Cosmetic Dentistry Associates
Mary Puno, DDS:
Practice Profile Page

Dental cleaning

White fillings

Crowns

Inlays & onlays

Bridges

Clear aligners

Don’t let their name fool you, they provide all the standard dental services to keep your teeth happy (X-rays, fillings, cleanings, etc). I’ve been a patient of Dr. Puno for about seven years now and I love the work she and her talented staff do at Cosmetic Dentistry. They’ve kept my teeth and gums healthy and, until recently, cavity-free (yup, got my first one at 32 years old :/ ). Appointments start right on time and they are very efficient with their services while still remaining super friendly and thorough in their explanations. Going to the dentist isn’t something you necessarily look forward to, but I actually enjoy my visits here so that’s saying a lot.

Great dentist! I’ve had cleanings, a deep cleaning, a porcelain crown – they can do entirely in one visit. Very helpful staff. Gentle hygienists. This practice is the best. I can’t wait to have Zoom whitening!

I’ve had horrible and exceptionally traumatizing experiences when it comes to dentists. I fear them more than I fear winter (and trust me, I am a huge wimp when it comes to the cold…and white-walkers). After moving to SF and getting dental insurance, I decided it was finally time to dive back in and stay on top of my preventive care. My sister referred me to her hygienist, Dina, and her dentist, Mary (Dr. Puno). I come back for cleanings and annual check-ups regularly — so happy to say I no longer dread dental visits. Dina and Dr. Puno both patiently answer my millions of questions in detail and never make me feel rushed. I have been coming here for almost 3 years now and it feels like such a treat to get my teeth cleaned. I’ve even been told how much my teeth/gums have improved!

Dina and Dr. Puno are an amazing team. The people in this office are as friendly as can be, and they provide great dental care. I’ve never had them push unnecessary procedures on me and have been very happy with my cleanings and singular filling over the last three years. Dina is essentially a national treasure — she makes teeth cleanings enjoyable, which is really saying something! She loves traveling, and every time I come back in she has new pictures of her travels on her board. I always have a fun time chatting with her before and after my cleaning 🙂 Plus they give out good quality toothbrushes at you annual cleaning, as well as Crest 3D whitening toothpaste, which happens to be the brand I use regularly anyway. 5 stars!

Dr. Puno is super friendly and patient.  My teeth are super healthy so I rarely have to bother her, but she did a few fillings for me years ago and I have complete confidence in her. On the other hand, I do get my teeth cleaned every 3-4 months, so I interact with the hygienists here very frequently.  These ladies (at one point, one of them may have been a guy… but I seem to recall an all-female crew) are gentle, caring, and personable.  They do thorough cleaning and always wash away the coffee stains that build up.  They keep my smiles beautiful and I can’t thank them enough. I don’t have much experience with other dentist offices, but I have no plans to ever leave Cosmetic Dentistry Associates!

I have been a patient of Dr Puno for 15 years and I cannot imagine seeing anyone else for my dental care. She and the amazing staff (Angel, Nikkia, Khanba, and Jackie) are always courteous, kind, empathetic, and above all professional. Dr Puno is an excellent dentist and I always trust her when she recommends dental procedures. She always does what is best for her patients and she is a consummate perfectionist. I know she will never sell me procedures that I do not need. She has repaired several chipped teeth, installed crowns, and provided clear and concise recommendations regarding upcoming procedures on Zoom calls. If you’re looking for a new dentist in the FiDi district of San Francisco, make an appointment to see Dr Puno and you will understand why her patients love her.

I love this place, 5 star all the way. 1. Super professional and cares only about the patient’s well being. I was a patient at two other dental practices before transferring to here. Never felt like they tried to sell me on any treatments. I was advised on issue and future concerns but they never pushed the treatment. They only explained the problem, cause of the problem, the solution and alternatives. 2. The ortho treatment is impressive. My 10 year old daughter is currently on their ortho treatment and a few days after her braces came on, I saw results. (Pictures attached. We had to remove the top wire because my daughter complained about it too much) It was impressive, very impressive. I and my two younger children will be going on this treatment as well. 3. The staff is friendly and pleasant. Makes the visits comfortable and enjoyable. 4. They are technologically above par! Compared to the other two dental offices I’ve been at, they can pretty much do everything in house. Crowns, implants, etc. I spoke with other people who had ortho treatments before and the measures that Dr Puno provides is unheard of to most. Don’t know what the gizmo is called, but that machine was impressive. It measures and analyzes your bite, jaw line, nerve tissues, etc. (Picture attached) Two thumbs up here. 5. They really stepped up when reopening the office during this pandemic. WOWZA! They do the typical questions and temperature reading prior to you entering the office. Normal stuff. Then you step on two pads to clean the bottom of your shoes. That’s thorough. Then you sanitize your hands. Usual procedure. But the WOWZA part if the airflow. Every corners and rooms has a Dyson air filtering fan and then in the middle of the office is a hospital grade air purifying system! That is beyond expectation. It feels super clean and safety is a top priority. The little snake plants that purifies air is a cute plus. I highly recommend this practice. They’re very busy but that’s because they provide wonderful services.

I love Dr. Puno, she’s nice, thoughtful and followed up with a personal phone call after my Partner, who is terrified of the dentist, had some fillings done. The front office staff is super sweet and accommodating and they are very helpful with our insurance.  We have been going here for over a year and appreciate all they have to offer.

I had been putting off dental appointments due to previous visits to the dentist rending me scarred and traumatized based on horrible experiences. Needless to say, that decision caught up to me as yesterday morning I found myself experiencing, what I would consider, among the worst physical pains I’ve ever experienced in my life caused by missing fillings that had fallen out, exposing the sensitive nerves in my teeth. I made a hasty trip to Cosmetic, being that it’s located in the same building I work in, and they attended me immediately and with the utmost care. The best part of it all, every minute there was not only enjoyable, but painless as well; even after all of the work needed was done, I’ve yet to experience any pain whatsoever which I attribute to unbelievable work and spectacular attention to detail. I highly recommend Cosmetic to anybody in need of dental work, especially if previous experiences at the dentist have instilled a sense of fear toward making a visit, as was my case. I’m honestly looking forward to my next visit to complete whatever other work needs doing.

I feel extremely lucky to have found a caring, honest, and talented dentist as Dr. Puno.  My first experience for the exam and cleaning was great — no pain!  When I returned to get filings done, I kept saying (to anyone who would hear) that I had a fear of pain… My last dentist did nothing to ease the discomfort from drilling and kept saying, “Just five more minutes and we’re through…” as I cringed through the procedure. Dr. Puno is exactly opposite: she makes damn sure you are as numb as you can be, without resorting to the nitrous (which they do have should you need it).  She is not in a rush to get through a million patients, which is what probably allows her to dedicate the time to make sure you are as comfortable as possible.  (I rarely see anyone waiting in the waiting room, but the practice is still very busy!)  I sat through the two filings completely relaxed. The best part is that a few days later, Dr. Puno will follow up personally with a call to see how your doing.  I never had a dentist do that before!  fyi, I think she also has another location in Union Square that may have better digs, but I prefer the Embarcadero location since the Marina Express can shoot me over for a morning appointment.

I had been to four different dentists before finally finding Dr. Puno at Cosmetic Dentistry Associates. My previous dentists were all nice enough (well, except for one…) but there was always something missing, whether it be thoroughness, execution of services, personnel, care, etc. I’m hopeful that Dr. Puno will be my forever dentist because she is the best of the best! A friend of mine recommended Dr. Puno to me after I complained about my previous dental appointments. It’s a huge bonus that she is located in One Embarcadero Center, since that’s only two blocks away from my office. This makes it really easy and convenient for me to see her, whereas before I really had to move my schedule around to go across town. They also validate for parking, another plus! It was super easy to set up an appointment as a new patient. With a few emails exchanged, I had my new patient consultation and cleaning appointment set up, and also received the forms to fill out prior to arriving at the office. This saves precious time and it’s surprising how many other dentists don’t offer this. Upon arrival at their office, it’s really clean and modern looking. It suits the Embarcadero Center aesthetic. Since I visited during the pandemic, they were very thorough and checked my temperature and did a screening questionnaire. Additionally, you sanitize your hands and the bottom of your shoes. I also appreciated that they have plenty of air purifiers in plain sight. Good ventilation/air circulation is a huge factor in the spread of COVID-19, and it was really reassuring to see that they took this seriously. I’ve been anxious to go grocery shopping (let alone the dentist) but the office really made me feel at ease and completely safe. This was probably the best dental cleaning I ever had. My teeth are now stain-free, and feel so nice and smooth. I’ve had cleanings before where I left and my teeth still felt gritty/dirty, which is a terrible feeling. Dr. Puno also noticed right away that I had previously extracted several teeth. This is not a major factor, but it shows her awareness and attention to detail, which I really appreciated. I also liked that I was able to ask her plenty of questions and voice any concerns I had, and she would take her time to assess and explain to me the why/how/what/when of it all. She did not pressure me for any procedures, but simply gave me the facts and her educated opinions, and let me decide for myself. For example, I have a crevice in my back molar that tends to get stained and attract food particles. Many dentists would probably suggest to seal or fill it, however Dr. Puno said that since I seem to practice good oral hygiene, that we could leave it be and continue to monitor it and reassess at a later time if it gets borderline serious. I remember I had asked one of my previous dentists whether or not I should remove my wisdom teeth, and he literally said “I don’t know, up to you if you feel like it.” You never want to hear something like that from a licensed professional in charge of your health and well being! I left their office with a fresh smile and a newly instilled confidence in my dentist. For once, I actually find myself looking forward to my next dental appointment! If any of my friends or family need dental recommendations, I will definitely suggest Dr. Puno.

The best dentist I’ve ever had in my life.  Jeanette Yu is super smart, super detail oriented, and has great people skills.  I always look forward to my visit to the dentist because Jeanette and all her associates are so great!  I would definitely recommend Cosmetic Dentistry Associates to anyone, and I have already recommended her to many of my family and friends. AWESOME!!!!!!

After reading the review by Kate N. (see below), I became alarmed about the work that Dr. Puno was doing for me. After all, I hadn’t been told I had cavities or needed fillings since I was a kid. Dr. Puno had been very kind and professional, seemingly very competent – but was she, really, a quack, performing unnecessary procedures? She had showed me small cavities I had on a video monitor, told me they were small and I could choose not to fill them, but also told me she recommended filling them – that she had recently done a similar procedure for her husband – that, maybe “I’m just anal about teeth” (her words – she’s very down to earth), but it would be better to prevent a problem down the road. I had believed and trusted her entirely. Still, reading Kate N.’s review, I began to wonder. I decided to get a second opinion from another dentist unaffiliated with Dr. Puno. I took my X-rays and scheduled an appointment for an examination, and blew $90 – better than going forward with further, possibly unnecessary procedures, I figured. The other dentist gave me precisely the same diagnosis as Dr. Puno, prior to seeing Dr. Puno’s diagnosis. After I showed him Dr. Puno’s diagnosis, the other dentist kept referring to Dr. Puno as “he” (i.e., clearly didn’t know her), and clearly concurred in “his” (i.e., Dr. Puno’s) assessment. So I’m going forward with additional scheduled fillings with Dr. Puno. Actually, when she was getting rid of an ancient silver filling I got when I was a kid, she found a much bigger cavity underneath than she had been able to see before removing the filling, and may have prevented me a lot of future pain, possibly surgery. The only problem with Yelp is that it allows “quacks” like Kate N. to express slanderous opinions, defaming someone’s professional credibility, with no authentication whatsoever. Thanks, Kate N., for making me waste $90 on a second opinion!

Mary Puno is an excellent dentist. Competent and calm, I trust her entirely. There is no pain when she administers the numbing stuff (I hope I can take my kids to her someday). The staff is great too!.

I have been seeing Dr. Puno for over 7 years now and  just wanted to commend her on the quality of service that I receive every time I call to schedule an appointment and come in for cleaning/dental work. BTW, I just had the best cleaning ever by Adam! The sweetest, most gentle Hygienist I ever have had work on my teeth. What I really like about Dr. Puno’s office is that they are so contemporary and have all the latest equipment and techniques to make your appointment experience easy and gentle. They are kind and caring which is very rare in this day and age. I would highly recommend them to all!