Atlantis Dental Yaletown ★9.9

Twelve languages, chosen when you book

Ask most Vancouver clinics whether anyone speaks your language and you get a shrug at the desk. Atlantis Dental Yaletown publishes the list and asks which one you want when you make the appointment: English, Cantonese, Farsi, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Mandarin, Punjabi, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish or Vietnamese. In a downtown where much of the population arrived from elsewhere, that is the difference between understanding a treatment plan and nodding along to one.

Treatments

Hygiene and prevention, fillings, inlays and onlays, crowns, bridges, root canal therapy, extractions, dentures and implants, with gum grafting and oral cancer screening alongside. Night guards and snore appliances answer jaw tension and grinding. Cosmetic dentistry runs to whitening, bonding, porcelain veneers, Invisalign and Digital Smile Design, which previews the result before a tooth is touched. Children are welcome, and the practice says so pointedly: treating them takes training and temperament.

Technology and sedation

An iTero intraoral scanner replaces the tray of impression paste — and other dental offices refer patients here purely for those digital impressions — Invisalign, night guards, retainers, surgical stents. The VELscope reveals soft-tissue lesions under blue light; a laser handles gum treatment and contouring. For anxiety or a strong gag reflex, oral conscious sedation lets several treatments be finished in one extended visit.

The dentists

Dr. Tom Karkanis, the principal, is both a University of Western Ontario dental graduate and a PhD in cellular physiology; he takes the cosmetic, laser and advanced restorative work, including single-visit CEREC crowns. Dr. Farid Habibian graduated with honours from New York University and completed a general practice residency at a Bronx hospital. Dr. Jason Goldthorpe took distinctions in restorative dentistry at Queen’s University Belfast. Dr. Aaron Phan trained in Sydney and leans to oral surgery; Dr. Markus Louie, UBC, works in root canals and implants.

Who it suits

People who would rather discuss a root canal in their first language. Anyone putting off a visit out of fear. Yaletown residents and the office crowd who walk over on a break. The practice runs seven days a week, and its 123Dentist membership puts a dental professional on an emergency line when the clinic is shut.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a dentist who speaks my language? Name it when you book — appointments are offered in twelve.

I am frightened of the drill. Oral conscious sedation also settles a gag reflex and allows several procedures in one sitting.

A crown in one visit? Yes — Dr. Karkanis mills CEREC crowns in a single appointment.

Nitrous sedation or a CBCT scan? Not at Yaletown — those sit at the group’s Cambie clinic.

Opening hours