attention at this surgery and made to feel like the only patient. Dentist takes time to explain everything fully. Dental nurses are welcoming and friendly. Reception staff are friendly and very efficient. Highly recommend this practise!!

Fantastic experience: Maria is fabulous. Really good with my very anxious son, he has grown to trust her. Waiting times even early in the day a little long.

Fantastic experience: Very welcoming and excellent treatment

Fantastic experience: My dentist is very thorough and professional.I feel grateful for the NHS care I receive from the practice.She is easy to talk to and supports me in decisions I make for my ongoing dental management.

Fantastic experience: Beena and her team of dental assistants were excellent today. Very professional and I felt very confident in their hands while they extracted my front tooth and inserted an implant and bone graft.

Negative experience: Very poor on timings, appointments don’t mean anything to them. You with sit on that reception for a long time.

Negative experience: It’s a shame to have to rate a medical facility so low. Yes you can register on the NHS to go there. But the quality of the dentistry is poor. They spam your email to make an appointment for another check up - the email gives bold red text threats that you will be removed from NHS dental if you do not book in. It’s almost like a money making NHS machine. If you attend for a check up, you are seeing a dental therapist rather than a fully qualified dentist. And when I’ve seen a fully qualified dentist for a real emergency dental issue, their knowledge was extremely poor, they missed signs of something extremely routine and common and led me to seeking private dentistry. I would not recommend attending the Maltings Surgery. It’s worth paying for private to ensure you receive care which is up to standard.

Fantastic experience: Dr Sakali is always friendly and professional. She knows I’m anxious and treats me well.

Fantastic experience: My dental appointment with Natalie today was exceptional she has worked hard to save my tooth and i’m very grateful she is caring and very gentle talking me through the whole procedure so i knew what was happening at all times she is possibly one of the best dentist i’ve ever seen the dental nurse was friendly and they both gave me great confidence.

Positive experience: Great service from Tejas, clear and thorough examination performed with genuine interest shown in my oral health and lifestyle habits. I usually get very anxious attending the dentist, but he had a very calming nature and put me at ease. The only annoying part of the experience for me was having a 9:00 appointment, but the building not being unlocked and opened beforehand to allow waiting customers inside rather than wait in the exposed elements outside.

Negative experience: Shocking surgery. Poor patient care. Shocking admin errors. Rude staff

Fantastic experience: I am impressed with The Maltings Dental Practice in St Albans. The reception staff team are quick, efficient and kind. It is the dentistry help that I am highly impressed with. I have had amongst many other issues intense pain of unknown origin - and Dr Natalie Sabba has been conscientiously professional in getting me out of pain calling me back in the same day even. This is just one of several times she has impressed I cannot express enough my thanks and respect for her professionalism and understanding nature. She is an asset to the practice, which is run smoothly and where team work is very apparent. The dental assistants have also Impressed with their experience and input. I would highly recommend The Maltings Dental Practice.

Fantastic experience: I am deeply great full for your service. Many thanks for all the staff.

Negative experience: It has taken more than 6 weeks of calling weekly to get my son’s referral for extractions progressed. Each time I have called, I have been promised a call back to confirm the next steps. I have not received any calls back or updates. I had to make an appointment to see the dentist in order to get an update and progress. This is so disappointing and very frustrating- requiring so much wasted time on my behalf.

Fantastic experience: Dr Maria Sakali is professional, efficient and puts you at ease immediately. I was pleased with her treatment .The receptionists are friendly and attentive.

Positive experience: everybody was very pleasant, unfortunately when l asked why when my appointment was at 12:00 noon and it was now 12:35 and l was still sat in the waiting room, and a fellow patient who's appointment was at 12:25 had gone in before me, there was no reason forth coming.

Fantastic experience: My two year old daughter was very at ease whilst having her check up, and very pleased to be given a sticker as a reward!

Negative experience: Their service is very poor. Slow and no response to emails and they are not corporative in claiming private insurance. I am currently in the process of losing 750£ because the admin staff refuse to complete the admin work that required for my insurance claim.

Negative experience: Useless place, booked an appointment for me and my Mum, mothers was through NHS and said all booked for the following Monday. Was a bit sceptical as we received no confirmation so phoned up on Monday morning and they said no booking has been made. Went into the surgery, only the receptionist was half decent. The dentist who was performing the cleaning was extremely obnoxious and rude, charged my Mum close to £200 even though on the phone they mentioned will be covered by NHS tariff which is less than half the amount. One of the assistants had the personality of a wooden leg and that’s being generous. Rubbish established and a disgrace to a dental surgery. Never coming back again!

Negative experience: Not very reliable, waited 30min over my appointment time in waiting room and never seen

Negative experience: My appointment was scheduled for 9am, but the surgery wasn't opened until 9am, so I had to wait until 9.15am to actually be seen. When I asked why, I was told that the surgery never opens before 9am. Surely starting late means appointments will only get later throughout the day? I won't be booking an appointment for 9am again.

Negative experience: Had X-rays done at hospital and dentist hasn’t even bothered to return my calls or nothing and I have tooth that’s causing bad pains. 2 weeks n no contact I think it’s best to avoid these clowns

Fantastic experience: Very good service. Maria Sakali as always very professional and excellent

Fantastic experience: I walked in on Monday went up to the counter and after few minutes was seen by the staff and was sorted out, a very good service thanks. Walter Loosely

Fantastic experience: Great dentist. Very friendly and helpful. NHS appointments available too.

Negative experience: - Never run to time, even first appointments of the day don't start on time. How can you run late immediately upon opening? - Constantly bombard clients with urgent red font emails, even when an appointment is booked / took place recently. IT booking systems do not seem to sync up with appointment. Very poor client comms in this regard, get this sorted and stop the constant barrage of urgent red font appointment reminder emails to your clients. - I don't rate any of the dentists. - They push dental appointments for our kids constantly, presumably for NHS fee revenue. However every single appointment lasts 5 mins and goes exactly like this after a quick tooth exam: "Yep, it's fine, all fine, absolutely fine. How often do you brush (dur, twice a day). Do you have an electric toothbrush? Buy an electric toothbrush. See you in a couple of weeks for yet another check up. Buy an electric toothbrush. Bye. Buy an electric toothbrush."

Fantastic experience: Great experience by my daughter yesterday. She had to have a filling, very anxious about injections. She saw Mehulish and Konya who were so very lovely, kind and calming. She didn't even feel the injection! Definitely recommend these two

Negative experience: Poor poor poor. For those booked for the first 9am appointment be prepared to be left outside in the cold. 9am they open the doors, check a herd of people in and then make you wait a further 5 mins before you’re seen. The first appointment of the day really shouldn’t run late like this. In addition, I book several months in advance to see my dentist to find out the day of the appointment I’m now being treated by an unqualified dental therapist , nobody rang me in advance to check that I would be happy to attend this appointment knowing this. I’ve raised a complaint and waiting a response. Lastly, everyone is so unfriendly and clearly an unhappy workforce. Every time I go there is a problem. Previously forgetting I’m booked for a hygiene clean and assessment, a complaint was raised then and nobody came back to me. No apologies, no solutions, no communication.

Fantastic experience: A dental surgery that still takes on NHS patients and offers other services beyond that! I've been coming here for nearly 20 years now and I've seen some changes but even when I left St Albans I didn't consider changing my dentist

Fantastic experience: Very pleased with all aspects of my visit. The appointment was on time, I was treated with courtesy. The dentist demonstrated high professional standards and discussed the proposed treatment before carrying it out efficiently.

Fantastic experience: Very happy with the treatment and helpful advice I was given today.

Positive experience: My appointment was the first one at 9 am, however I was kept waiting for 10 minutes with no explanation. Pleased with the check up.

Positive experience: Been with this dentist since a child and it used to be so great but the past few years the quality has been poor. I think the dentists themselves are great however feel they do rush check up and never offer any NHS cleaning anymore. Its a shame the reception are just so unfriendly. They clearly don't enjoy their job and don't make you feel welcome when you arrive. All I would say is a smile and a good morning/afternoon goes a long way.

Fantastic experience: Dentist is excellent. Retaining good staff for reception is clearly an issue as there’s always a new face and/or staff training. Not a complaint, just an observation again. Felt sorry for the lady doing the training as she had her own job to do while training two new staff.

Negative experience: Booked for a cap on tooth.didnt inform me until i turned up for the work on the tooth they told me the dentist doing the work had left.i wouldn’t recommend.pricey and just looking for profit.

Negative experience: Used to be great. Now very poor admin and rushed appointments. Aggressive chasing to book appointments all the time or be struck off list. Then when appointments booked I got auto generated emails for other appointments I hadn’t booked. Reception staff seem very disinterested in customers. Dentists are much friendlier but check up today was probably 2 min look in my son’s mouth and less than 5 min look and chat to tell me all ok.

Negative experience: I called and made an appointment to see a dentist about getting dentures. When I got to my appointment, the person I saw was a hygienist and not a dentist and he couldn't help me with regards to dentures. Complete waste of an appointment. Then I get told I have to go onto a waiting list for at least 3 to 4 weeks before I can see a dentist. So not happy !!!!!

Fantastic experience: Dental assistant was excellent, really reassuring and knew what she was doing. I wish I had got her name so I could request her for every appointment.

Negative experience: The treatment was ok. But I believed I was going for ongoing treatment inc in the band b payment I paid at first appointment. When I got into the chair I was told Id have to pay band b price again. This was an unexpected cost I could ill afford. Ive never had an issue like this with previous dentist at different surgery. Not at all happy.

Negative experience: the waiting times are atrocious, does'nt matter if you book a time they seem to be always late, some of the nurses cant even read simple names.

Fantastic experience: Beena is excellent so I have no issues at all. The issue I have is the aggressive email dated 11 December 2024 reminding me to book a check up. I have been having an implant process with Beena for the last 8 months. So claiming that you have been unsuccesfuly trying to contact me is just untrue. If it wasnt for Beena's excellence I would seriously considered finding a new dental practice. Change your process or risk losing patients with this high handed behaviour. Otherwise I will make a complaint to the BDA and publicise it on the St Albans Facebook communities.

Positive experience: Hi, I was seen by the dentist with my support staff, Instead of talking to me about my teeth, which I needed fillings for, she kept on asking my support staff and discussing her about my situation which I'm capable to speak for myself which I think she was rude in that situation.

Fantastic experience: My family have used Maltings for years. Most recently when I stupidly crunched in a toffee over Christmas and lost a filling . I managed to book in for an initial appointment on the same day (28th). Sadly the diagnosis wasn’t good and I was going to need a replacement or crown when there was very little tooth left to work with. I managed to get booked in for New Year’s Eve. When I went back the initial dentist was concerned as by now the gum was inflamed and he got a 2nd opinion from Dr Beena. They were concerned that the filling would need ‘a pin’ and given the lack of remaining tooth a crown was unlikely to last long. They x-rayed the tooth again and I was told I would have to come back for Dr Beena to do the work. I got an appointment but it wasn’t going to be for 2 weeks and it was going to be just before a big holiday! I was desperate so on reflection rang them as soon as I got home in case there were any cancellations….i was told if I could go straight back dr Beena would squeeze me in ( I think her last appointment of the year and delaying her start to the celebrations). The procedure was complicated and not the ideal way to spend a New Year’s Eve, but I couldn’t have faced 2 more weeks of the pain and discomfort I had been in, with the thought of major procedure just before I was due to go on holiday. Although the procedure was complex and difficult Dr Beena was calm throughout, considerate and explained clearly what she had to do. Very grateful…I fear next time the tooth will come out but really appreciated their flexibility , understanding and help. Happy new year ( sort of!)

Fantastic experience: I have been seen Dr Beena Assani, she was running late, but she has told the receptionist to send me, her apologies. I believe she was late, because she like her patients not to be rushed and they leave unhappy. I went in, half hour later, and I left with an amazing work done to my tooth. I can’t thanks her enough for the amazing work she did, and she gave me some advice, on how to save another tooth from getting worse. Fadi Alhallak

Negative experience: I hated my experience here. I booked an appointment to get a tooth cleaned and filling done. I was booked into it like a sheep, haphazardly the X-rays were taken and I could clearly see that the tooth can be saved as cavity hadn’t touched any root part and there was a lot of space and it needs to be cleaned properly and filled. The dentist with less credentials(dental exams pending) insisted to take it out. He did the bare minimum, created a bigger cavity and filled it up improperly, the filling came out within a month. I was charged more than 200£ and a bigger cavity to take care of. At the end, the dentist told me to “go to an expert”. I was stunned by that comment. I recommend people to save themselves and find another place, if they have private insurance. If not, scrutinize their every word while undergoing treatment.

Positive experience: Treatment at surgery first class and reception team good but trying to book via the electronic links was a big problem.

Fantastic experience: Had a dental hygiene cleaning here and all in all was very happy with the experience. They were able to book me in at short notice and I was happy with the service I received. Reception can be difficult to get through to on the phone, however. I find you are more likely to get a response if you call earlier in the working day.

Fantastic experience: I couldn’t believe my luck that I got an appointment on the same day - amazing service! Friendly staff and very reassuring check up with sensible advice.

Positive experience: The dentist was running maybe 10-15 mins late but it wasn't an issue for me this time. At my last visit the dentist was an hour behind which was more of a problem. This time i was dealt with efficiently and reassured about something I thought ws a problem. All good!

Fantastic experience: Just had a filling for the first time in years. Wasn't particularly looking forward to the experience but it was all handled quickly, efficiently and with minimum/ almost no pain.

Positive experience: Dentists are great but the facilities are tired & very aggressive auto generated emails are sent to chase bookings (even when a booking has been made) ….i have raised this issue several times ….. Great location ……but booking system / building fabric needs review

Positive experience: The service was great and made feel comfortable during the procedure. A very good and experienced team.

Fantastic experience: This was my first experience at Maltings and I have to say the treetment I received (filling and hygienist) were both excellent. The dentist and his assistant worked well as a team and were professional throughout. I will gladly use them again.

Fantastic experience: Positive experience as my assigned dentist Tejas Zope found and remedied issues that I’ve had for a little while now. Very grateful

Positive experience: Good service from Maria. Just funny the way appointment time I made on the internet kept moving 5mnlater each time I received a confirmation, reminder. It did not matter to me on this occasion, but it might have.

Positive experience: I was charged for a service that i did not get. Booked for a filling not for a checkup. Maria was nice ed efficient but she did NOT make a check up. I am sorry to say that. but I also felt rushed out. After the filling thay do not show me the work with a mirror but I had to get up and look of it my self. I am very pleased they are going to give me a refund of the check up cost. Thank you.

Positive experience: The hygienist did a great job. Was told one price over the phone, had to pay an extra £35 pounds in reality.

Fantastic experience: I saw Hiral Mehta 2 weeks ago for an exam and again today for cleaning and a filling. I am an extremely nervous patient but Hiral made me feel so calm and at ease at the first appointment that I trusted her to go ahead and book in for the filling/clean. She knew I was nervous for this appointment today but she treated me so patiently explaining everything that was going to go ahead and answering all my questions before we started being clear (there was a lot!). We had Taylor swift quietly for some background noise to help as her suggestion. I had no pain at all and Hiral completely excelled my expectations after a horrible dental experience elsewhere. The dental nurse was also really friendly and both combined made me have a really pleasant experience at the maylands dental practice. My next clean and check up has been booked today in advance before I left and I won’t be nervous going back! Thank you

Negative experience: Although my dentist does a good job, the management of the Maltings Dental Surgery are all about profit not care. Overall the service has plummeted over the last few years. I cannot recommend the Maltings Dental Surgery.

Negative experience: Since when does a check up take 90seconds and air flow take 1minute for £180? Not a good idea to send me yet another email. This one asking for feedback today.

Positive experience: Excellent dental care by Maria, good reception staff though doors opened late and it's difficult to hear through the glass partition on the desk. The waiting room is also fairly noisy and the queueing system means crowding around a waiting sofa.

Fantastic experience: £26 to be in the chair for exactly 5 minutes seems unfair. I can’t think of any other type of appointment where you’d be charged that. I had a check up and a touch up to a filling in exactly 5 minutes. More time should be spent of money is being charged. Everything seems so rushed it often feels there is no time to discuss anything

Negative experience: Dissapointed as this was my 2nd check up ..both times i have asked for a scale and polish which is part of the BAND A treatment plan price ..both times the dentish said no ..in the chair less than 2 minutes today ..i would like an explanation please ..thank you

Negative experience: Had to wait over half an hour for my appointment. Had to go to reception to check that they hadnt forgotten about me and did suggest they should let people know there is a delay. Manners of staff just appalling - no please or thankyous - awful! The dentist was clearly stressed and checkup was less than 2minutes - Had to remind the dentist that I was due an x-ray. Really poor service and treatment Not even worth a 1 star - this is generous!

Fantastic experience: Had a check up & clean today & it was on time & the service was great, as usual. Maria Sakali is one of the best dentists I've ever had.

Fantastic experience: Very helpful staff, quick and efficient. Sad that our dentist is moving on but we know we will get another good one

Negative experience: I went to there with my rotten teeth and I have a strong pain with high temperature and I had to book emergency appointment and doctor did not do nothing and I said pain is killing me and she said take painkillers and charge me 65£ and come after one week for take your teeth completely (250£) ridiculous, but if u want root canal it will be 900£ ? What ?? Doctor is non educated and do not scare to take money for no reason from people

Fantastic experience: It was my first day today. Found reception staff helpful. Tejas Zope was very pleasant polite and helpful. Explained what he was about to do and about cleaning,filling, and costs . I was glad l picked this dental practice. A patient l met at the practice his morning could not praise the staff enough.

Positive experience: I had appointment @9am and wasn't seen by 9:48. Its a very busy surgery and trains were running late so keep in mind that you might have to wait a bit longer. Service was great and the staff in the reseption was very helpful.

Fantastic experience: Kind and thoughtful dentists. They did a great job on my tooth fillings and giving me advice and guidance. The company were flexible in the timings when I had to reschedule an appointment. I will come to this dentist again :)

Positive experience: The electronic form does not work before the dental appointment, however the staff does not fix the problem and ask the patient to fill in the paper form in the phone call. At the reception, there are several patients facing same issues about electronic form. While I asked for the paper form to fill in, the receptionist said that was not necessary to fill. The message was so confused. Apart from that, the dentist did the check up and cleaning well, the cleaning is charged as private, not including in NHS.

Positive experience: My appointment was at 10am. I waited until after 10.15am to be seen. After treatment I looked at my emails and had received one at 9.29am to say that my appointment was at 10.15am. I had left home by the. It is not acceptable to change appointments like this.

Negative experience: The organisation at the front desk was poor (not for the first time). There were four people behind the desk, with only one person seeing to customers. I assume others were doing some kind of administration but it did not give a good impression that they were leaving customers to queue, which meant that customers were checked in late and the queue to see the dentist built up. I came with my two small children, I was on time but I was seen 55 minutes late. My children were very tired and frustrated and when they were climbing and jumping up and down the steps in the waiting room to keep themselves entertained, they were told to “shush” as a staff interview was being conducted in the waiting room. I don’t think this is the appropriate space to conduct an interview. The dentist - Maria - was friendly as ever, the only reason why I gave more than 0 stars.

Negative experience: After a very long time trying to find a nhs dentist I thought I'd struck gold. Unfortunately when I had my appointment the lovely lady said I need to see a different dentist as she could not help me. I'm a bit confused as I thought I'd booked with a dentist. She then asked behind the desk and there I was told I would have to take a private dentist to be seen. All in all a very disappointing journey as I don't live near.

Negative experience: It is my first time to visit a dental surgery in this country, because of my molar fillings fallen off. The overall clinical experience is satisfactory while the dentist was warm and welcoming. She also explained clearly regarding what she'll be doing. However, there are a couple of things putting me in doubt. First, I wrote to the surgery and explained the reason of the appointment is to re-do my molar fillings. The receptionist called back and arranged a "hygiene" appointment for me. I didn't know what that means but trusted her reading ability. The dentist knew that there was a miscommunication and had to quickly re-arrange her preparation for a "fillings" appointment instead. Next, there are choices of fillings material. Amalgam is included in the NHS service but a more durable "composite" is not, which cost 180 quid. This also made me doubtful as some dental surgeries stated composite fillings are also under NHS service. The last thing is about a "hygiene" service. I know it is charged but I forgot to clarify how much it costs. Anyway I accepted this service after the filling was done. A 10-minute "hygiene" private service costs 95 quid which is jaw-dropping, and that made me understand why the receptionist put me in the "hygiene" appointment at the first place. ********* Adding feedback: part of the fillings started to crumble and fell off since the second day. Disappointed.

Negative experience: Absolutely appalling! I was cancelled twice. When I was seen I was told I had to go back to my dentist in Winchester who performed root canal treatment to sort it out . I am left now with an unhealthy tooth, having to take more time off to try find another dentist ! They only do routine check ups … they should advertise that for nhs patients ! Not have people take time off work twice , to be told they can’t help !!! After waiting weeks !!!

Fantastic experience: I have been with the maltings surgery for many years now. The service I receive continues to be excellent. In particular Bheena my Dentist. Thank you! Yesim Mehmet

Negative experience: NHS check up took less than 5 minutes. I booked hygienist as I wanted a deep clean.. cost nearly £100 and took 5 minutes. So for less than 10 minutes in the chair it cost £126.50. Dentist that did this spoke so quickly with an accent I found it hard to totally understand what she was saying. I have been with this dentist for years. The dentist I used to see took his time and cleaned my teeth within the NHS treatment. Yes I understand the NHS may have changed what they provide at a reduced cost but wow just for a quick… very quick clean I could have brought a really expensive toothbrush. Quick service quick money .. that’s all this practice is about!

Positive experience: Very smart, caring & attention to details. Read through my previous dental records. Offer professional advice. Proactive in providing dental health services. Highly recommended.

Fantastic experience: I've been a regular here for nearly 20 years when the very excellent Dr Deborah Crawley was my dentist; after many changes (some good, some bad), I'm happy to say that Shreeya Patel is an equally good dentist!

Fantastic experience: The whole experience was excellent, I was only having a check up today, after at least 10 years! The options and prices of the treatment were explained. All the staff were friendly and professional. I will definitely recommend to friends and family. Thank you

Negative experience: Today's check up with the lovely Maria, went very well. Seen promptly and efficiently. Useful information given. Reception staff were pleasant. A huge improvement on my.last appointment six months ago, which I'm sure was just a glitch in the matrix.

Positive experience: First of all thank you to Maria for always being the best. Taking the time and explaining every step before actually doing anything is something I value when being a new patient. Unfortunately, I do not appreciate being booked in for an appointment at 9:00 am when the doors literally open at just after 9:00. However, I was the first one to be called in today so I was in and out after 10 minutes for my routine check-up. I have been forgotten perviously though and was waiting for an hour (as was everyone else on that day) before I dared to ask if I had been forgotten, which I was. Not ideal if you try and attend an appointment on your lunch break. Please make an effort to inform your patients the total amount you will be charging them before taking a partial payment. I booked in for a hygenist appointment today and was asked to pay 40 in advance without knowing that the total amount will be 95 after I have had the treatment. I am happy to come back to this review and add more stars, until then I am afraid I can only recommend your doctors, not your management.

Fantastic experience: As someone who's usually nervous about having a dental appointment, I'm delighted that I was put entirely at ease, with full explanations about what was going to happen throughout, and was asked, rather than instructed, about the treatments. The appointment was conducted professionally and speedily, both of which minimised any anxiety that I might otherwise has felt. Highly recommended.

Fantastic experience: This was my first visit to the surgery. The staff were very professional and warm. Dr Kallam is a lovely human being and I would recommend her to everyone.

Fantastic experience: A huge improvement on 6 months ago. The surgery's booking system seems to have been sorted out, and today everything was on time and ran like clockwork. The dentist (Maria) and her team were as friendly and efficient as ever. 5 out of 5.

Fantastic experience: On the bank holiday weekend I lost part of my tooth. I went on line made an appointment the earliest was 4 days later. Confirmation received the next day. I received two email reminders about the appointment so I wouldn't forget. When I arrived at the dentist I waited about 5 minutes to be seen, once in the surgery room, my dentist greeted me with a smile, removed her mask as I am a lip-reader and I explained why I had made the appointment. I was examined and given a choice of treatments. I opted for re-cement the white filling, I didn't need an injection I was in and out within 20 minutes. A few days late, the filling has now settled and I can go back to eating as normal.

Negative experience: I just don’t understand how all of a sudden a certain dental practice in St Albans seems to only offer limited NHS services? Is it that the dentists are just so incapable? How thing change in less than 2 years. I was then referred to a private practice of specialists in one of the suburbs whose prices are off the scale. I am talking £700-800 for an extraction and £1100 for a root canal after a consult of £100. This happened to my husband too. I then started phoning around to see there were private practices offering the services for a 3rd of the price. Malting Dental was a good practice once upon a time … they had some good dentists there but they seem to have moved on.. another gripe if you’ve been consulted by a dentist and they are not available to see you you have to be reconsulted by someone else. The last time I needed to be seen too before this fiasco was in Feb and I was told last minute that dentist was leaving. I now understand why they send emails saying they have openings for new NHS patients - because they are just so bad. My tooth issue is still not sorted after 6 weeks.

Positive experience: Was seen promptly for my 6m check up and was finished after 10 minutes. In the past, the dentist used to do a quick clean but that does not happen now and this now needs to be set up separately at your own cost. I tried to rebook for the next check up but understand the dentist is now working part time two days a week so not possible to do so out of these two days. Only option offered was to see a technician instead of a dentist. If I chose this option, I would be forever seen by a technician as all the dentists are full to capacity. So the question is why are dentists working part time when there is such demand and need? So to see a dentist, I can only book a Tuesday or Wednesday! I do not understand why I cannot book to see another dentist either - was told they are all working at full capacity and you cannot do so.

Negative experience: I had no option, I would leave a 0 star review but sadly I cannot choose that as an option. The dental practioner I was seen by was extremely unprofessional. Upon arrival she did not introduce herself, I have no idea who the female was, and whether she was a trainee or fuly qaulified. Throught out the 5-6 min examination, I was not told about the condition of my teeth or gums nor were the xray results given to me. I did mention about the pain I had and only one question was asked about that. The practitioneer was more interested in when my mat certficate expired because she said I would review in 6 months, this is not what I was told by a local dental practitioner 3 months ago. I can fully understand why they are recruiting NHS patients, customer service is extremely poor. I was better of not travelling the 40 min journey to attend.

Negative experience: On the positive side, the dentists themselves are generally friendly, welcoming and skilled. On the negative side, the admin staff are the polar opposite. Rude, disinterested, and unfriendly. You can stand there waiting for them to finish their conversation before they even acknowledge you, and then they just say "name?", and 'take a seat'. There is no common curtesy at all. The phone booking system has improved slightly, but is still not working properly. If I were managing this practice, I would focus on improving the front-of-house staff, as they are the face of the company and are projecting a poor image.

Negative experience: What a waste of my time I was attended by a person with limited English and was not even a qualified dentist when I asked to see a Dentist I was offered a private consultation at a cost of £65 on another day as no N.H.S services were available. I understand having spoken to others this Practise has a high churn rate of Dentists I doubt that I will return

Fantastic experience: I used to dread going to the dentist but that has changed since I joined the Maltings. The staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, it instantly puts you at ease. Big shout out to Tejas and his associate who were the ones who saw me. Highly recommend.