A general, implant and laser dental practice on North Braeswood Boulevard in Houston, a short drive from West University Place. Call 713-723-7200 or request an appointment online.
West University Place sits between us and the Medical Center, so the drive here is short and the parking is straightforward. That matters more than it sounds when you are fitting a checkup around a working day.
Dr. Chiranjeevi Tummala leads the practice. She handles general and restorative dentistry, single dental implants, clear aligners and laser gum disease treatment, so most of what a family needs happens in one place rather than across three referrals. You can read more about her here.
You see the same faces here. The team at the front desk will know your name by the second or third visit, and the staff who clean your teeth are the ones who will notice when something about your smile has changed since last year.
Patients from West U, Bellaire and Meyerland make up most of the practice, and enough of them arrived because a neighbor sent them that word of mouth is still how most people find us.
Where We Are, and How Long the Drive Takes
The office is in Suite 201 at 4455 N Braeswood Blvd, Houston, Texas, with parking on site, so you are not circling for a space before an appointment. Coming from West U it is a straight run southwest and generally under ten minutes outside rush hour.
A cleaning is easy to postpone when it means a long drive and an afternoon off work. It is much easier to keep when the office is close to home and close to roads you already use. The full address, a map and our phone number are on our contact page.
If you are coming for a longer appointment, such as implant treatment or the first stage of gum treatment, allow a little more time than you think you need so the visit does not feel rushed at your end. Tell us when you book if stairs are difficult, and we will make the visit easy for you.
What West U Patients Come to Us For
Routine care is the bulk of it. Exams, cleanings, fillings and the occasional crown. Catching a cavity while it is small is most of what those visits are for, and the filling that follows is a short appointment rather than a procedure you need to plan around. Where a tooth is past saving, an extraction is handled here too rather than sent somewhere else.
A lot of people book that first appointment after putting it off for a while, and it is almost never as bad as they expected.
Beyond those everyday services, three procedures make up most of what we do, and they are the three worth explaining properly before you decide anything.
Replacing a Single Missing Tooth
A dental implant replaces one tooth without involving the teeth on either side of it. That is the main reason it is usually the better answer than a bridge when only one tooth is gone, because a bridge asks two healthy teeth to carry the work.
Whether an implant is right for you depends on the bone under the gap and the health of the gums around it, which takes an examination and X-rays to judge. Dr. Tummala will tell you what she sees at the consultation and what would need to happen first, along with the stages involved and roughly how long each one takes.
Where more than one tooth is missing, dentures and partials may make more sense. Both options get talked through honestly rather than pushing the larger treatment.
Straightening Without Fixed Braces
Clear aligners handle most adult crowding, spacing and the relapse that shows up years after childhood braces. They are removable, so eating and cleaning carry on as normal, which is the part most adults care about when they are weighing up their options for straightening a smile.
They are not right for every bite. Some cases need fixed braces or care beyond what aligners can do, and she will say so rather than start something that will not finish well.
Treatment ends with a retainer, and that part is not optional. Teeth drift back toward where they started if nothing holds them, so plan for the retainer from the beginning rather than treating it as an extra at the end.
Treating Gum Disease with a Laser
Laser gum disease treatment targets the infected tissue inside a pocket and leaves the healthy tissue alone. It is not something every general practice near West U offers.
Gums that bleed when you brush are usually the first sign, and that stage is much easier to deal with than the one after it. What decides your treatment is happening below the gumline where you cannot see it, so it takes an examination and X-rays to know how far along it is.
Treatment is done with comfort in mind, and a professional cleaning is usually part of the same plan rather than a separate errand.
Smoking and blood sugar that is not well controlled both make gum disease harder to settle. Bring that up at the appointment. It changes the plan rather than the welcome.
What Makes a Practice Worth the Short Drive
Treatment Planned Around What You Want
West University Place is not short of dentists, and several sit closer to you than we do. It is worth being straight about what actually differs, because proximity alone is a poor reason to choose one. What changes the experience is usually not the location at all.
The first thing is continuity. You see the same dentist each time. Dr. Tummala sees her own patients, which means she remembers what your teeth looked like two years ago and can tell you whether something has changed. Comparing this year’s gum measurements against last year’s is worth more than any single visit.
Some people want everything dealt with. Others want the problem fixed and nothing more. Both are reasonable, and the plan should reflect which one you are. We would rather tell you a filling can be watched than replace it because it was on a list, and we will say when something is not worth doing. Cosmetic work in particular gets discussed on its merits rather than suggested by default.
Costs Explained Before Anything Starts
You get a written plan with the treatment set out before you agree to it. We do not publish treatment prices on the website, because the honest figure depends on an examination, and a number printed here would be a guess about a mouth we have not seen. What we will not do is start work and discuss the cost afterward.
Your First Visit
A first appointment is an exam, X-rays where they are needed, and a consultation about what comes next. In practice that means an examination, X-rays where they are needed, and a conversation about what you actually want from your teeth over the next few years. Nothing is started on the day unless you are in pain and want it dealt with. Plan on about an hour, most of which is the examination and the conversation afterward rather than treatment.
Bring us up to date on anything that has changed since you last saw a dentist, including new medications, because several common ones affect the mouth in ways that are easy to mistake for something else. A dry mouth caused by a prescription raises decay risk noticeably, and knowing about it changes what we recommend rather than just what we record.
If you have recent X-rays from another practice we can often use those instead of taking new ones. Tell us if dental visits are uncomfortable for you and we will plan the appointment around that rather than working through it.
If Something Has Gone Wrong Today
A broken tooth, a lost filling or a swelling does not wait for a routine slot. Call 713-723-7200 and tell whoever answers what has happened, and we will find you a time. Our page on emergency dental care covers what to do in the meantime for the most common problems.
Keeping Care Going Once You Have Started
Most of the value in dental care is not in any single appointment. It is in catching things while they are small, which only works if the visits keep happening.
For most adults that means a checkup and a cleaning at regular intervals, with the interval set by what your gums actually need rather than by a default. Patients with healthy gums and no history of decay do not need to come as often as someone recovering from gum disease, and we will tell you which group you are in instead of booking everyone the same way.
If you have had gum treatment, the follow-up visits are the treatment rather than an add-on to it. Pockets that were cleaned out will refill if nothing changes, so the maintenance schedule is the part that decides whether the result holds. That is worth knowing before you start rather than hearing it afterward.
Children and Family Appointments
We see patients of all ages, and West U families often book together so one trip covers everybody. For children that usually means a checkup, a cleaning, fluoride where it helps and sealants once the back teeth are through, which is where cavities almost always start. Our page on child dentistry covers what each visit involves.
If your child is anxious, tell us before the appointment rather than in the chair. We will slow the visit down. Kids who have a calm first few visits tend to keep their smiles in better shape as adults, and parents usually notice that pattern before we do.
Areas We Serve Around West University Place
West University Place and the 77005 area are a short drive from the office, and so is most of the inner southwest side. We regularly see patients from:
- West University Place and Southside Place
- Bellaire, including the Braeburn and Loop 610 side
- Meyerland and Braeswood Place
- Westbury and Willow Meadows
- The Medical Center and Rice Village area
That covers the 77005, 77025, 77096 and 77035 ZIP codes of southwest Houston, Texas, and we see patients from further out in Memorial, Pearland and Fresno as well. If you are travelling further to see us, say so when you book and we will try to group treatment into fewer visits.
Rice University students and staff are a short drive away as well, and a practice this close to campus is a practical option when you are on a term schedule and need a checkup fitted into a gap rather than planned months ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is the practice from West University Place?
A few minutes by car. We are at 4455 N Braeswood Blvd, Suite 201, southwest of West U, with parking on site, and directions and a map are on the contact page.
Are you taking new patients?
Yes. Call 713-723-7200 and we will find you a first appointment. Tell us if anything is bothering you and we will make sure there is time to look at it.
Do you see children as well as adults?
Yes. We see families, and it is common for us to treat parents and children at the same practice over many years.
Can I get an implant and aligners at the same practice?
Yes. Both are done here, and where a case needs both, the order matters, so it gets planned as one sequence rather than two separate treatments.
My gums bleed when I brush. Is that worth an appointment?
It is. Bleeding gums are usually the first sign of gum disease, which is far easier to treat early than late. Call 713-723-7200 and we will take a look.
What should I bring to a first appointment?
Any previous X-rays if you have them and a list of any medications you take. If you are unsure about anything else, ask when you book.
Book a Visit From West U
If you have been meaning to find a dentist near West U, an exam is the simplest place to start, whatever shape your smile is in. Call 713-723-7200 or request an appointment and we will get you booked in.