Dr. David followed in his father's footsteps and graduated from the University of Minnesota. After completing his pediatric residency, he participated in a rotation through the Gillette Specialty Children's Hospital in their outpatient and inpatient areas. This provided the opportunity to spend additional time with the cleft palate and craniofacial team, and Dr. David has since joined their team as a staff clinician.
When Dr. David is not working at K.O.A.L.A Dental Care or Gillette Children's Hospital, he enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, two daughters and one son. They also enjoy their two dogs. He combines family life with his other passion, sports. Together they attend Gopher games, ski and enjoy the outdoors.
Dr. Rao is a Golden Gopher for life! She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. She then received a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. Her love for working with children led to an Advanced Education Program in Pediatric Dentistry at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo and at the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo, New York. Dr. Rao received extensive experience in hospital dentistry, IV and conscious sedation. She is a Board-Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Rao believes in the mission of organized dentistry and its role in advocating for the public and those who serve them. She serves as current Chair of the New Dentist Committee and represents the upper Midwest on the American Dental Association's (ADA) Council on Membership. She was selected for the 2018-2019 class of the ADA's Institute of Diversity in Leadership and is working closely to bring the Mission of Mercy to West Central Minnesota.Her passion for teaching led to her becoming clinical adjunct faculty at the UofM School of Dentistry in 2015.
A Midwesterner at heart, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son (and pet rabbit, Pierre), being outdoors, Twins baseball, Gopher hockey and football! She's always on the hunt for the best pizza and tacos!
Dr. Emma is originally from St. Cloud, Minnesota. She attended the University of Minnesota for her undergraduate studies where she received a B.S. in Biology. Dr. Emma then spent one year teaching 4th-8th grade students math at Kennedy Elementary in St. Joseph, Minnesota. Dental school brought her all the way to Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, earning her Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry degree. She then returned to the University of Minnesota to complete a specialty program in pediatric dentistry.
Outside of dentistry, Dr. Emma enjoys spending time on the lakes, with family and friends, and with her Australian Shepherd, Alfonso. Dr. Emma is excited to begin her career at K.O.A.L.A. Dental Care alongside her lifelong mentors, Dr. John Collier and Dr. David Collier. She looks forward to serving the community in which she grew up.
Payment for professional services is due at the time dental treatment is provided. This includes deductibles and co-insurance. We accept cash, personal checks, and most major credit cards. We also take Care Credit.
For patients that require dental treatment, we will customize a treatment plan unique to your child. Our treatment coordinator will review the recommended treatment and the estimation of your dental insurance reimbursement.
Our mission is through education, informed decisions and mutual respect, to provide the highest quality of pediatric dental care in the most enjoyable atmosphere. We are dedicated to excellence through improving our skills, furthering our education and building relationships.
Our pediatric dental office has the latest state-of-the-art equipment to make sure your child has access to everything he or she needs at their visits. We have desinged our offices with children in mind- offering a fun, comfortable environment which helps ensure
We pride ourselves in practicing ethically and honestly, always taking the time to explain our findings. We always consider all appropriate treatment options and try to present the most conservative plans, when possible. It is important for us to be helpful to our patients and answer any questions you might have regarding your childs dental care.
Starting early with prevention and good habits will help build a life-long smile and relationship with your pediatric dentist. Thank you for trusting us with one of the most joyful gifts a child has to offer, their smile!
We are here for you and your child. From the time your child grows their first tooth until they are ready to move on to an adult dentist, our doctors and their team will help care for and protect your childs smile. Because children are so different from adults, we take a unique approach to every patient. We treat our patients as if they were our own and we want each visit to be a fun, educational visit.
Reviews
Rating 2.6 out of 5 based on 22 reviews
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newest oldest highest lowestamy cook
2 years ago
I am very happy how the dentists are with my child and everyone else and the environment is great!!!! Very good place
Joshua Walczesky
2 years ago
Kids absolutely love coming, no fear just smiles!
Ashlin Birkholtz
2 years ago
Awful place to go. I'm gonna start off with them being rude to me. I went there to get my cavities fixed not for them to judge me . They where definitely judging me! And Not only that they didn't numb me enough so when they went to go drilling on my teeth or whatever it hurt extremely bad! I just had to sit there in pain and get over it ..
Justin Skoglund
2 years ago
Good people and great work.
Kristine p
2 years ago
Billing was wrong multiple times. Unfortunately won't go there again because of this over and over.
BadfishRo
2 years ago
My 6 year old partially knocked one of his front teeth out at school, of course on a Friday afternoon, they were all wonderful. They got us in right away even though we'd never been there before, the staff were sweet really good with my son, and we were in and out within half an hour. Can't recommend them highly enough, thank you so much!!!!
Jeremy Hinkemeyer
2 years ago
nothing but issues over and over. Our sons has gone to Koala multiple times. Today was the final straw. We called to voice our issues about his last appointment in attempts to make his next appointment smoother stress free on our son. After talking with front desk for 15 minutes another lady came on phone and rudely said if you don't like our doctors go some where else and she hung up. We were not rude or disrespectful on the phone in any way shape or form. We simple asked for request to be made. Few key negatives. (1) Try to charge for restraint fee (when our son was never physically restraint, just his mother sat next to him by chair) (2) had to fight with staff to be able to go in back with son with disabilities. (3) Rude
Ashlin Birkholtz
3 years ago
Awful place to go. I'm gonna start off with them being rude to me. I went there to get my cavities fixed not for them to judge me . They where definitely judging me! And Not only that they didn't numb me enough so when they went to go drilling on my teeth or whatever it hurt extremely bad! I just had to sit there in pain and get over it ..
Jeremy Hinkemeyer
3 years ago
nothing but issues over and over. Our sons has gone to Koala multiple times. Today was the final straw. We called to voice our issues about his last appointment in attempts to make his next appointment smoother stress free on our son. After talking with front desk for 15 minutes another lady came on phone and rudely said if you don't like our doctors go some where else and she hung up. We were not rude or disrespectful on the phone in any way shape or form. We simple asked for request to be made. Few key negatives. (1) Try to charge for restraint fee (when our son was never physically restraint, just his mother sat next to him by chair) (2) had to fight with staff to be able to go in back with son with disabilities. (3) Rude
BadfishRo
3 years ago
My 6 year old partially knocked one of his front teeth out at school, of course on a Friday afternoon, they were all wonderful. They got us in right away even though we'd never been there before, the staff were sweet really good with my son, and we were in and out within half an hour. Can't recommend them highly enough, thank you so much!!!!
Justin Skoglund
3 years ago
Good people and great work.
Kristine p
3 years ago
Billing was wrong multiple times. Unfortunately won't go there again because of this over and over.
SoulSojourner
3 years ago
Over an hour away from where I live. The first two appointments seemed to go well enough, but when I had car issues in the middle of winter and had to get my vehicle in the shop for work, I called to reschedule an appointment that same day. They told me rescheduling requires 24 hours notice and that if I couldn't get my daughter in that day, they wouldn't see her anymore. Since I literally had no other choice, and they couldn't be understanding, I had to cancel. Now she needs to find another dentist to do something as common as caps. Ridiculous. This clearly shows their priority; money. They couldn't care less about their patients. If you want a dentist who cares, you'd best look elsewhere.
Ariana Osterday
3 years ago
This place only cares about money. They need to change their cancelation policy of 24 hours for people who have an address an hour or more away, or at least be understanding where hey, I have this emergency. I can't make it. If a child was referred for a reason to a pediatric dentistry, it's for a really good legitimate reason why a regular dentistry can't provide certain cares. So now, because a child had to miss an appointment due to their parent having some emergency come up, then the child has to suffer by A: traveling even farther to another completely new place that they have to get through their anxiety or B: not getting the proper dental care cause there's no other pediatric dentistry close by and a regular one won't do it. This place obviously cares more about money instead of a child's dental health.
Tony Kelly
3 years ago
Good dental but unfortunately they do not handle the accounts well. Once the sale is done they do not seem to have all their cards in a row. My experience was with the staff in Baxter. We have used care credit for years at all dental, when it came to Koala, they couldn't get the payment to go through. We had the people of care credit and the people in the Koala dental all work together to solve this but they could not . Basically care credit gave them the account to bill to. The people at koala asked then for the expiration date. The care credit team then asked what expiration? I was also confused as the other dental offices never asked for this, just the account to bill to. Needless to say lots of issues with this. Had to call in several times to see how they could take my money but still they asked for an expiration. I worked with care credit again and this time they sent out a physical card that yes, had the date!! Went back to koala for them to take my money but this time they couldn't take the money either.. they had sent it to collectors!! This all occurred in a 60 day time with me calling in and asking if they notated the account that I was working on it . I was told yes, the account was remarked but still, collectors. They have a lady named Mindy that handles collection calls @ koala. She was not very understanding, she basically said we didn't remark your account, here is how you can go pay the collectors and no, care credit wont work. All in, I will be going somewhere with better back of house operations. I already called the collectors and paid the account. It not that I didn't have the money, it's because Koala and care credit together as a whole couldn't get the billing right. Too bad because the dentists are great!!
Kiri Minoletti
3 years ago
I contacted them about billing thru out this whole pandemic going on and how treatment hasn't happened now in over 2 months for my daughters ortho last seen the beginning of MARCH!! I asked if there was a way to skip a payment due to having no treatment done as this is NOT OUR FAULTS this pandemic is going on and I got a COLD SHOULDER ZERO EMPATHY RESPONSE! My kids have gone here since they were little I have my middle daughter who will be needing braces within the next year and rest assured we will be going elsewhere! need some serious improvement on your CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS when you come across as only caring about the money and not your patients at all!
Tony Kelly
4 years ago
Good dental but unfortunately they do not handle the accounts well. Once the sale is done they do not seem to have all their cards in a row. My experience was with the staff in Baxter. We have used care credit for years at all dental, when it came to Koala, they couldn't get the payment to go through. We had the people of care credit and the people in the Koala dental all work together to solve this but they could not . Basically care credit gave them the account to bill to. The people at koala asked then for the expiration date. The care credit team then asked what expiration? I was also confused as the other dental offices never asked for this, just the account to bill to. Needless to say lots of issues with this. Had to call in several times to see how they could take my money but still they asked for an expiration. I worked with care credit again and this time they sent out a physical card that yes, had the date!! Went back to koala for them to take my money but this time they couldn't take the money either.. they had sent it to collectors!! This all occurred in a 60 day time with me calling in and asking if they notated the account that I was working on it . I was told yes, the account was remarked but still, collectors. They have a lady named Mindy that handles collection calls @ koala. She was not very understanding, she basically said we didn't remark your account, here is how you can go pay the collectors and no, care credit wont work. All in, I will be going somewhere with better back of house operations. I already called the collectors and paid the account. It not that I didn't have the money, it's because Koala and care credit together as a whole couldn't get the billing right. Too bad because the dentists are great!!
Megan Litzau
4 years ago
My kids and I love this place, ALWAYS had a great experience and want to go back the next day lol
SoulSojourner
4 years ago
Over an hour away from where I live. The first two appointments seemed to go well enough, but when I had car issues in the middle of winter and had to get my vehicle in the shop for work, I called to reschedule an appointment that same day. They told me rescheduling requires 24 hours notice and that if I couldn't get my daughter in that day, they wouldn't see her anymore. Since I literally had no other choice, and they couldn't be understanding, I had to cancel. Now she needs to find another dentist to do something as common as caps. Ridiculous. This clearly shows their priority; money. They couldn't care less about their patients. If you want a dentist who cares, you'd best look elsewhere.
Kiri Minoletti
4 years ago
I contacted them about billing thru out this whole pandemic going on and how treatment hasn't happened now in over 2 months for my daughters ortho last seen the beginning of MARCH!! I asked if there was a way to skip a payment due to having no treatment done as this is NOT OUR FAULTS this pandemic is going on and I got a COLD SHOULDER ZERO EMPATHY RESPONSE! My kids have gone here since they were little I have my middle daughter who will be needing braces within the next year and rest assured we will be going elsewhere! need some serious improvement on your CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS when you come across as only caring about the money and not your patients at all!
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