Dr. May Hayder grew up in the East Bay, earning her undergraduate degree with honors from UC Berkeley, and her dental degree in the top of her class from UC San Francisco. She then completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at the University of Southern California. She completed her pediatric specialty training at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, where she was chief resident during her second year, and at the Kennedy Center for Developmental Disabilities at Albert Einstein College, also in the Bronx. In addition to private practice, she has also served on the staff of Children's Hospital in Oakland. An Assistant Professor at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, she is fulfilling a lifelong interest in teaching and mentoring students. She truly enjoys being a pediatric dentist, and is committed to delivering quality care in a patient and nurturing manner. What Dr. May values most about her profession is being in a position to have an impact on children both as patients and as people.
My 6-year-old has been coming to Dr. Hayder since preschool, and we just love it there! My daughter actually enjoys visiting. Dr. Hayder is thorough and gentle. I always get the feeling that is she looking out for the best interest of the girls, and that she genuinely likes them and is interested in how things have been
Dr. Bessma Hayder also completed her undergraduate training atUC Berkeley and her graduate training at UC San Francisco, graduating in the top of her classes. She practiced as a general dentist for several years, both in private practice and in community clinics in underserved communities. It was especially in the latter environment that she came to realize the tremendous impact a pediatric dental specialist can make in the lives of young children. She therefore decided to put her career on hold in order to return to school and complete her postgraduate training in pediatric dentistry. In the Bronx, New York, she studied at St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was chief resident during her second year, and at the Kennedy Center for Developmental Disabilities at Albert Einstein College. She greatly enjoys the interaction with her youngpatients, and the close rapportand relationship she builds with them over time. An avid photographer,she has chosen beautiful and soothing pictures--both fromher travels and from places in our own Bay Area--to adorn the walls of our office and to help her young patients feel more at home.
Our office was designed with your family in mind. We offer a safe and welcoming environment for children to receive dental care. We have taken care to incorporate special design features for children: toys and books, play areas, and TV monitors in every treatment room to help allay any possible anxiety.
We have been going to this office for 4 years now and as my children get older, they are more and more comfortable in this space (even my 4-year old now happily goes in all by himself for his teeth cleaning!). Customer service is outstanding and all three of my children feel safe and taken care of by everyone in the office
We offer the latest advances in dental technology in our office--including digital radiographs which minimize radiation exposure, and digital records--and maintain the highest standards in choosing materials and techniques that yield the best results in patient care. Our staff is carefully selected and trained to deliver care at the highest level. Our mission is simply to do for your children what we would do for our own family.
Drs. May and Bessma truly love what they do. In taking good care of their patients, they inspire many children to develop an interest in becoming dentists themselves. Drs. Hayder believe in 'planting an early seed ,' and encourage any interest children may show. They routinely visit local schools not only to educate children about taking good care of their teeth, but also to serve as role models and to spark an interest in their profession. Drs. Hayder also conduct one-on-one workshops in their office with interested children, reviewing some basic concepts and also letting children participate in hands-on activities.
Reviews
Rating 3.3 out of 5 based on 8 reviews
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newest oldest highest lowestAlexey Nesterov
3 years ago
My son doesn't afraid of dentists. Its an evolution, compared to me :) thanks to Dr Hayder
Nicole Sutherland
3 years ago
Horrible, horrible care! First off I am a dental professional (c)and have worked in the field for over 15 years. My story- I brush my daughters (3yr olds) teeth daily and noticed she had a moderate sized cavity or hole in one of her teeth and it looked as if she may have a few smaller cavities starting. I took her to see one of the Drs here because the Dr I work for was not comfortable doing treatment on her because of her age. Who by the way is super cooperative and an excellent patient. At our appointment they did not once try to take any x-rays of her teeth. After waiting a good while the Dr came in and cleaned her teeth then did the exam. She did confirm what I was thinking but said she wanted to wait 3 MONTHS and check them again. Her words were that they were not very big. I asked her about other options with them (placing fluoride) on them and she did not seem convinced that they would do anything. I agreed and left making an appointment for 3 months later to check them. After going home and continuing to monitor the moderate sized cavity I grew nervous to wait 3 MONTHS to check it because every time I would brush it, it was FULL OF JUNK. It was physically impossible to clean it properly. I then took her back to my office to attempt to take an x-ray on her and see how large the cavity actually was and not to my surprise it was HUGE and almost to the nerve of her tooth. Once decay hits the nerve of a tooth it means she will have to have a "baby root canal". This can be quite painful to let a cavity grow and continue to the nerve of her tooth. I then called Dr. Hayders and informed them that the x-ray showed a LARGE cavity and I did not feel comfortable waiting 3 MONTHS to check it. The front desk lady said Dr. Hayder would call me back..... Nothing for weeks until a letter came today (2/21) dismissing us as patients because we "returned care to my DR that I work for and it does not appear that we can establish the necessary relationship vital to the success of her treatment". Word for word! Just so happens that today (2/21) before we got that letter in the mail, were seen at another pediatric. It was a great experience and my daughter did fantastic like she had at Dr. Hayders. The first thing they did was take x-rays on her!! No problem. Now she for SURE needs a "baby root canal" and crown. Then we are placing some preventative fluoride on the other small cavities. Everyone in the dental field knows that decay on baby teeth grows very FAST, we may have been able to just do a small filling back in Jan when I had originally taken her in. Also what would have happened if we had waited the 3 MONTHS and checked them, an infection or even an abscess! What is the point of waiting, if they did not feel comfortable with working on her then they should have communicated that, instead nothing! Crickets! This is serious NEGLIGENCE on their behalf. I am beyond upset that this happened to us. They have had zero communication with me besides the letter that came in the mail today. HORRIBLE! Bottom line is if your mommy instincts tell you something is not right or you are not comfortable, LISTEN TO THEM! Get that SECOND or THIRD opinion. Your children's health depends on it! I would not recommend this office!
Alexey Nesterov
4 years ago
My son doesn't afraid of dentists. Its an evolution, compared to me :) thanks to Dr Hayder
Nicole Sutherland
4 years ago
Horrible, horrible care! First off I am a dental professional (c)and have worked in the field for over 15 years. My story- I brush my daughters (3yr olds) teeth daily and noticed she had a moderate sized cavity or hole in one of her teeth and it looked as if she may have a few smaller cavities starting. I took her to see one of the Drs here because the Dr I work for was not comfortable doing treatment on her because of her age. Who by the way is super cooperative and an excellent patient. At our appointment they did not once try to take any x-rays of her teeth. After waiting a good while the Dr came in and cleaned her teeth then did the exam. She did confirm what I was thinking but said she wanted to wait 3 MONTHS and check them again. Her words were that they were not very big. I asked her about other options with them (placing fluoride) on them and she did not seem convinced that they would do anything. I agreed and left making an appointment for 3 months later to check them. After going home and continuing to monitor the moderate sized cavity I grew nervous to wait 3 MONTHS to check it because every time I would brush it, it was FULL OF JUNK. It was physically impossible to clean it properly. I then took her back to my office to attempt to take an x-ray on her and see how large the cavity actually was and not to my surprise it was HUGE and almost to the nerve of her tooth. Once decay hits the nerve of a tooth it means she will have to have a "baby root canal". This can be quite painful to let a cavity grow and continue to the nerve of her tooth. I then called Dr. Hayders and informed them that the x-ray showed a LARGE cavity and I did not feel comfortable waiting 3 MONTHS to check it. The front desk lady said Dr. Hayder would call me back..... Nothing for weeks until a letter came today (2/21) dismissing us as patients because we "returned care to my DR that I work for and it does not appear that we can establish the necessary relationship vital to the success of her treatment". Word for word! Just so happens that today (2/21) before we got that letter in the mail, were seen at another pediatric. It was a great experience and my daughter did fantastic like she had at Dr. Hayders. The first thing they did was take x-rays on her!! No problem. Now she for SURE needs a "baby root canal" and crown. Then we are placing some preventative fluoride on the other small cavities. Everyone in the dental field knows that decay on baby teeth grows very FAST, we may have been able to just do a small filling back in Jan when I had originally taken her in. Also what would have happened if we had waited the 3 MONTHS and checked them, an infection or even an abscess! What is the point of waiting, if they did not feel comfortable with working on her then they should have communicated that, instead nothing! Crickets! This is serious NEGLIGENCE on their behalf. I am beyond upset that this happened to us. They have had zero communication with me besides the letter that came in the mail today. HORRIBLE! Bottom line is if your mommy instincts tell you something is not right or you are not comfortable, LISTEN TO THEM! Get that SECOND or THIRD opinion. Your children's health depends on it! I would not recommend this office!
Michael Zhu
5 years ago
Be careful. She is more money hungry than caring about kids' health
Shanne Lin
5 years ago
can give her negative star or 0 star, I would like to do that. It is a nightmare for us. My 4 years old daughter had some cavities on some teeth, she suggested us to do a big dental surgery one time using GA ( General Anesthesia) in late July She said it was impossible for girls at my daughter's age to cooperate for such a surgery on 6-7 teeth. I worried about the side effects of GA, so after visit to her office, we consulted another dentist and got the same opinion. Then we made an appointment with her and her GA for my daughter's dental surgery on Sept 11. We had to pay in early August $300 to her and $350 for GA as deposit for the surgery. On the day of surgery, we needed to pay all the bills before surgery. Is this procedure standard ( pay before surgery)? We found out she added 2 items which cost $500+ without notifying us. We questioned about it, she said she reviewed X-ray the day before and she thought my daughter had better do these two treatments for the 2 front teeth. That is more than 16% jump in cost. She had the X-ray for over one month, but she never mentioned the two additional items before. we didn't bring our daughter to see her betweenr X-ray and the day of surgery. She asked us if we wanted to pay now and do surgery or just cancel the surgery. My husband and I both took one day off, we already paid $650 deposit and we didn't want her to do anything bad to my 4 years-old daughter. This was just blatant blackmail and we as parents had no choice but pay the ransom. During the surgery, she called front desk to suggest she have to do extraction of tooth#F or we had to face the consequence. We decided to turn down this rediculous suggestion because our daughter would replace her front teeth soon anyway. During the surgery (3hr25min) we were kept out of the surgery room and we had no clue what was happening there. we asked front desk if she didn't do the planned treatment on front teeth can we get refund? The front desk lady told us we should be able to get the refund. At the same time, the estimate for GA was 2 hours 45 mins, which was over $1450. But after surgery, the charge for GA was $1750, another more than 20% boost! Another suspicious part is that she let another dentist (her sister) to do part of the surgery without advanced consultation with us! After the treatment we emailed her asking for the deserved refund. In stead of sending us the refund, she informed us that she was going to cancel the follow-up office visit one day before the scheduled time. My understanding is that the follow-up visit is significant part of the treatment, especially for this big surgery costing more than $5300. This is the most horrible and outrageous part of it. She basically put our 4 years old daughter's health at risk by canceling the follow up check. I totally agree with the other review, she is more money hungry than caring about the health of patients. We definitely will file complaint against her to BBB and the dental board of California
Shanne Lin
5 years ago
can give her negative star or 0 star, I would like to do that. It is a nightmare for us. My 4 years old daughter had some cavities on some teeth, she suggested us to do a big dental surgery one time using GA ( General Anesthesia) in late July She said it was impossible for girls at my daughter's age to cooperate for such a surgery on 6-7 teeth. I worried about the side effects of GA, so after visit to her office, we consulted another dentist and got the same opinion. Then we made an appointment with her and her GA for my daughter's dental surgery on Sept 11. We had to pay in early August $300 to her and $350 for GA as deposit for the surgery. On the day of surgery, we needed to pay all the bills before surgery. Is this procedure standard ( pay before surgery)? We found out she added 2 items which cost $500+ without notifying us. We questioned about it, she said she reviewed X-ray the day before and she thought my daughter had better do these two treatments for the 2 front teeth. That is more than 16% jump in cost. She had the X-ray for over one month, but she never mentioned the two additional items before. we didn't bring our daughter to see her betweenr X-ray and the day of surgery. She asked us if we wanted to pay now and do surgery or just cancel the surgery. My husband and I both took one day off, we already paid $650 deposit and we didn't want her to do anything bad to my 4 years-old daughter. This was just blatant blackmail and we as parents had no choice but pay the ransom. During the surgery, she called front desk to suggest she have to do extraction of tooth#F or we had to face the consequence. We decided to turn down this rediculous suggestion because our daughter would replace her front teeth soon anyway. During the surgery (3hr25min) we were kept out of the surgery room and we had no clue what was happening there. we asked front desk if she didn't do the planned treatment on front teeth can we get refund? The front desk lady told us we should be able to get the refund. At the same time, the estimate for GA was 2 hours 45 mins, which was over $1450. But after surgery, the charge for GA was $1750, another more than 20% boost! Another suspicious part is that she let another dentist (her sister) to do part of the surgery without advanced consultation with us! After the treatment we emailed her asking for the deserved refund. In stead of sending us the refund, she informed us that she was going to cancel the follow-up office visit one day before the scheduled time. My understanding is that the follow-up visit is significant part of the treatment, especially for this big surgery costing more than $5300. This is the most horrible and outrageous part of it. She basically put our 4 years old daughter's health at risk by canceling the follow up check. I totally agree with the other review, she is more money hungry than caring about the health of patients. We definitely will file complaint against her to BBB and the dental board of California
Michael Zhu
5 years ago
Be careful. She is more money hungry than caring about kids' health
Araceli CRUZ
6 years ago
A really good place for kids
Carol McGehee
6 years ago
May Hayder is amazing! So gentle with my shy and nervous 4 year old.
Carol McGehee
7 years ago
May Hayder is amazing! So gentle with my shy and nervous 4 year old.
Araceli CRUZ
7 years ago
A really good place for kids
Srirama Malladi
8 years ago
Calm,patient with the kids and extremely polite staff(support+office). Positive experience for my kids in their first visit.
Srirama Malladi
9 years ago
Calm,patient with the kids and extremely polite staff(support+office). Positive experience for my kids in their first visit.
Lori Lipton
11 years ago
I will never return here! I walked in to hear my 5 yr old daughter crying and the dentist was being very rough with her! This was her first dental experience for more than a cleaning and I fear she will never want to go to the dentist again.
Lori Lipton
11 years ago
I will never return here! I walked in to hear my 5 yr old daughter crying and the dentist was being very rough with her! This was her first dental experience for more than a cleaning and I fear she will never want to go to the dentist again.
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