The Radiant Smile

I have been going to Dr. Chen for about ten years. I think he is a *very* good dentist. Most of the time his fees are low enough to be fully paid by Blue Cross! (The fees of other Evanston dentists I have gone to were not..)nnHe does most of the cleaning himself very quickly. The price is reasonable.nnThere is rarely much of a wait. We have had no problems with billing, insurance, etc.nnThat being said, some members of my family don't like him because they feel he is too rough in the cleaning and/or doesn't emphasize preventative-care enough.nnOne patient suggested that one should avoid Dr. Chen for any procedure requiring skill. I disagree. I think that Dr. Chen is *especially* strong in areas requiring real skill. I have had fillings, crowns, and root canals performed by Dr. Chen. Of course, things sometimes don't go as planned, but I have found his judgment and skill to be exceptional.

To say that I am beyond dissatisfied is an understatement. I have silver fillings in my mouth and they are an eyesore and I knew that I’m going to need a couple implants in the back of my mouth. When trying to find a dentist I was recommended to go to this location. I know my mouth needs work and I wanted to start on it. He wanted to do the implants first but I told him I wanted to get the silver fillings fixed first because it was visible and we would go from there. I had one tooth pulled in between the teeth with silver fillings prior to Dr. Chen and he recommended a bridge. Everything sounded perfect until it was done. It was too bulky didn’t look right and doesn’t feel right. I emailed him and showed pictures. He didn’t respond but I had already called in for a follow up appointment. Get there and I’m in the exam chair sitting for over a half an hour before anyone speaks to me, when he’s never done that before. Comes in and says he’s seen my email and asks what I don’t like and I say everything and compare both sides. He basically says he can do so much and he didn’t alter my gums and if I want my bridge more even to my natural side I’m going to need braces and it will take up to a year? Why would I need braces on straight teeth or a bridge? I show him the one tooth doesn’t look like the other side’s tooth and he says the right and left sides of the body are different. And he didn’t know I wanted all this stuff done because that’s more work and longer time. My teeth have always been straight and I’ve never had braces in my life. Then he shows me my x-rays from before to show me he didn’t touch my gums and shows me the crowns. He shaves down the sides of the bridge a little because NOW he notices it’s too bulky. He tells me I’m going to have to live with it (his exact words) and maybe I just have to get used to it. And he’ll see me in a month and he will do more fixes if I still feel it necessary. I wasted my money and my time. Not to mention, I had a root canal done from another dentist who didn’t do it right not even a year ago because it hurt and I asked him about starting that after the bridge and just said to pull it and do an implant. I got a second opinion before I came back the last time and they said they could save it. He didn’t tell me that or tell me the tooth next to it has a cavity. Now I’m going to probably have to get 4 implants since he did a 4 tooth bridge. I’m never coming back here.

Dr. Chen is the best dentist I've ever worked with. He is very knowledgeable and their fees are in line with dental insurance reimbursements. I highly recommend their practice for both structural and cosmetic dentistry.

I’ve been coming here for almost two years now and have always had a great experience. Good folks and the work I’ve had done by Dr Chen (cleanings and one crown) was solid.

Dr Chen and the dental hygenists: 5 stars. Office/receptionist staff: 2 stars.nnI've seen Dr. Chen periodically for years, and have always found him excellent: patient, kind, personable, gentle, etc. The dental assistants are equally awesome. However, the office staff is another story. I've never gotten a call back within a period of time that I'd consider reasonable compared to other dentist offices I've frequented in the past. Similarly, while the staff has changed over the years, none have ever been what I'd call pleasant.nnUpdate: I went to see Dr. Chen for a couple of issues and once again, my experience was similar to all my other encounters - Dr. Chen and the hygenist were awesome - flexible, patient, gentle, low key, pleasant and non-judgemental. However, the office staff, two front desk women, pretty much ignored me, barely saying hello or goodbye - so oddly cold. Maybe it's me?!