Robert LaCivita, DDS

When I started at this office, it was just in the transition stage from Dr. LaCivita to Dr. Zand. My only experience has been with Dr. Zand & Daoud at the Sorrento Valley location; 5830 Oberlin. I am not sure why the address for my review references 5^th ave as I never went to that location. So to be clear, this five star review is for Dr. Zand of Sorrento Valley Perfect Smile 5830 Oberlin 92 121, 858−546−1199. Convenient hours and location since I work in the area.

I wish I could give negative stars! Let me tell you all about «Dr Bob» & his practice. I, too, was a loyal patient for many, many years until I took my BLINDERS OFF & saw him for what he really was– a complete & utter LIAR!!! I cringe at the thought of how many patients I handed to him personally, too. (I used to give out his business cards!) The horrible woman named Anna in his office is no better either! She is so incompetant that I had to fix all of her billing errors on my own to my insurance company when I had over $ 7,000 worth of work done, because she screwed the billing up so badly! After that, she would refuse to even schedule me for a visit. (Forget the thank you she owed me, or God forbid an apology!) I had to literally show up one day at the office, just so I could tell him how she was treating me! Of course, ultimately, he did nothing. So, for years I had to put up with her abuse just to try to see him. I did it, because that’s how great I thought he was. Well, little did I know, «birds of a feather do flock together.»
Right before I found out I needed a bridge, I went to Dr Bob to ask him for his advice. I really trusted that man & I really believed he was a good dentist. So, I asked him what to do; get an implant or a bridge? They were the exact same price range initially, but he wouldn’t have gotten any money if I gotten an implant (what I ABSOLUTELY SHOULD HAVE DONE). So, instead of being a DECENT, HONEST HUMAN BEING, he outright lied to me about the entire procedure in order to convince me to get it. He never even told me that I would have to lose 2 PERFECT TEETH on either side of the bridge & that I would have to crown them AND add 2 more veneers on top of it to match all the teeth in the front! The cost wound up being astronomical. He also neglected to tell me that the bridge would need to be redone over & over again, too. An implant would’ve been PERMANENT, bridges are not! An implant would’ve been one cost, ONE TIME.
After the bridge went in, it never felt right. It was hard to talk & felt like I had a huge chunk of plastic in my mouth. I cried the night I got it. After that, for about 2 years, the veneers kept popping off & I constantly had to go back in to have them re-​glued. Now, fast forward 5 years…
I just found out TODAY that the bridge he did was NEVER DONE CORRECTLY! First of all, another dentist told me 6 months after he did the bridge that it was already cracked (!!) AND secondly, just TODAY, an endodontic specialist told me that because of his poor crown work on my bridge, my front tooth now has an abcess at the end of the root in my face! Because Dr Bob DID NOT do my bridge correctly, bacteria has gotten into both of those crowned teeth holding my bridge (that he shaved down to pegs without ever telling me & destroyed 2 perfectly good teeth), and now, not only are both of those perfectly good teeth in jeopardy of falling OUT completely due to the bacteria, the $ 7,000 worth of work I had done was all for nothing! They have to redo the entire bridge (3 teeth) & 2 additional teeth will need to be matched, also. ALL BECAUSE DR BOB WAS GREEDY & WANTED THE MONEY!!! Had he been a truly good dentist, (even just a decent human being), he would’ve told the truth– that I absolutely should have gotten just that ONE IMPLANT, instead of involving (and now destroying) all these other teeth! He is despicable (!!!) & I hope he reads this, so he knows that I know the TRUTH ABOUT HIM NOW! The truth ALWAYS comes out in the end. Shame on you, Dr Bob!!! How do you sleep at night??? As for Anna, she needs to be put where she belongs– out to pasture, or in the UNEMPLOYMENT LINE!
People out there, PLEASE LISTEN. DR BOB & ANNA (and God knows who else) ARE NOT LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR BEST INTERESTS!!! TRUST ME, THEY ARE BAD PEOPLE! Find another dentist that isn’t so greedy that they will sell their souls to make a buck off you! I now have the sweetest dentist ever who ALWAYS tells me the TRUTH about what services will entail, so I can make an informed decision based on FACTS & what is right for me. EVERY patient deserves that.
Thanks for reading. Best of luck to everyone– if you continue seeing this dentist, TRUST ME, you’ll need it!

I just calculated it and I have been going to Dr. LaCivita for 8 years… that’s a long time! I chose this office because it was close to my work and even though I have since changed jobs (still not too far away), I stayed with Dr. Bob. I have only had regular cleanings and deep cleanings, so I can’t speak to any other procedures here.
One of the main reasons why I go to Dr. Bob’s is because of my hygienist, Daoud. Daoud is awesome. He is so gentle when he’s scraping away my tartar and cleaning my teeth. He always warns me that it’s going to hurt a little, but it never does. He is super friendly and we always converse throughout the cleaning. My cleanings are a little longer because we are chatting most of the time. I give Daoud 5 stars!
Dr. Bob has been very friendly and gentle with my mouth when he’s checking for cavities. Since I only do cleanings, I don’t spend as much time with him.
The rest of the staff is nice as well. I called the other day and left a message and they called me back first thing in the morning the next business day. I haven’t had a problem with scheduling appointments or insurance coverage here. They do have appointments at 7:30AM on some days during the week, but I think their lunch hour is 12:30 — 1:30, so no appointments are available during that time.
I am not giving them 5 stars because when I did have a deep cleaning there, the person doing it numbed one side of my mouth and cleaned the opposite side instead. I had to say something to her because I was in pain. She apologized and said «no wonder why it’s bleeding so much». After that experience, I switched to Daoud (that woman is no longer there).
No one really likes going to the dentist, but I don’t mind it because Daoud makes it such a pleasant experience. If you go, ask for him as your hygienist!

I have been going to Dr Lacivitas’ office for years. Never had any complaints and they have always done a great job and made me feel comfortable.

I’ve been going to Robert LaCivita, D.D.S. for about two years now. I chose his office mainly because it is practically down the street from work.
Well, it’s not surprise that being Asian, I’ve had a lot of teeth problems. When I was first looking for a dentist, I had just recovered from an infection where most dentists ‘suggested’ something drastic like an extraction/​implant. When I checked out Dr. LaCivita’s office for a third opinion, Dr. Chu suggested that such an extreme procedure is unnecessary, as long as they kept a good eye on it. Today, that tooth is still alive =).
Insurance. Dealing with insurance is a pain. Mainly, my advice is to before any big surgery [extraction/​crown/​root canal/​and maybe even fillings], have the dentist office sent out a «pre-​determined» [or pre-​verification, I forgot] report to the insurance office. This is where the office tells the insurance carrier what they will do, and the insurance will give the precise amount that they will pay. Any good dentist office will also consider the annual max pay the insurance is willing to pay out. This step usually adds 3 – 4 weeks before the procedure, but it will save you $$$$ if the insurance decides not to pay the full amount, or at all. Learn from my mistakes.
Anyhow, to tie it to this review, my insurance carrier was particularly picky about a 6 month period in between each check-​up [not simply twice a year]. In this case, they wouldn’t pay for my check-​up. I explained to the office that I did not like getting mishandled like this because they did not know. At any rate, they waived the fee and simply kept note of this insurance’s behavior for next time.
Lastly, the reason why I did not give this office 5 stars is simply because of a recent incident. I, like most people, grind my teeth. After a night of partying, I add extra pressure, resulting on the multiple crowns that I have. Anyhow, I had a check-​up this past Christmas and no problems were reported. Come New Year’s Eve two weeks later, I discovered that I had an infection [usually resulting from some sort of impact, such as the grinding]. Usually infections take longer than two weeks before it becomes serious. I was pretty furious with that they did not catch it before hand, which would have saved more a lot of trouble. Had it not been for this incident, I would have been loyal to this office to the end. As of now, I am considering other options.
Overall, I’ve had good and bad experiences with this office.