Dennis Shinbori, DDS

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Shinbori for about 20 years and am sad to hear he’s retiring, though he does come in from time to time.
Actually, Dr. Shinbori was my husband’s family dentist, who he’s seen since he was a kid. My dentist throughout childhood had always been Dr. Jerry Osumi. In the old days, if you were going to the dentist in JapanTown, it was either Dr. Shinbori or Dr. Osumi.
I «defected» to Dr. Shinbori once I got married (It was nothing personal; I switched onto hubby’s health insurance and phone plan too). I hear Dr. Osumi has since retired and his son Dean has successfully taken over.
Anyway, both Dr. Shinbori and his entire staff have been awesome. I couldn’t be happier; which might be a weird thing to say about going to the dentist.
I would much rather prefer a visit to the Ob-​Gyn — childbirth included — over hearing the whine of that Godawful dentist drill. (Have you seen the «dental scenes» in Little Shop of Horrors, or The Running Man movies? If you are a dentistphobe, stay away.) I am therefore very much motivated to be cavity-​free so I floss and brush religiously.
They are super friendly, efficient, professional, accommodating, flexible, and great with kids, adults and the elderly with medical issues. Yeah, now that our kids are going here, our family has been with Dr. Shinbori for 3 generations. If that’s not a testament to our satisfaction, I don’t know what is.
And I defy anyone to find a waiting room with fresher magazine issues.
I would highly recommend Dr. Shinbori — and his successor, the young Dr. Clint Taura, for whom I’ve written a separate Unilocal review.

The best dentist ever – and I HATE going to the dentist –no, really — a serious debilitating fear has been assuaged by the kind, gentle and understanding Dennis Shinbori! I’ve been a patient for over five years now and am no longer afraid.

Moved to SF and was still commuting to my family dentist on the East Coast for periodic check-​ups (had been going to the same denist office since childhood) — that is until my bridge needed to be replaced and it really made more sense to find a local person — was referrred to Dr. Shinbori — that was 20 years ago — have had a lot of good dental work over the years but the focus has always been on prevention — cannot imagine going to anyone else… and the staff is terrific — very welcoming and personable.

I mostly hate going to the dentist because the first 16 years of my life I’ve been going to this terrible man in Marin County and it’s hard to erase years and years of trauma and pain and suffering. However, even with my preexisting condition, I can honestly give Dr. Shinbori and his fantabulous hygienists 5 stars. They’re kind, gentle, friendly, and above all else, take very good care of my teeth. My mother is a nervous wreck and Dr. Shinbori personally cleans her teeth. Go ahead and try to find another dentist as awesome as him (I dare you).

I have been going to Dr. Shinbori for a year now and have been very happy with him as my dentist! He’s an extremely kind man who has decades of experience in the field. You can trust that he has your best interest in mind and won’t recommend anything that is unnecessary.
Additionally, his staff is friendly, easy to work with, and quick with making appointments. If you’re in seach of a new dentist, he’s your guy!

I was referred to Dr. Shinbori’s office by a family friend who’s also a dentist after moving out to SF.
Dr. Shinbori’s awesome! He’s very polite, attentive, and has a good reputation among his colleagues.
The office setting is very nice (lots of plants and things to distract you if you’re not that into dental work). The receptionists and assistants are also very friendly and helpful. They helped me deal with my insurance issues with a sympathetic smile and never made me feel like a burden.

I have been going to Dr. Shinbori for years now, and find everything about my experience rewarding. His staff (Kathy and Fran especially) are fantastic, their billing system is flawless, and they take a genuine interest in the lives and well being of their patients.

This is not one of your slick & fancy modern offices, but Dr. Shinbori is a very good choice for a dentist. He has excellent professional credentials… he’s not just a regular dentist, but also a teacher in his field with many solid years of experience. His staff has been with him for many years as well, which says a lot about him as an employer.
There’s a sign in the front «We Cater to Cowards» and the staff did cater to this cowardly lion. Prior to Dr. Shinbori, the only dentist I had seen in twenty two years was the Nazi dentist who was so bad that I swore I’d never go back. There’s a certain amount of shame in admitting that you’ve not seen a dentist in over twenty years. The doc showed the ultimate concern in making sure that I was okay and knew what was going on. I expected to receive a horrible diagnosis after not receiving care for so long, but I was very lucky and didn’t have a mouth full of rotten teeth. We followed up with a series of deep cleanings over the course of a month, and he was excellent each time I came in. After the final cleaning was finished, I almost regretted that I wouldn’t be coming back for four months. He gave me a referral to an endodontist for a root canal upon this last visit and his staff took care of all the details of setting up my appointment with the endo. A very positive experience when it was needed most!