Coragene I Savio, DDS

My Mom dragged me from the outer Sunset to a Dr. Savio at the above address for my dental needs.
That was in the ‘50’/60’s. I dreaded every moment. He was not short on the pain part.
I’ve hated dentists ever since.

After having been to a very well known dentist with a fancy office, huge staff, and long menu of things I could have done, I was sick of it. The visits were painful (laughing gas was encouraged for every patient), I felt like I was on an assembly line, and I didn’t trust the doctor’s advice at all because he was so focused on providing more and more services (and charging my insurance and me more and more).
I switched to Dr. Savio over a decade ago and have referred many people since.
I have not had a single thing go wrong with my teeth since I started here. No cavities. No fillings. Staff conduct my cleanings every 6 months and I get xrays every once in a while, and Dr. Savio always checks me over at the end of my visit. No frills, no upselling — just excellent preventative care!
When I asked about teeth whitening, my hygenist was very up front with me: I’d have to stop drinking so much tea, brush more regularly, and be realistic about why my teeth are stained in the first place if I wanted whitening to make a difference. She suggested I change my habits and try a home kit before spending any serious money on this. I really appreciated her frank and frugal answer.
What about more invasive care?
Through my work with seniors, I referred at least half a dozen clients with serious dental issues to Dr. Savio and it has always turned out well. I’ve appreciated that Dr. Savio’s office has worked with them to get them the care they need, always being very sensitive to the financial, mental, and physical needs of these clients. Kind, flexible, and attentive!

I’ve been a patient for another four years since I posted. I am surprised to see that people have had bad experiences because I could not be happier. I find the office helpful with appointment scheduling, the hygienist is gentle and seems to do a good job, and both dentists are great. One thing that stands out (in addition to the quality of dental care offered) — these folks will not «up-​sell» you on expensive procedures of dubious necessity. In fact, they will try to preserve and repair existing work if possible. Twice I had ten-​year-​old gold crowns come adrift. They were able to repair and replace each of them, saving me many hundreds of $. This is a sharp contrast to my wife’s experience at a dental office across town that offers, at great expense, sedation and even anaesthesia for exams, cleaning, etc. After a couple of years with «Dr X» she realized that problems were found at every exam. Every six months some filling that had not been bothering her suddenly required immediate replacement. Dental restorations do have a finite lifespan, but this seemed, shall we say, excessively proactive care. The most recent «failing filling» is being watched over by another dentist and seems to be holding its own five years later.
Dental care is fraught with anxiety and even fear for people had bad childhood experiences at the dentist, but I don’t think Unilocal should accept unsupported secondhand reports about any business. «My friend said» does not belong in a review, if it is important have your friend write a first=person account!

I do not wish to dismiss the issues that others have expressed here; but this is the best dental experience I have had in a long time. I am fortunate to have very strong teeth and only need a cleaning once or twice a year so far. Therefore, I have been dismayed by the effect that insurance has had over the past 10 years, making it so I can’t pay $ 45 to $ 65 for a cleaning anymore and look for a simple, affordable cleaning.
I do not claim that this will happen for you; but I called one morning, overdue for a cleaning. There happened to be an cancellation and 2 hours later I was in a chair. The hygienist cleaned my teeth very effectively, while asking me about my dental history and needs.
When she heard that I didn’t feel I needed an exam or xrays right now, she canceled my meeting with the dentist, just charged me for the cleaning and asked me to acquire my last xrays and bring them for my next cleaning in six months. I was done and on my way in 20 minutes, shocked at how pleasant, easy and affordable my visit was.
I’ve never been treated like a capable adult by dentist staff before, there’s always a suspicion that I won’t do as asked either with my cleaning or my xrays or whatever. I hope that this experience continues as I would love to stop looking for a dentist and just walk down the street. How convenient!

I’ll say it in 4 words: she need to retire!
Although nice, Dr. Savio does a bad job. Totally distracted, unprofessional, and sloppy. Unfortunately, I let those sloppy hands fill several cavities. The final straw was when she put silver in my tooth after I had specifically asked for white composite. After she spent 45 minutes taking the silver filling out of my tooth, she f-​d it up and now I need a crown! Yes, $ 1,200 and 4 visits later. I highy advise that you select a different dentist. I am considering reporting her to the BBB. Please know that I only joined Unilocal to write this review. Peace.

My experiences with Dr. Savio have been so-​so, but then she royally f-​upped my friends teeth and I had to say goodbye. She’s a nice lady but very distracted and my new dentist worried about how sloppy the fillings she had done for me were — so there you go.