Everything below comes from the registry records behind those listings. The counts, streets and ZIP code are recorded facts. Fees, hours and insurance are not in the records at all, and we would rather tell you that than invent it.
What is listed in South Shore
Thirty-one of the 42 listings are general dentistry. The rest are thin: 4 in oral and maxillofacial surgery, 2 in periodontics, 2 dental clinics, and one each in orthodontics, prosthodontics and pediatric dentistry.
Santa Clara Ave dominates, with 20 practices on it, nearly half the neighborhood total. Central Ave adds 9, Otis Dr and Whitehall Pl have 4 each, and Park St has 2. All 42 listings fall inside a single ZIP code, 94501, which makes South Shore unusually compact compared with most neighborhoods this size.
Thirty-four are registered as individual practitioners and only 8 as organizations, so this is largely a neighborhood of small independent practices. Twenty-eight have been registered since before 2010, and the earliest registration here dates to 2005.
- 42 practices, 31 of them general dentistry
- 20 of them on Santa Clara Ave alone
- One ZIP code, 94501
- 34 individual practitioners against 8 organizations
How to choose between them
With 31 general dentists in a single ZIP code, you can be selective. Walk or drive Santa Clara Ave and you pass roughly half of them, which makes comparing convenient in a way it rarely is elsewhere.
The heavy tilt toward individual practitioners has a practical consequence. Small practices generally mean you see the same dentist every visit and the person who examined you is the person who does the work. They also tend to have fewer chairs, so booking further ahead is normal and same day slots are scarcer.
Specialist cover is narrow. Orthodontics, prosthodontics and pediatric dentistry each have exactly one listing. If you need braces, a full denture or a child seen by a specialist, you are choosing between one local option and traveling. Oral surgery is a little better served with 4 listings, and periodontics has 2.
If you need something South Shore does not have
Endodontics is the gap. No root canal specialist is listed in South Shore. The nearest are in Oakland, about 2.7 miles away, where 17 endodontics practices are recorded. Many general dentists do straightforward root canals themselves, so ask before assuming you need a referral.
For more names within easy reach, Gold Coast is 0.8 miles away with 27 practices and Fernside is 0.5 miles away with 15. East End is closest at 0.4 miles but has only 7. Jack London Square, across the estuary at 2.3 miles, has 12, and Woodstock at 2.4 miles has 4. West End, 1.5 miles away, has 3.
Because Alameda only lists 124 practices in total, the neighborhoods listed above represent a real share of everything in the city.
Insurance and paying
Whether a practice is in network with your plan usually matters more than its list prices. In network means negotiated rates and a predictable share for you. Out of network means the practice sets its own fee and your plan reimburses part of it, sometimes very little.
Confirm network status with your insurer directly rather than taking a receptionist's word for it, then ask the practice for a written estimate showing the procedure codes, the full fee, the expected insurance payment and your balance.
Our directory is built from public registry data. That registry carries no fees, no opening hours and no insurance information for any practice. In South Shore, none of the 42 listings has a published website or hours recorded, and none has been claimed by its owner. Claiming is how a practice fills in what the registry never held, which is why a claimed listing tells you more.
If it is urgent
For a cracked tooth, a lost crown or pain that is keeping you awake, phone the general dentists closest to you and ask plainly whether they can see you today. Emergency slots exist at many practices but are rarely offered unprompted.
Some problems belong in a hospital emergency room, not a dental chair. Go straight there if swelling is spreading toward your eye or into your neck, if you are struggling to breathe or swallow, if you have a fever alongside facial swelling, or if bleeding from the mouth will not stop.
If the Santa Clara Ave practices are all full, you can search by distance at dentist directory and work outward through Fernside, Gold Coast and East End, all within a mile.
Questions patients ask
How many dentists are there in South Shore, Alameda?
Our directory lists 42 dental practices in South Shore, out of 124 across Alameda. Thirty-one are general dentistry. The rest are 4 oral and maxillofacial surgery listings, 2 periodontics, 2 dental clinics, and one each in orthodontics, prosthodontics and pediatric dentistry.
Are most South Shore dentists on the same street?
Close to it. Santa Clara Ave has 20 of the 42 practices, and Central Ave adds another 9. Otis Dr and Whitehall Pl have 4 each and Park St has 2. Every listing in South Shore sits within a single ZIP code, 94501, so the neighborhood is compact.
Where is the nearest endodontist to South Shore?
There is no endodontics practice listed in South Shore. The closest recorded are in Oakland, about 2.7 miles away, where 17 endodontics practices appear in the directory. Many general dentists handle simpler root canals in house, so ask yours before arranging to travel.