Richard Katnik, DDS

I still remember the experiences I’ve had here when I lived in San Diego in ’09. Smh.
I don’t recall the staff being friendly or not but it just feels very cold there, as a scary dental office should, atmosphere and all. And very much old.
When I met dr. Katnik, with no «hi» as it was my first time there, he looked at my teeth and screamed at me? And said I had teeth of a 80 year old? Ok an 80 year old has dentures buddy or shall I say my teeth looks like yours? (I was younger then so I stuck with this rude man, never again) I felt like he didn’t listen as all reviewers had mentioned & didn’t talk to you even professionally. He is the typical ideal scary old man + dental office picture that every one has in their imagination. Plus, what I explained to him about my wisdom teeth and all he didn’t care just said what I needed then left. (Ouch, more painful then getting a tooth pulled)
On my next trip upon finding that I needed crowns I met with dr. Olsen, yes he was a lot nicer but he was a bit rushy and would leave to attend to other patients which I get it but it’s just annoying in general. However, I feel like the quality of the crown was not good. Yes it was my first time receiving a crown but I felt like the top of my crown molded inwards.
So over all my review is just to help you to understand that you shouldn’t go here bad is bad, & there’s no in between. Expect to always be here for over an hour with a mortified feeling when you leave and/​or uneasy at all times.

I could barely give this office a 2 star. But there are one or two reasons why we have gone here for too long! #1 convenient location. #2 Dr. Olsen and the other latin Dentist who sees my daughter. Very nice and they both have great bedside manners.
The list is unfortunately much longer for the reasons I dislike this office… (Soon will be moving to another dentist.)
When you first enter the office right away you are overwhelmed by a terrible smell… kinda between formaldehyde and bleach! I don’t know where it comes from but I cringe everytime I enter! Then I have to distract my child from the televisions which haunt EVERY CORNER IN THE BUILDING! ALL on the same insane and depressing news channel! ALL of them! Its SOOOOO Annoying and even when I am on an appointment without my children I despise having the NEWS shoved in my face! So the appointment is already unpleasant and I haven’t even been seen yet! The front office are decent, sometimes they seem distracted and may come off as uncaring… Luckily I will usually get the latin dentist and he is very friendly and seems to know his stuff. If I get Dr. Katnik I am sorry to say I am very disappointed. He does not treat his patients very well and I don’t know if this is a lack in social graces or if he is just old and cranky? Im sure he was once a great dentist? He has built up quite a business there and that says something, however there are some major improvements needed which could benefit his business greatly. Until that happens I will be locating a new dentist!

Worst dentist experience EVER.
The only reason this place is getting one star is because of Dr. Olsen.
I am not a big fan of the dentist in general, but with that being said I absolutely loved my old dentist in PB, and would still be going to him if my insurance didn’t drop him. A couple of people at my office go to Dr. Katnik, so I figured I would give it a try.
I have had one wisdom tooth removed (from my previously beloved dentist) at that time, my old dentist had stated I would most likely eventually need all three pulled, but it wasn’t completely necessary until it started erupting. Well, it started (3 years later) and I started to feel a lot of pain and discomfort on my lower teeth/​gums. When I got to my apt. I was shuffled around to different waiting rooms, different chairs and x ray machines. I probably spoke to 4 different dental hygienists while waiting to be seen, all confused on what I was there for. (none I can even remember their name because they were not particularly friendly).
Then, Dr. Katnik comes over, barely says hi. sits down and asks why I am there. I proceed to tell him it is because I have been in a lot of pain on my lower right gum line and teeth where my wisdom tooth is coming in. He said, very accusatory «well, what makes you think it’s your wisdom tooth?» Uh, is that a rhetorical question? Then he tells me to open my mouth, looks in there for maybe 5 seconds says I need two crowns and I have a gum infection. While he is writing the prescription for antibiotics he says without even looking up «so do you still want your wisdom teeth pulled?» I couldn’t believe the way he was treating me, like I was such a stupid person for assuming it was my wisdom tooth, and addressing my pain, or where it was and why it was happening, was not even a topic of concern. He walked away and I told the hygienist I wanted a second opinion from a different dentist. I hear her go and tell Dr. Katnik I wanted a second opinion. He storms back over to me and yells «so now you want your wisdom teeth out?» I was shocked. I told him (with all of the other patients staring at this point) that I just wanted more of an explanation and a second opinion. He rolls his eyes and walked away.
Dr. Olsen comes over, while he was definitely more open to listening and explaining things to me, he did seem a bit rushed. He did take the time to explain to me though that the infection in my gums was from my wisdom tooth erupting through, but they didn’t want to pull it because of the way it is coming up (sideways) it is major surgery. He prescribed me antibiotics and said if the pain doesn’t go away after the antibiotics are done to come back and he will refer me to an oral surgeon.
This factory like dental office is clearly a big fan of profit. oh, and FOX News since it was on every single TV in every single room I was in.
I will take the antibiotics, but in the meantime, look for another dentist and get a completely new second opinion. I will definitely never be returning to this office.

I just spoke to Jae, and she was not rude at all! This place is ok. everyone there is friendly. It’s great for HMO insurance which most dentists don’t take. That don’t try to up sell you I assume because their clients don’t have a lot of money. I’m not real happy with the crowns I’ve gotten. They didn’t get all the cement off or there are now spaces where food hits my gums now. If I get a PPO I’ll probably go elsewhere.

Jae is the RUDEST receptionist I have ever spoken with in my entire existence. I had the displeasure of speaking with her on several occasions to schedule appointments for my dental emergency. If she wasn’t condescending enough throughout our conversation, then she finished each conversation with just hanging up. Not even a «goodbye» let alone a «have a nice day».
Office has cobwebs and stains on furniture and carpet. Outdated.
I should have known that this was not the place to get a procedure done! Since at my first experience with my 7 year old getting her teeth cleaned, dr. Katnick was finished seeing her before he even finished putting his gloves on.
Following my procedure I was prescribed pain medication, and using my quick math skills I realized I would be running out in the middle of a holiday weekend. So I asked for a few more to tie me over until a business day. Dr. Katnick assured me there is always an on-​call dentist if you need pain medication over the weekend. However, now it’s the weekend and the on-​call dentist says they can no longer write prescriptions.

I was a dental technician for 13 years. I saw so much bad dentistry, so many ways to cheat and pad bills, etc. Trust me, I know dentistry. When I had to find a new dentist, I was very worried about finding someone who was honest and competent. I went through a couple that I was not comfortable with. When I found Dr. Katnik’s office, I immediately knew I had found my dentist. They do not try to sell you work that you don’t need, the fees are reasonable, they take almost every kind of insurance. The office itself is older, but well maintained, with tropical fish tanks, televisions, exotic and entertaining décor throughout. I actually look forward to going to the DDS now.

I only go here for cleanings under my insurance, and the amount of cleaning time keeps shrinking. They look for additional work wherever they can find it, and when they wrote me a quote, there was no description of the work or the diagnosis — just the dollar amount. This has happened to me here more than once, and I suspect it has to do with extra work just thrown in to raise the profit on the job. They don’t elaborate so they can’t be contradicted.
Their MO is telling you that you have a food trap. But after their previous crown, I still had a gap, and the crown fit so poorly that they had to grind it down until it no longer even contacted the opposing tooth and that caused me endless bite problems
He once told me that mercury amalgams were totally safe, and that even under hundreds of pounds of pressure, that the mercury didn’t come out. But when I countered with the mercury leaching out over time — he was silent.
I don’t know why I even go here for cleanings. A private dentist once told me that all HMO dentists were crooks, that they look for unnecessary work to pad the bill. I think he was telling it like it is.

I started going to this place for cleanings because it was really close to my office. I always thought it was weird how they treat this dental experience like a factory. Its not personable, they rush you in and rush you out, they will leave you during your appointment (in the middle of your mouth being open) to attend to others and then minutes later come back to you and finish what they are doing. This place is old, crummy and their equipment is from the 80’s too. I saw the red flags, I just didn’t do anything because I was giving them the benefit of the doubt and trying not to judge.
I wasn’t too concerned since it was only cleanings I was getting (big deal right?) but when I needed a crown a few months back, I was SUPER nervous to have them do it because of the red flags that were raised earlier. I was even having anxiety because of it. I went through with it anyway.
The temporary crown that was supposed to last 3 weeks, lasted 2 days. TWO DAYS! When the final product was ready, it wasn’t fitting my mouth properly and I had them grind it down and reshape it multiple times. Finally, I said this will do. Well guess what? Now this crown is causing me issues. Damn it! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted these fools with my mouth.
Hoping to get a refund for the out of pocket expenses and replace this crown with a reputable place.
My advise is don’t settle for a 1980’s factory dentist just because its close to your office!

for years i have been in this office, lately Dr katnick has been doing bad work and i change with dr Olsen, there is people very nice, but there is woman’s that thing that they can tell you to leave the office when ever they want, Hello! you are paying all the work, even if they did it wrong, and they heve to do it again,
windy is one of the woman that you dont wanto to talk, but at this point i’m done with this, looking for other dentist,

I’ve been going here since I was a little girl. I’ve never had a bad experience here! Dr Olsen is the sweetest dentist, and honest. He works fast (carefully, but he knows what he’s doing), he will never tell you that you need additional dental work unless it’s true! I highly recommend asking for him if you try this office out. Also the front desk staff, dental hygienists and insurance reps are wonderful! Never a bad experience.
Thank you!

I’m going to go with a solid «3» for these guys. I was actually given a recommendation to this place from a friend when I needed a crown. I went in to check out the prices and was told one price and they billed my insurance for another price (over twice what I was told). The reason I am disappointed with that is because I have insurance that pays 100% up to a max of $ 1500 for a year. So this took a much larger chunk of that $ 1500 than I had planned for. It should definitely be illegal to tell someone an amount then bill them for another. Maybe a small claims court needs to be something I check into! Not disappointed with the work so far… just the lying about the price.

well, as most of the reviews say, the place is just ok for cleanings. I recently had a HORRIBLE experience and now having to suffer because of Dr. Katnik’s inefficiency. I was told that i needed a crown on a rear molar, so i believed him. My tooth had not been giving me any problems but they insisted that it would in the future. Never having a real problem with them before, i agreed to get a crown. When i went back to have the doctor install the crown, the office was packed with people and i had to wait a half an hour in the chair for the doctor to attend to me. It gets MUCH WORSE! Dr. Katnik comes in and it is obvious he is in a big hurry. He puts the crown in and tells me to ‘bite down’. after asks me how it feels, i replied ‘not the right size’ so he files it down to fit but still not right. Then he quickly tells me, he is going to file my perfectly good upper molar so the crown will fit. he says ”NO PROBLEM” WEll it is not his mouth, and i blindly trusted him… The next day when i chewed on some hard food it was very sensitive and continued to be feeling ”not right”. I must add, before he chipped away the good tooth, it gave me no trouble at all. Now there is also a space opened up between that upper molar and the adjacent tooth and collects food, every time i eat… What a nightmare. I really thought there was something really fishy going on when he started grinding away on my perfectly good tooth!!! But he was in such a hurry, he did not even give me the option to decide to do it or not… As i read some of the other reviews, i must agree with them, They really DO NOT CARE about you… It is all about the money! I called the office and complained and am going back tomorrow. Dr Katnik really is shot out and should retire. I am actually afraid to go back but what can i do. Sue them? I know i will seek a more qualified and caring dentist office next time… No more Katnik, he’s a freak!!! And most of his help are a bunch of obese rude freaks too… i don’t know why i didn’t look for a new dentist sooner. But i guess, i had to learn the hard way… Don’t you make the same mistake. Good luck!

My hygienist Lynda T is the best! She does a great job on these pearly whites. I don’t have to wait when I arrive (ok, I’m on CP time-​lol) and she does a great job cleaning my teeth. She is very honest and will tell me when I’m not flossing because she can tell. I want to do better because of her!
Thanks Lynda!

Horrible office… dirty tools and bad smell. Drs always in a rush trying to work on multiple patients at once. Seems like a money scheme. Drs gave no updates or information on what work is being done. Random assistants coming in with no clue of what’s been done. PLEASE do not waste your money here. Go to a more service friendly office. They broke my replacement crown while working and said nothing could be done, what a joke. So now I have a half silver, half porcelain crown.
Dr Katnik shows no care for patients. He cut my lip with his tool, I showed him and he just walked out. I’ll be looking to put this bullshit office out of business.
The staff show no interest in being at work or answering questions.

Worst dental experience of my life. Unfortunately while I was younger we could only afford cheap dental service covered by medi-​cal. I had the worst exp here while I was younger till I was 24. Unless things have changed please do not go here !

Let me help you out with some highlights, true story.
1. Read the post that were voided out. They are all 1 STAR (i should have)
2. I was a patient for 4 years.
3. On one of the first yearly visits. Dr. says: i didn’t have any cavity’s (30 second check up). note: I brush twice a day & flossed religiously.
4. 6 months later, they say i have a massive cavity.
5. Dr. recommends a «CROWN»
6. I ask for X-RAY’s from the first/​initial check up.
7. Second opinion Dentist: says I had a cavity on the initial x-​ray.
8. thinking to myself, did he really allow my teeth to rot? Or maybe he didn’t see it? I wanted to keep my MOLARS! Either way, I can’t trust them anymore.
9. This review is no different from the others… I have no hard feelings, but my Molar (that only needed a filling– not a crown) does.

Not the best quality of care here!
This office has served as my general dentist office over the last 12 years. Why, I don’t know. When I first came to this office, I was a young adult who didn’t know any better about what to expect from dental care. All procedures I underwent seemed hurried, were painful (after numbness wore off), but I was naïve as I thought that’s just how dental experiences go!
During my most recent experience, I had a wisdom molar extracted (1 year ago) and had the most excruciating pain afterwards. I suffered about 10 days of radiating throbbing pain. I attribute the pain to the quality of the techniques the dentist used during the extraction, I went home with sutures all over the gums, feeling butchered. I was confused as to why my gums were so torn up, the wisdom molar was completely erupted and not impacted what so ever. I’ve since had other molars removed by other dentists with virtually a painless experience. I just want to warn others DO NOT get your teeth extracted at this office!
Beyond this single traumatic experience, any time I have come here to have dental concerns looked at, I get a rushed assessment from Dr. Katnik himself lasting about 20 seconds, and when you try to ask questions just to get an understanding of the options to resolve the issues, there is no back and forth discussion just YES or NO, no explanation of anything. Being older an wiser now, I find this type of service to be unacceptable and have since moved on from this office.

Just average.
The treatment wasn’t marvelous, but it wasn’t horrendous. The office isn’t pristine, but it isn’t dilapidated.
I’ve only been here for cleanings. The first time, it was my first cleaning in a few years (I was in college and spent my $ on food and such), so the lady really had to get in there to clean plaque off my teeth. I LOATHE teeth cleanings in the first place– having something scratch my teeth makes the hair on my neck stand up. So for how long it’d been since I had a cleaning, it wasn’t so bad.
My second cleaning was only 6 months later. Took this gal about 5 – 8 minutes to get the job done. She got the job done, but maybe could have been more thorough.
They do try to sell you the «deep cleaning.» I work at a marketing agency and we have high end dental offices as clients (not covered in my dental plan) and they said «deep cleaning» is a joke for the office to get more money and that if they can’t clean a mouth in 10 – 15 minutes, they shouldn’t be working.
Overall, if you just need some cleanings and live in the area, this place works. If you need more extensive care, I’d peek around Unilocal for other options.

DON’T GO HERE!!!
Like MANY of the Unilocalers here have stated, they are only out for your money! I went in last year for a broken tooth and first off… the damn dentist tried to say that I needed a root canal AND a crown. Um, no. I’m no dentist, but I know I do NOT need a root canal. I just need the tooth fixed. The dentist tried to argue with me about it so I told him to do an x-​ray and to show me the decay on it. To HIS surprise, there was NO decay. I just needed a crown. ANYWAYS… I eventually got the crown, which cost me an arm and a leg, and 3 visits.
I just went for a check up to another dentist and this dentist pointed out that the crown was put in incorrectly, isn’t even in place all the way, and because of it there were open spaces left between that tooth and the surrounding teeth, and now there are cavities! He even did the x-​ray and showed me that way without even having to ask!
I WISH there was a way to get your money back from these butchers, because if the other option was to go back and get it re-​done that will be a HELL NO. Now I have to spend more money to get it fixed and done correctly, ELSEWHERE.

I’ve been going here for quite a while and to this day, haven’t figured out why I’ve stuck with this place for so long.
Firstly, the less important tidbits. When you first come in, the place smells awful. This scent pervades throughout the entire building, and it makes me nauseous. Secondly, there are so many people and a myriad of areas of which different types of work are done: cleaning, x-​rays, etc. However, the staff are quite nice.
Now, the more important parts. Inbetween my visits here, I’ve tried out different dentists. Twice now, I’ve gotten reports of having teeth issues (from the other places) that nobody told me about here. For example, at one point, having asked about a small whole in one of my teeth, I was told there was no hole. HOWEVER, as time passed, the hole grew larger and it was obviously a cavity. I see something wrong with that.
These examples epitomize my experience here.