Steven K Olsen, DDS

I’ve been seeing Dr. Olsen for 5 years now… and although my insurance changed he has always been helpful with giving me a reasonable price. Always very personal, remembers our last conversation and always asks about my life. Great Dr. Great staff, building is always clean and smells sanitary and crisp. Highly recommended.

Great work; highly professional; I would recommend to anyone.

This is maybe my second review on Unilocal because I rarely experience service I care enough about to take the time to highlight. Dr. Olsen and the folks at Embarcadero Dentistry are worthy of the time/​effort of a review, and you deserve to know about a local amazing dentist.
From start to finish, Dr. Olsen and Dr. Ivan were the epitome of professionalism and caring. They talked me out of running out the door to avoid a crown, handled my anxious personality with grace (and some nitrous oxide), and talked to me throughout the procedure. To top it all off, Dr. Olsen filled a sneaky cavity (ad hoc) in a tooth next to the one I was receiving the procecure in, just to help me avoid having to undergo another appointment/​shot of anesthesia. While the visit ended with some soreness (typical of these procedures), I was given a hearty dose of Motrin and a thoughtful follow up call this evening by Dr. Olsen himself. Does your dentist do that?
This experience is just one example (of many) of why I continue to make the trek across the Bay Bridge for my dental work after moving to the east bay.

Dr. Olsen is the WORST dentist I have ever been to, and I almost reported him to the State Board. I explained to the dental office that I have receeding gums (a common problem), and that it can hurt even for cleanings, because my nerves are slightly exposed on some teeth. They gave me nitrous to dope me up, but never gave me anything for the actual pain. Even though I was a new patient, Dr. Olsen just sat down and starting working right away with tools that hurt. I said very calmly (I was on nitrous), «Umm…that hurts.» He put down his tool and said, «OKAY, WE DON’T NEED PATIENTS LIKE YOU.» I was pretty surprised, because his reaction was unwarranted, but I got up and left. As I walked out of the office, I reached behind the dental counter and took my file back. The dental assistant was surprised and said, «uh, we need that.» I said, «No, you don’t. Dr. Olsen just kicked me out.» I can’t even stand to look at this slimey guy’s picture on this website. He makes me nauseous. Time for him to RETIRE.
Fortunately, shortly after that, I found a dentist whom used to work for Dr. Olsen. They spun off and started their own practice, because of all of the complaints at Dr. Olsen’s office. All my new dentist does is put a little gel on my gums before they work on them which completely helps, and it has been a GREAT experience to go to my new dentist.

Had a great cleaning/​exam visit with Dr Olsen and his assistant, Todd, today. Dr Olsen was friendly and informative during the exam. Todd was professional and personable during the cleaning. Greatly appreciated their efforts… and the nitrous. ;)

First, I’d like to respond to a couple of reviewers that I believe have not been very fair to Dr. Olsen.
To the reviewer that complained that Dr. O only did the drilling. At most dental practices, you never even meet the doctor until after the hygienist has done your cleaning and then the doc pokes you a few minutes and you’re out. Dr. O has always greeted me to discuss the work to be done, how it will be performed, and how they can best make me comfortable given I have a bit of phobia related to dentists. Plus, rather than have any old person doing the prep work, his team includes other doctors of dentistry. Expecting the first named doctor at the practice to perform every task is like expecting your primary physician to do your blood draws and urine tests. It is absolutely normal for assistants to do some of the work!
And to the reviewer that accused the practice of scam pricing, you are being purely malicious. I have received an accurate quote before every single procedure — from cleanings to crowns. And the few times something extra was required, they never changed from the original price. I’ve been to dentists that charged me per the minute for nitrous… anything to pad the bill. Dr. O’s office has never been that way… in fact, every time I’ve needed pain medication or antibiotics, it has always just been given to me. When you get a quote from his practice, you know how much your total care will cost.
Finally, I would encourage anyone looking for reliable, compassionate dental care to try out him or any of the other doctors in the Embarcadero practice. They explain everything well, their prices are competitive, and they take the time to make sure that you get pain-​free care!

The rating scale for two stars reads «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» There is not a better way to describe this dentist.
I went there for a check-​up/​cleaning and for two crowns on my teeth. They never did anything wrong or messed up my teeth. But I know that they over charge; I just got two crowns done at another place for way less (yes I know I have bad teeth).
Also, what is the point of having a dentist if his assistants do everything for him? Except for the drilling of my teeth for the crowns they literally did everything else, even the whole second appointment I never saw the actual dentist.
I will say that Dr. Olsen has some amazing assistants, who actually happen to be younger, cute, males :) I was really impressed by both of them with how friendly they are and how good they are with their work.
I now go to Dr. Vaksman in SF and love their service.

I broke my tooth the night before Easter :(I called Dr. Olsen’s office and the on call service put me through to Dr. Olsen right away. He was so nice about it and made me feel at ease. He told me that as long as I wasn’t in pain, my tooth would be fine until Monday morning. He also said he’d make arrangements for me to be seen on Monday.
I saw Dr Faccino on that Monday and he is awesome. He was very kind and great at explaining the technical terms of getting a crown.
Everyone at Dr. Olsen’s office is super nice and professional. They are just wonderful :)

Dr. Olsen is great. I am not afraid of the dentist, but if I was, he would make me feel at ease. He is such a sweetheart. If I didn’t have the best grandpa in the world, I would want him for my grandpa. Anyway, my teeth are clean, I have had no problems here, the staff and those young guys who do the actual cleaning have all been great too.
I had just gotten back from burning man when I went in last, so my teeth had a little extra playa dust between them, Dr. Olsen was genuinely interested in what Burning Man was and spent some extra minutes with me so he could find out, not like a lot of people who I mention burning man to and I can see them invisibly roll their eyes.
Genuine guy and good dentist

INCREDIBLE! I had a major tooth problem on a Thursday at 5pm, so I called to see if I could come in asap and they had me in at 6pm!!! Amazing. And Dr. Olsen is great… super relaxed, but professional. If it weren’t for the fact that I already have a dentist in the same office — and he is amazing too!!! — i would definitely be signing on with him.
As I told him and his assistant while I was leaving, «Ya know, this is the only medical practice where each time I get work done, I leave feeling like I’m actually getting my money’s worth!»
THANK YOU!!!

He’s not really into patient’s dental health. All about making money. My teeth have been healthy through out the years, and since my insurance pays for the bi yearly cleaning, I didn’t look very hard for another dentist. Until last visit, he did a few fillings and my teeth started hurting ever since. The thing is, I didn’t even have any cavities. His office is terrible about making sure my procedure was covered by my insurance.

First let me start off by saying my last dentist was HORRIBLE and turned me into a dentist hater. Reluctantly, I called and scheduled an appt here and they got me in 2 days later!
Overall, great experience. I walked in and didn’t have to wait more than 5 min — important when I’m on my lunch!
I had the wonderful Santiago clean my teeth. He was great. Very careful and took a lot of time to answer my questions. He even wrapped some foam on those uncomfortable x-​ray templates for comfort. Then he cleaned my teeth with an ultrasound scaling machine, seems it went quicker than the old-​fashioned way — again great since I only had an hour! Outstanding hygienist! I will recommend him next time.
Dr. Olsen came in and was helpful in answering my questions and checking out Santiago’s work.
All in all great experience and in under an hour :)

I have to say, I’m a real fan of Dr. Haase, who is a dentist within the practice at 2 Embarcadero Center. Very professional, friendly, and Harvard trained (a plus in my book). I’d highly recommend him.
Haven’t worked with any of the others mentioned above.

I know all dentists run a bit of a scam, but these guys take the cake. While the people are quite friendly, they will dance around the subject of how much things cost and what dentists are «in network» with your provider. I don’t actually blame the dentists — the front office staff was quite inept. They could not estimate any costs for me and when they did they were completely off. They called me twice to confirm appointments that I didn’t have and every time we talked they told me the appointments were for work that I didn’t even want to do! They must get paid a bonus to upsell you. If you lose a tooth and nobody else will take you that day — suffer through the agony rather than subject yourself to this disaster… FYI– this is my first review on Unilocal and I actually signed up just to let people know about these jokers… actually I am going to give props to Laundry Locker too, but that is a whole different story. STAY AWAY!!!

I was doped up, stuck with needles, and drilled over and over again! No, I’m not talking about Vegas DYL; I’m talking about my main man Steven K Olsen, his crack team of dental ninjas, and my mouthful of miserable 20^th century teeth!
Advised by the sage Hannala M to ask specifically for Dr. Olsen, I was quickly scheduled to see him the following day. I happened to bump into him on the way in and he’s got a good handshake — that’s a good sign, in my book. From the introduction to the exit, on every visit, his care and attention is obvious. How many doctors will stand around in a hall and simply chat with you while you’re waiting for forms to be filled out? Most folks (myself included) consider a dentist someone to be feared only slightly more than say, Freddy Kreuger, so I can tell you to find a dentist that is more like Santa Claus is a relieving treat.
Elite Ninja #1, Ben I think his name is, was no less patient, helpful, and focused on my comfort. He did a cleaning job on my teeth that left a handful of –gravel– on my chest. He cheerfully explained that the sandy flakes coming out were in fact plaque buildup and boy could I look forward to feeling my teeth again soon. Disgusting? Absolutely. But he dug, scraped, polished, and washed my teeth like they were nuggets of the finest gold to be delivered to the Queen of England.
There is a team of assistants at the front who will assail you with paperwork of all kinds. Although they try to be helpful, and sometimes succeed, they often talk to you as if you already know all about what they’re explaining. If you’re well versed in insurance payments, privacy documents, and dental policies I’m sure you’ll find these ladies quite heartwarming, but I found it both bewildering and not a little belittling. Repeating yourself is not explaining what you said, ladies.
But putting aside that minor inconvenience, there is nothing but stars shining as bright as my teeth for this dentist. I got my teeth x-​rayed, cleaned, whitened, molded for a mouthguard, and FIVE fillings pain-​free, a veritable pilgrimage to dental mecca, and I walked away smiling; I heartily recommend him!

No little shop of horrors here!
Holy sweet gas chambers! Dr. Olson uses an entire team of trained professionals to swoop you off your feet with the Royal Treatment. The effect of the personal touch and *swank* office atmosphere makes you feel more like you just got into the VIP section of night club rather than a dentist’s office.
First I was fluffed by an astoundingly gentle pair of x-​ray techs. Next I was laid back and all polished up by a genteel junior Dr whose deft technique, a la Samuel L, with the plaque scraper didn’t tickle or nothin’ .
After that I was ready for my big shoot and convo with the man, Dr. Olson, himself. With the smile of a game show host and the bedside manner of Hugh Hefner, the good Dr. made made me feel like a million $ as he proclaimed, «No cavities… lookin’ good in there… see you in six months».
Definitely the luxe treatment. Couldn’t believe my insurance actually got me in the door! Nice party favors on the way out too…