Patient Testimonials & Reviews
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- The comfort and convenience of our office
- Our extended hours, with appointments between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
- The skill of our Searcy, AR dentist
- Our patient-friendly technology, like digital X-rays and 3-D imaging
- Same-day emergency care
- Our comprehensive dental services for patients of all ages, including dentures manufactured in-house
I love coming to Dr. Barker’s office because I have every confidence in him as a dentist. He’s always taken very good care of me and my family. We’ve been coming for over 20 years. We started with him years ago when he first started in Newport. We followed him to his practice in Brinkley and then here in Searcy. He has a very gentle touch, he’s warm, he’s compassionate, he’s caring. Does a very good job as far as any dental procedure he’s done on me or any of my family members. But he’s also just a great friend, he comes into the room, he’s smiling, he’s happy, he makes me feel good, he makes me feel important … and his staff does as well.
Dr. Barker has a wonderful chairside manner. Like I said, he comes into the room smiling, he’s happy, he always has a few minutes to stop and chat. He makes you feel like you are important, and that he cares about you and your family. Not only is he a great dentist, he’s just a great person. He’s just a good man.
Dr. Barker, he’s done several procedures on me, some tooth whitening, which really gave me a lot more confidence in my smile. I had braces as an adult and when I originally started with another dentist with the braces, Dr. Barker had actually began his practice with that dentist, and so he actually did a little bit of work on my braces as well. Of course, the straightening gave me so much more confidence, made me want to smile and just made me feel more confident about myself. I decided to do the tooth whitening because I’m a tooth person. Immediately the first thing I’ll look at is someone’s eyes and then their teeth, and, I don’t know, I just love a bright, beautiful smile, and I was not happy with my smile. And Dr. Barker made my whitening trays, and it was remarkable, the difference that it made in just a few weeks. Like I said, it gave me so much more confidence in my smile. It made me want to smile, and people would comment and say, ‘Oh, your teeth look great,’ and that just made me feel better about myself. So it’s just a wonderful thing.
I’ve always had a fear of dentistry. It just scares me to go. When Dr. Barker came to town, came to Searcy, it was advertised that he did implants, and I had an upper denture that just would not stay in, it would just flop around. I thought, ‘I’m going to try this. Don’t know if I can afford it, but I’m going to try.’ Me and my husband came here, and they were so great, they were so friendly and he was just super. He’d pat you on the shoulder when he walks in the room and always has that smile, and they’ll say a prayer for you before they start the procedure, or he will. We just hit it off. All that fear just kinda like, ‘phew,’ it was like taking a deep breath and letting it out. It was just no pain. He reassured me that he would not hurt me, and of course I said, ‘Where’s the gas?’ They knew that I’m a chicken. From the very get-go, it was just great.
He did my implants and I love them. I just love the fact that I can take them out and clean them if I want to or I can leave them in all the time. I can wear them all the time and just brush them like regular teeth, but of course I don’t. It was really an interesting process, it really was.
When they take you back, they tell you exactly what he’s gonna do, what their plans are for your time back there, and then they ask you, ‘Do you need the gas, the nitrous? Are you a little squeamish about …’ They can kind of tell when you go back there that you’re anxious, and I said, ‘Yes, I do.’ I mean, I’m not one that comes in and says, ‘Yes, give me the gas right now’ first thing off. But I told him. I said, ‘I got to be honest with you. I do get anxious,’ and I said, ‘You probably have to turn it up because I am really,’ I mean, I never do go to sleep. But they make sure that you’re calm enough that you don’t feel the pain and all of the instruments. There’s a lot that goes on back there with the instruments and the air and the water and then him coming in and talking to you and joking and of course, you can’t say anything, except, ‘Mm-hmm’ (affirmative). I don’t have any anxiety anymore. I can come in and talk to him now just like I do to you.
He makes it a pleasure to come in and be back there and know that he’s doing for you what no other dentist ever has, ever.
In the beginning, like I said, I just had the denture and all the paste and gunk that you have to put in a denture to hold it in, and you still couldn’t eat a good steak. It’s terrible. You couldn’t go and eat and feel confident that it’s not gonna flop around. Me and my husband came in the first day to talk to him about the implants. We didn’t know how much they cost. We didn’t know if they would work for me. We just didn’t know. We didn’t know if we could afford them, and so when we got back to the exam room, he examined my gumline without my denture and he said there may be a few problems. But it may take a while to get all the implants because it took four implants. I love it. I love it. I sleep in them. Of course, I take them out and clean them every day because that’s just me. But you don’t have to because you can brush them. But you want to keep those gums underneath healthy too.
I enjoy them. I mean, I can go eat a steak. I can just eat anything I want to. I mean, you can’t just chew gum and do all that because I never was a big gum person anyway. But you can’t caramel. I learned that this Christmas. But I love them. I mean, I just really love them. It’s just remarkable what dentistry, how far they have come in the line of dentistry and how you can talk and aren’t afraid that your dentures are gonna flop around and make you talk like you got your mouth full of mush or something.
I was always afraid to smile because my smile just wasn’t pretty. He crowned my front teeth and now I feel more confident in my smile. Going in, I was nervous because I’d been to another dentist before and I had a bad experience, but with Dr. Barker, it was just wonderful. He come in and he explained it step by step, told me everything he was doing, and another thing, I’ve never had a dentist call me at home at night to check to see how I was doing.
My son has came here, and he’s done a tremendous amount of work on him. The first night that we got home, he called to make sure that he was okay, and he checked on him all through the time, too. It’s just an amazing experience. The staff is wonderful and Dr. Barker is just a wonderful Christian person, and I just love the atmosphere when I come here. It’s just awesome, and he’s a great dentist. He’s got a very cheerful personality, and like I say, he’s a good Christian man. He always makes you feel comfortable and he’s always checking on you to make sure that you’re comfortable and that everything’s okay.
I love coming to Dr. Barker, because a very friendly staff, and the minute you walk in to even the testings, you know, having a filling done, having a crown replaced, they’re just very professional. They make sure that you’re not in any pain and just do everything they can to make you feel really comfortable.
Dr. Barker is very friendly, and he definitely likes to joke. He’s just very down to earth and friendly, but if you ask him a serious question, he will give you a serious answer. But he really makes you feel at ease.
Well, I first came to Dr. Barker just to have a checkup and to have a thorough cleaning. And I’ve had two of his hygienists take care of me, and they’re very thorough and it feels really, really good. I came in with some cold sensitivity. I couldn’t really tell exactly where it was coming from. I knew it was over on this side of my mouth, but I didn’t know which tooth or anything.
And so Dr. Barker did some different tests with sensitivity and figured out exactly which tooth it was. And then he told me the process that he would go in and do some pre-work and work on the tooth and then do a temporary crown for a couple of weeks while they had a permanent crown made. And so he explained it. And I don’t remember how long it took, but I knew it was very comfortable.
And then they called me when the crown was made, and they put it in. And you’re a little sensitive at first, but after a couple of weeks it feels like my natural tooth now, and it feels really good.
Gave me the gas when he found out that I was kind of nervous about dental procedures, and that was surprisingly comfortable. Just I felt really good. But he did just a great job of that. And after a couple weeks of getting used to it, I have no sensitivity. I can eat normally. I can eat my peanuts and almonds with confidence, so that’s been really good.
I was in the Army for four years and one time had a tooth that was really bad and was a tremendous pain and went. And I’m not cutting down Army doctors and dentists at all, they’ve got a lot of people to take care of, and I guess soldiers are supposed to be tough. But I went in and they put a temporary crown on a tooth that had cracked, and I woke up in just the worst pain ever. It was excruciating.
And then had to wait two days before they could get me back in. I guess they were very busy, and they gave me a shot to numb the pain, but it took them so long to get to me again, the painkiller was starting to wear off, and they did a very involved, very lengthy root canal, and it was very painful. And I was actually terrified to go to a dentist for a long time. I waited many years and really, really needed to have my teeth cleaned, needed a lot of work done, and I was clear when I came to Dr. Barker and the staff that I have to admit that the sounds, the smells, the pain is something I never look forward, and I get little anxious.
But they made sure that I knew that they would do everything possible to keep me from being in any pain, and they do just a great job. Even when Dr. Barker gives you a shot, he numbs you first, gives you just a little bit of the injection, lets you numb, and then finishes off. And you experience very little pain, which has really calmed me down and made me willing to come every six months for my cleaning and for checkups and all that now.
The reason I love to come here is not just because Dr. Barker is really professional, really good at what he does, but he’s also a friend of mine that I got to know when he first started in his practice 22 years ago, I think is what I heard awhile ago. He’s a friend, and he’s a professional. We drove, actually, a four-hour round trip for several years to see him. Dr. Barker’s personality always makes me feel better when I come see him and spend some time with him. Even before I came into the practice that day, his personality is a lot like mine. We always have a lot of fun. Some people might be sitting in the chair waiting for him while he’s in there visiting with us, but that’s Dr. Barker. He’s always laughing. He’s always smiling, always having a good time. I guess as a dentist, that’s a good thing, that he makes you want to smile. I’ve always said one of the best things about his practice is when you walk in, you can always hear him laughing in one of the other rooms with the patients and having a good time. In the world we live in, it’s good to have a professional that has a good time and makes their practice fun.
To improve my dental health, Dr. Barker … everybody’s got these horror stories about coming to the dentist, and everybody’s, you know, ‘The needles, and give me the gas, and knock me out before you give me the shots.’ They just fear the dentist. But Dr. Barker’s always, with his personality, first of all it makes you feel so welcome and have a good time. You nearly forget you’re at a dentist, and then before you know it he comes in the room and he can give me shots. I’ve never had a dentist give me shots. I say this about him all the time, that it’s so painless and he does such a good job.
I don’t know why he does such a good job with it, but he does, and he’s made me want to take care of my teeth. Really, he’s encouraged me through the years in different things I needed to do better. It’s been a blessing because my teeth have been healthier ever since I’ve been with Dr. Barker. I appreciate the fact that there is no fear in coming to the dentist now. I guess that would be the best thing I could say about him helping me with my health and my teeth.
I guess I had bad teeth actually to start with. Maybe it’s genetics, I don’t know, and I probably didn’t take as good care as a child as I should’ve. Some of the old fillings that had been put in had actually got bad and he said, ‘You’re gonna need a crown.’ Which was new to me. He explained to me what a crown was and what he would do. He really made the whole process so easy, and he works so hard to make sure that it felt natural, and that there wasn’t no pain. It really has been a success, and he’s done a great job of making it feel like my natural teeth.
Well, I’ve been going to Dr. Barker over 10 years now. I come here because I love him. He is a good Christian man. I feel comfortable with him, and I had a bad experience with going to a dentist before. He makes me comfortable, and I just enjoy coming here. I’m not afraid anymore to go to the dentist.
The first thing that he told me when I came to him, he knew I was terrified: ‘Ms. Brenda, I’m going to treat you just like my mother.’ And that just did it for me. If anybody’s going to treat you like their mother, and I know he loves his mother, I was very comfortable with.
He lets me know exactly what he’s going to do, and he explains everything well. I never have to worry about being hurt in the chair. He makes sure he asks me each time, you know, if there’s pain. I’ve had to have a lot of work done, because bad experiences before kept me from going to the dentist like I should. He had to do a lot of work with me, and I was comfortable with that.
When he has to give me a shot for pain before the procedure, he always makes sure that he numbs it first, and that he makes sure it didn’t hurt me, even when he gives me the shot. That helps me. He tells me, ‘If it hurts I’ll stop.’ And I just trust him.
My family comes here every six months for their cleaning. My daughter’s 15 years old, and my daughter was kind of terrified because of one of the dentists that hurt her before. Kind of scared her with the cleaning, and even though I was a dental assistant at the time, trying to comfort her, it kind of hurt a little bit. But now coming here to Dr. Barker, she – ‘Mom, is it time for my six-month cleaning?’ She’s okay with it, and this is where she wants to come. She doesn’t mind the drive. Yes, I have to check her out of school then when it’s time for her cleaning at least once, twice a year, but she’s okay with that. It’s worth the drive, and we will come here. This is the only place she wants to come, and they had to do a filling on her too. She was little scared at first, but you could tell as she got back there – but like I said, his staff and Dr. Barker, they made her feel comfortable, and so now everybody comes here.
They talk to you during the whole process, they don’t just walk off and come looking in saying, ‘Oh, we’re gonna give you a shot.’ He explains the whole time what they’re doing, and so does his assistants. They’ll say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna do this now, it’s not gonna hurt.’ They kind of explain the whole thing, what they’re doing to her, and to a 15-year-old, I mean, that’s what I think it took for her. I mean, she realized, ‘Hey, they’re not just gonna jab something in my mouth or do this,’ and during that process, it just really gave her comfort and a sense of knowing, ‘Hey, they’re not gonna hurt me.’ And when it was over with, she raised up and said, ‘Oh, that’s all?’ And then she’s like, ‘Hey, Mom, I really wanna go back there.’ So to me, I don’t care how far I have to drive. Dr. Barker’s office is the place I’m gonna go and take my family ’cause we all love it here.
I have really bad thyroid problems, so I’ve had to have some fillings and crowns done, and with the really bad thyroid problems that I have, I have to keep my oral health in check frequently.
We started the process, we took the crown down and I put a temporary on. We took impressions with the temporaries on, and his staff told me they would call me at home. I went with the temporaries on, I went home. They told me they would call me when the crowns come back in. They called me, got me an appointment very soon. In fact, they asked me when would I like my appointment to be made, and the staff built that around me because they know I have to drive. I told them when, I told them I need an early appointment around 10:00 or 10:30 so I could drop my daughter off at school and drive up here to get back in time to pick her up from school. They always make my appointment around my schedule.
I got my crown when I drove up here. They seated my crown, and no pain at all. He’s very gentle, very gentle. They seated my crown, I left, and I got back home in time to pick my daughter up from school. The whole process was very easy, and my crown fit like a hand in a glove, perfect. I mean, I’ve had no trouble, and I’m very proud of my smile because of Dr. Barker.