Tony Cucalon III, DDS, MS

In at 7:40a on the dot. Out by 7:50a. Courteous. Follow up call to schedule next appt before end of day (I forgot to stop by desk on way out)

So I called the other day to reschedule for my nephew and I noticed they have someone who speaks Spanish now, she was very helpful and she was very nice I forgot her name but it’s good they have someone who speaks Spanish, specially for my uncle who he kinda struggles with English.

I, personally, am just starting with Dr. Cucalon, at the ripe old age of 52, however my 3 kids all went to Dr. Cucalon when they were younger, including my daughter twice! I’ve loved their office from the get-​go and didn’t hesitate a second to consult with Dr. Cucalon when my dentist recommended I get braces to correct a deep bite. The office staff are always friendly and professional, they’re straight forward about what’s required of their patients and are very flexible in their scheduling. I’ve recommended Dr. Cucalon and his office staff to other people and would gladly do so again if asked for a recommendation.

I have two daughters who have gotten braces from Dr Cucalon, and I could not recommend him and his staff more highly. My daughters’ teeth now look great. One of my daughters had a severe over-​bite and required a Herbst device — the results were fantastic. Dr. Cucalon and his staff have been incredibly friendly, helpful and professional. I have never been charged additional fees after our original payment despite countless adjustments over the years. We highly recommend Dr. Cucalon to all our friends looking for an orthodontist.

I rarely go out of my way to give a bad rating on Unilocal,but I’m incredibly frustrated with this orthodontist. We signed up some four years ago for my daughter’s braces, paid my full $ 2,200 up front (half of the cost with my insurance covering the balance). Only after the braces were off this practice started «nickel and diming» me for retainer adjustments and fixes. They tried blaming my daughter for abusing the retainer (chewing on it or something). The upper had to be repaired at least twice — to the tune of $ 300 per repair. The «fixed» retainer on her bottom teeth had a chain that quickly broke and again repairs were at least $ 200 dollars. After discussing it with Dr. Cucalon and getting nowhere I left the office and did not try for a follow up visit for a few months. At that point both my daughter and I tried to book a follow up appointment but received no return phone call. We’ve since just gone to another orthodontist to follow up on her treatment — so far retainers have been 25% less expensive, this coming from a doctor that’s not just pocketed $ 4,400 for the initial work. Go somewhere else with your business — and if you must go with Dr. Cucalon be afraid of ridiculous maintenance fees.

This review is long overdue-​I had my braces done by Dr. Cucalon and his crew back in 2006 – 2007. Great experience all throughout. Dr. Cucalon and his staff are all highly professional and very friendly. I had an abnormal situation with the type of braces needed due to a funky tooth that needed to be coaxed from way up in the gums but Dr. Cucalon came up with the perfect solution and everything turned out great. Even though it’s been years I felt showing my appreciation was definitely called for

I never had orthodontic treatment a a kid and was terrified of what I was getting into as an adult looking to get my teeth fixed. After doing research online, I settled on four or five orthodontists to check out. I ended up with this one due to the thorough consultation I received from Dr. Cucalon.
Up front, I was told that braces was the best option for me given my case and I decided to proceed with this despite the fears of having metal in my mouth at my age. Over several years, I was provided competent treatment, personal attention, and encouragement from the doctor and staff. My front teeth which were really crowded had straightened and I was able to bite down properly. The protruding ones on the sides were pushed back. Overall, Dr. Cucalon did an excellent job and followed through on his promise during our consultation to make me look awesome.
What really made my experience worthwhile was the personal care from everyone at the office. Dr. Cucalon spent time to look over my case throughout my treatment and went over his plan during each of my visits. The assistants made sure I wore my appliances and also made me feel welcome every time I came. The receptionists were very friendly and made appointment scheduling a breeze.
Anyone considering braces or Invisalign needs to check out this place. I still do because I get checkups for my retainers :)
Thank you for the A+ treatment!

Best orthodontics experience
Dr. Cucalon and his team are top notch! Everyone is professional and super friendly. They made me feel at ease and each visit was better than the last. Prior to treatment the thought of wearing metal braces for the next 18 – 24 months was scary. I visioned looking like Betty Suarez in ABC dramedy TV series «Ugly Betty» but not even close. LOL!
I just had my braces off (woo-​hoo!) and getting used to wearing retainers now. I love my beautiful smile! :) I am going to refer all my friends who require orthodontic work to Dr. C as the results definitely outweigh the costs.

I’m a new (adult) patient with teeth that have drifted over the years (post-​braces), but I couldn’t get another orthodontist or my dentist to take it seriously over the passing years.
(I suspect most orthos and dentists are re-​active rather than pro-​active, simply waiting for something to go *really* wrong, and THEN they deal with it. By then, of course, the problem is much worse and more complicated and expensive to fix. It would be like a mechanic checking out your car, saying goodbye, and not mentioning that your transmission fluid was half gone … till your car breaks down on the freeway in the middle of the night and you have to get it towed. Aggravating and expensive.)
So I found Dr C’s website and thought I’d give it a shot. Result: I am VERY pleased and encouraged. He understood right away, suggested a gameplan that fit my budget and my needs, and the staff was all so easy to deal with.
Woohoo!
=======================update=============================
Was having some trouble with the retainers after a few weeks, and showed them to my dentist, who agreed that the fit was ‘off’ and could potentially cause other problems with the bite and my jaw.
Not sure why I was given the particular kind of retainers I got … maybe they were the only thing that fit in my budget … but they have caused some problems. Haven’t been back, can’t afford to get them redone. too bad. :(

This place is wonderful! As an adult needed to correct a small problem, I still felt at home and that the options presented were appropriate to me. I did not feel upsold despite the investment being made and I am looking forward to my appointments to come! The Dr. himself was great, personable, patient and trustworthy. The staff has been very helpful to date!

Receptionists should be cheery and welcoming to all their patients right?
This is a place that fixes peoples smiles right?
Well not these guys, neither smiles nor greets.
They look away or ignore me more often than not, kinda snobbish to be real with you.
This place is a factory placing a priority on great numbers, so if 1 to 1 care is your thing, this office aint for you. Stressful environment more often than not.
The offices are more like a school with the assistants doing the bulk of the work. And the Dr. adding his directions and touch ups here and there.
Privacy also doesnt exist here, with all the reclining seats in the open, side by side.
There is no x ray machine, instead they sent me to West Portal to shell out a few more hundred.
Invisalign didnt work for me, but this office offered me 6 month braces to correct what Invisalign couldnt fix (which was alot to say the least)
Well, 1 year into the braces, I got them off.
I have been here so/​too many times I dont believe you can pay me to visit.
The place is just down right depressing and is geared more for kids and families.
I hope this honest review doesn’t find itself in the filtered section.
2.5 stars at best and not worth the almost 7K spent.

Love this office! So refreshing to come to an orthodontist and feel like you’re part of the family! There is always something going on there (contests and trivia challenges) so it takes the usual «boring» out of going to the dentist. The staff is very knowledgeable and Dr. Cucalon takes the time to address all concerns while providing the best orthodontics in town. Would definitely recommend to anyone who is looking for a great orthodontist.

I saw this orthodontist in the 90s. I needed a very small gap to be corrected. He was sexist and rude in our first meeting and the retainer started to crowd teeth that were straight resulting in mild decay. I asked for my money back because of the crowding caused by the retainer and they were very unhelpful and refused. To this day I am upset. I had a lot of work done when I was a teenager and my smile is one of my best features. I still have the small gap and have a tooth I have to be extra cautious with now. Maybe if you are young and good looking he will be great with you, or if you are a man, or a child.

I just got my braces removed this week. My teeth look beautiful. My experience with Dr. Cucalon has been excellent. When I first started with them, they were VERY helpful about giving me a payment plan that I could work with. Last month my braces were suppose to be removed, but their compressor was temporarily down. Unfortunately, I had made a massive commute in public transportation, and it cost me time and money to get to their office. They called me to let me know, but I was already around the corner! I explained my situation to them, and — get this: they actually helped me with some money for my transportation, and were very apologetic and patient (I wasn’t very happy at first) They handled the situation as best as it could be handled. Last, I love the way I am treated there. Excellent Orthodontist, excellent work team. :)

The thought of getting orthodontics as an adult was somewhat frightening to me several years ago because I was worried about my appearance, having to deal with lots of clients at work. After discussing with my dentist that I didn’t want crooked teeth anymore, he recommended several orthodontists, one of which was Dr. Cucalon.
I went to three practices and chose Dr. Cucalon because he seemed the most knowledgeable and his office seemed like a place I wanted to visit for the next year or two. Throughout treatment, I was provided personal care from the doctor and assistants. They explained the whats, whys, and hows of each procedure. Also, Dr. Cucalon saw me on a weekend — which I still can’t believe — to tighten something in my mouth. My braces came off recently and the verdict is that Dr. Cucalon and team are the best in SF. My once ugly teeth are now nice and straight… I just need some bleaching.
The rest of the staff, or front desk people, are wonderful as well. They were very proactive in making me feel comfortable, and I honestly looked forward to coming in for all my visits.

There’s no orthodontist like Dr. Cucalon. Dr. C is a rare combination of skills
and personality.
Dr. C is like that meticulous math teacher you had in high school, the one that
requires you to show ALL your work, sometimes to make sure you didn’t cheat (I
may or may not have been that type of student). But he’s also like the fun
counselor you had when you wanted to talk to someone. Having seen many
different types of doctors and dentists in my lifetime, I can say that most
people in the medical field are utterly boring. Dr. C is quite the opposite.
The treatment I received here was top notch. Dr. C has a great eye for how a
smile should look, and I love my new smile! The rest of the team (I think some
new staff now) are awesome! They are all so friendly and made my experience
very relaxing. I felt part of a group, not just in a group. Don’t think there
is another practice as personal as this one.
I highly recommend Dr. C to people who need their grills fixed! His team rock…

I grew up a military child and thus never had a consistent relationship with a dentist or a doctor. So I’ve visited literally dozens of them over the years to get the various procedures or bits of maintenance done.
Another result of that upbringing was that I never got the ortho care I really needed — ie braces. I’m now 35 years old and last year I decided it was about time to correct an underbite that was becoming more and more of a health/​safety issue with age.
I came to Unilocal looking for help and quickly settled on Dr. Cucalon as the specialist to handle my case.
I’ve now had the braces in for about 9 months and the care I’ve received has been among the best I’ve had my entire life.
I can’t recommend Dr. Cucalon enough.

My quest for straighter teeth began in mid ’06. A friend who then worked for Invisalign sent me a list of «preferred» Invisalign providers in San Francisco. Dr. Cucalon was one of them and close to home. Three years later, through Invisalign and braces, my choppers are now «aligned», gaps closed, and crossbite fixed. Despite the extended treatment and use of various forms of correctives, Dr. Cucalon never charged me for additional services and always took the time to make sure my teeth were straightened correctly. I trust he and his staff’s expertise, reliable and candid opinions, and excellent bedside manner. You should too…

My experience at Dr. Cucalon’s office was great! He’s the best orthodontists in town and so his staff. I came to Dr. Cucalon because I had a mess up teeth and now after two year of treatment, my teeth look great with such a prefection. I am so happy and now I can smile again.
Just ending my appointment at Dr. Cucalon’s office just make me smile more. His office is filled with so much fun and everyone is always happy and smiley. This is an office you will like to be in.

This place rocks for service and talent but their scheduling is a nightmare! As long as you do not miss or are late for your appointment, you should be fine.
I like to call him Dr. Cookoo Bear… LOL!
Gotta love this entire office, and Alice is the BEST!!! I always get hugs from her!