Meet the Alameda Dental Team

Dr. Barnes believes every patient deserves a straightforward account of their oral health and every reasonable way to treat it. She lays out the options in plain language, answers questions without hedging, and makes sure the trade-offs are clear before anything is decided — because the final call always belongs to the patient.

Clinical standards guide her work, but she is quick to point out that no two patients, cases, or teeth are truly alike. The part of dentistry she enjoys most is finding the patient-specific answer: a plan shaped around a person's health history, priorities, comfort level, and goals rather than a formula.

She also knows that plenty of people arrive at the dentist carrying some anxiety, and she never treats that as an inconvenience. For her, trust starts at the first visit — open communication, expectations set plainly up front, and steady check-ins as care moves along. She has completed additional training in sedation therapies, and when appropriate she can talk through the comfort options available based on a patient's health and treatment needs.

The cases that energize her are the ones that demand careful diagnosis and hands-on problem-solving — particularly demanding surgical and endodontic work, where treatment can relieve pain and restore real function. Root canal treatment, extractions and oral surgery, implant dentistry, and bone remodeling and grafting all sit among her clinical interests, supported by honors-level oral and maxillofacial surgery training, her surgical-assisting experience, and continuing coursework in implants, grafting, platelet-rich fibrin, advanced life support, and sedation-related topics.

Her path into dentistry started chairside: she worked first as a registered dental assistant and then as lead surgical assistant to oral surgeon Dr. Carlos J. Villarreal, whose mentorship pushed her toward dental school. Watching patients place their trust in a dental team — and seeing what skilled, compassionate care could do with that trust — is what drew her to the profession. She went on to earn her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from The University of Texas School of Dentistry at Houston.

Along the way she has taught, contributed to research, and taken on leadership roles in dental mission work and student organizations — experience that gives her a practical understanding of the whole patient journey and of the teamwork behind excellent care.