Joseph Cave, DDS

A true professional. The first root canal made me look like a giant sissy! It was easier than having a crown put on! I went back to work that afternoon. The second one. and hopefully the last one, lol. There was an infection that I had while coming in. Although it was super painful he eased my pain and handled the job at task in two sessions!. I would not go to anyone else! Thank you Dr. Cave!

Years ago I was in Ensenada, Baja California at our humble beach house when I started experiencing increasingly severe tooth pain. It got to the point where I really needed some relief. We live in Pasadena, a suburb of LA, so I called our normal dentist who referred me to Dr. Cave in San Diego. Dr. Cave was kind enough to round up his staff on a weekend to meet me on my way back to Pasadena. I was in real discomfort and needed help ASAP. I am sad to say I could not find anyone in the Northern Baja expat community who could refer me to an endodontist in Ensenada or Tijuana with any degree of confidence. But lucky for me Dr. Cave was available, and we made a beeline to his offices once we got across the border. The procedure went well and the root canal repair remains stable more than a decade later. The reason I am writing this review today is because I was cleaning out my office after retiring and found Dr. Cave’s business card. Just wanted to say thanks.

I brought my teenage daughter in to see Dr. Cave for a root canal. Never having one myself, I was just as apprehensive as my daughter. Let’s face it, no one looks forward to having one. Dr. Cave could see how nervous she was and was quick to comfort/​distract her with a few silly jokes. I am impressed that she not only had no discomfort during the entire procedure, she had zero discomfort thereafter. She was back to her sweet, cheery self that night. 5 stars for Dr. Cave’s bedside manner and 5 stars for an amazing job. I would definitely refer and recommend Dr. Cave.
PS Convenient and free underground parking
Appointment was made easily with reception staff

Seriously thee best dentist ever! I am one of those that is thoroughly afraid of shots and dentists (in no particular order!). I was referred to him by another dentist. I have to admit, I. Felt. Nothing!!! I’ve gotten a root canal before and it wasn’t pleasant at all. I needed 2 when I saw Dr. Cave and I felt nothing at all and was done fast! He explained every alternative and what would be best. Not in a Doctor kind of way but a way a terrified patient could understand. His assistant was sweet and held my hand during the shots. I apologize for the extra squeeze. I highly recommend him. His office is CLEAN, his staff Friendly and he made feel safe and Unafraid. I know this is silly to say, but if I needed another I’d go back! Thank you so much!!! Please see him!

I wanted a dentist to do a painless professional job for my first (and last?!) root canal. And, I had Dr. Cave do this work today! Its now about 7 hours after the root canal and I am still not in pain. Not sure what that means but the whole procedure was pretty fast (~1 hour) and without pain. I went to work directly afterwards (with a funny smile cause of the novacaine). The office was clean and I felt like I was with a very experienced root canal specialist. Four stars because I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but if it goes like it has been going today, I’ll put it up to five.
Free and easy parking.
OK, now it’s the next day. No pain. Not even an Advil needed! I like this.

Here’s an exception for needing multiple outstanding visits to rate a 5 star review. Dr. Cave took excellent care of me on a referral for a root canal. While he could have put me through the entire procedure and made several hundred more $s off of me, he discovered my tooth was cracked beyond repair and recommended an extraction instead. Great service from his staff, a very gentle hand and a very up to date clinical setting pushes Dr. Cave to a fifth star.
IF YOU GO– while I hope the good Dr. does well in his profession, I hope no one reading this has to go through the root canal/​extraction process. I take good care of my teeth, but I’m a grinder. Listen to your dentists and wear night guards if you need them. And if they tell you to replace your silver amalgam fillings, tell them to pound sand. All my dental problems started after I replaced mine.

Really painless procedure with Dr. Cave!
I was nervous and scared and he was gentle and professional.
Very clean and beautiful office. I only find it odd that they collect a percentage of payment
UP FRONT (so come prepared).
They are totally in their right to do that, i am just used to always being billed.
With that being said — come ready for the percentage your dental company wont cover (call before so they dont just check you out in the end surprise you with a bill up front).
Parking is easy (under building), i was referred by Dr. Russ and was pleased with the procedure.

I had a really negative experience with this endodontist. I was referred to him by my dentist for a root canal, and he botched it. Apparently he drilled too far — into the bone — and placed the filler material way down into the bone, too. This created a systemic infection in my body which my immune system was not able to deal with. After months — almost a year — of fatigue and other symptoms, and a second root canal to try to fix it (the second endodontist thought the first might not have cleansed the root properly and re-​did the root canal) my tooth was extracted finally by my dentist and the symptoms cleared up immediately. My dentist tried to point out his mistake but Dr. Cave disagreed. The ultimate extraction of the tooth proves up who was right and who was mistaken, no?

Dr. Cave is an excellent Endodontist. I’d never had a root canal done before and he answered all of my questions and made me comfortable. According to my dentist (I saw her for the follow-​up permanent filling) he did excellent work on my tooth.
Highly recommend.

Dr. Cave was awesome! Fast painless. Belinda, Amy and Eva were also wonderful!

I, like many people on this god forsaken earth, curse the day we hear words like «extraction» or in my case «root canal». I HATE the dentist with an unholy passion but truth be told, I am far too vain to be walking around with a jacked up smile so I stay on the up and up of my oral hygiene. Who wants to go around with the smile of a hockey player ya know?
I was referred to Dr. Cave by my dentist cause I had a complicated root canal they were not ready to even try and touch. THANK GOD cause let me tell you, Dr. Cave is, hands down and without a doubt, the best dental work I have *ever* had. I had a flippin root canal for Christs sake! Shouldn’t that have hurt? Shouldn’t I have been in awful, mind numbing pain? Wasn’t I supposed to be scarred for life? No. No, and No.
His staff is awesome, office is pristine, his equipment is state of the art and he’s a stealth oral ninja… in and out before you can even notice. (Yes, I am still talking about dental work, get your minds out of the gutters, COCHINOS!)
In the day and age where people do nothing but bitch about how their dentists hacked into their skull and left them feeling like the Elephant Man, it was refreshing that a dentist could leave me with such a sense of calm and confidence. So much so that when I needed another root canal, I went back for seconds! woo! And no anxiety about it either cause I had that reassurance that I knew I was getting the best.

I am spoiled by my regular dentist so I have high expectations, however I had to be referred to this office for a special procedure. When I asked the desk if they obtained the proper authorization from my insurance company I received a «that’s your responsibility» in a non customer friendly tone. I told them this is a joint responsibility and if they wanted to get paid and provide a service I suggest they help me obtain it as they have the clinical information needed to justify the procedure. After I was surprised by the $ 1000 dentist bill with a $ 350 copay I asked for a payment plan trying to pay $ 50 a month as money was tight and I also had my regular dentist to pay for this joint issue. They didn’t seem to care because I was soon sent to collections. Don’t care much for the entitlement attitude at the office, I will not return if referred.

I had to get a ROOT CANAL done. I tried going to Smilecare Dental and they had no bedside manner at all. The receptionist was sweet, but the dentist was not. I called Padre Dental group and they referred me to this endodontist’s office to get the procedure done. I’ll need to go back Padre Dental to get a crown placed on my tooth.
I am a very anxious patient and Dr. Cave was so kind and gentle. His assistant Eva was super sweet as well.
If you need to get root canal treatments done, go here!
Btw, Smartcare was going to charge me $ 700+ for the root canal. After leaving Dr. Cave’s office, I ended up paying around $ 200. :)