idek how to pronounce the name of that store. i have a feeling everyone wants me to pronounce it like anthropology but that goofy ass spelling makes me want to say anthro-poe(puh?)-loe-gee (like hoagie)
edit: oh so now it’s illegal to mispronounce stuff
i know it’s a real word but swapping out the y for ie just feels contrived, gratuitous even. plus out of all the ology’s out there, it’s not like anthropology is a particularly well-known ology.
Dentist office names are always bad because all the good names are already taken and there are a lot of independent offices. The worst include intentional misspellings like "Smyle", or I saw one called Dentist Tree.
If you're over 40 and bothered by shitty product names, I have got the cure for you. It's called NuGenix and it's endorsed by Chicago's own Frank Thomas. You know it works because it's named after Nazi pseudoscience and those Germans really know engineering. Oh, and fellas.....she'll like it too 😉
I also live in Aville. One dentist office is a crappy and predatory dentist and the other is a smaller office with limited availability so maybe that’s why
Curious which dentists you’re talking about? My regular dentist is in Andersonville and I guess I’ve been a little unsure if they’re predatory. (Feel free to dm me if you don’t want to name anyone publicly!)
A dentist at 1st Family Dental assured me the pain in my molar was nothing to worry about. They took x-rays and said it was fine. Three months later the tooth split in half. 0/10 would not return.
1st Family Dental, assured me that they took my insurance(I even got preauth) They misscoded my procedures and my insurance rejected the claim. I tried to get a correction but ended up stuck with like $400 out of pocket bill.
Is it Andersonville Dentistry on Foster and Paulina? That was the only place in the neighborhood that took my old job's crappy dental HMO and it was a nightmare.
They double or triple book their appointment slots but only have one dentist. I had two appointments with them that were both 45+ minutes late. One of them I went up to the desk and asked about it, then someone else waiting said that their appointment was the same time as mine, two other people said their appointments were before ours. I told the front desk I wanted to reschedule and she said she didn't have access to the scheduling software and I would need to call on another day. At the other appointment they ran out of waiting room seats and asked someone to wait in their car. (Their waiting room is small to start with, but still.)
The dentistry was fine though a bit rushed. I've only had basic cleanings there, I can't speak to anything more complicated.
holy shit. thanks for letting me know, i was literally about to call there this week. it seems my insurance only covers flop dentists—the last one i tried hadn’t updated his office since the 80s, still used a manual chair and manual x-rays. never going back there.
Yeah, I had a crappy dental HMO at my last job and it was basically the only place in a two mile radius that I could go to. I had better luck when I booked an 8 am appointment, but it's still frustrating when you get there and there's two other people with the same appointment time as you. At least you get put in a room quickly, but it's just a fancier chair to wait in.
If you don't have extensive dental needs, it might be better to just forget about the bullshit dental insurance and find a good dental practice. Ask them about a cash payer rate. Often it's about the same cost as insurance premiums plus whatever copays. Dentists hate dealing with insurance companies as well, and some will incentivize people paying cash.
I bet the existing dentists have long lead times if you are a new patient trying to get an appointment. I get the hate towards these PE backed practices, but that doesn't mean there isn't necessarily a need for more dentists. If a dentists wants to open an office that has night and weekend hours, I bet they would have no shortage of patients too.
I'm not a dentist but a doctor. Part of the secret sauce at most medical/dental clinics is that there are different types of appointment slots and the receptionists fill them differently. Many places have "emergency" slots that they leave open for same day or next day appointments for situations like yours. But when you want to schedule a new patient visit, a general physical, or in the dentist's case a cleaning they will put you will the next available time slot which might be in 3 months, for example.
They wont give you an emergency slot for your prophylactic cleaning, but sometimes you can call and say "I'm off work today and was wondering if you had unexpected cancellations I could be available any time so just let me know." That has worked for me several times.
In general if you are a cooperative, friendly, long-established patient of any medical or dental provider the receptionists will be more flexible with you.
What on earth? I've never in my life called to schedule a cleaning and had the first appointment be available farther out than like 2-3 days. Usually they try and schedule me next day and I have to ask them what they have open the next week.
Yeah it depends on the dentist, how long they have practicing for, and the number of other dentists in the group. My childhood dentist was a partnership between two of my neighbors and they had been working for 40 years when I went to them so they were pretty often booked out. But large practices hiring new partners regularly will likely be more flexible
All anecdotal but my dentist is booked 6 months out. Had to switch 2 doctors due to the long lead times. Also on a very specific insurance so may have to do with it.
I feel like that is unfortunately quintessential Andersonville. I believe we have two eyeglass places across the street from each other. And a few more sprinkled across the neighborhood.
I go to Lakeview Smiles, which moved into the second floor of the old Belmont Army space. Pretty much immediately their old space a couple doors over became home to a new dental practice.
They've been fine for me. Been going there for a few years now with no complaints. I'm no expert or anything, but I've had an extraction and implant done through one of their satellite offices, as well as a separate root canal and crown, all pretty hassle free.
Have been going to Lakeview Smiles on Belmont for 5 years and have been happy with them. They did a root canal and resulting crown for me and at my next checkup I learned my normal dentist had moved practices so I met with a new dentist who pointed out my crown didn’t sit right and he redid it for free.
I don’t think my ‘new’ dentist was a dentist new to the practice, just ‘new’ to me so your mileage may vary.
Honestly, I think ALOT of the conversation in this thread and others with respect to Chicago dentists (and any dentist / service provider) can be boiled down to “it’s the dentist, not the practice.” I’m sure some practices have policies / procedures in place that impact the quality of dentists they attract, but I’m sure there are outliers all over the place.
Seriously, why are there so many dentist offices? Have they always been around? A bubble? Like 4-5 within a couple blocks of me, and I feel like everyone says similar.
Idk everything about modern dentistry just seems like a complete racket. Insurance that covers nothing, constantly trying to peddle unnecessary/expensive procedures and services, lack of transparency with hidden charges etc
> Seriously, why are there so many dentist offices?
> Idk everything about modern dentistry just seems like a complete racket.
Sounds like you answered your own question.
Instead, go to Perfect Smile Dental Spa. They are the nicest people, have been operating for a while, provide amazing service, and give free goofy gas on request. Having had years of dental anxiety, they have been the best.
Can confirm it was TERRIBLE. I had a filling done at Dentologie, same dentist tried to fix it (she didn’t). Ended up having to go back to my non-aesthetic, less conveniently located, regular degular dentist to get it fixed. 2 weeks of fucking around with Dentologie and my old dentist fixed it in 30 seconds.
Okay any good dentists? I had an okay experience at Chicago Dental Studio but then they tried to sell me some huge mouth renovation project that I don't really need, which broke my trust.
I have a hard time gauging medical practitioner trustworthiness.
I go to Grand Dentistry. They have locations in the Loop and River North. I've had nothing but excellent experiences there and this is coming from someone that's been traumatized by dentists in the past.
They don't try to scam you or get you to do dental work you don't need. Their hygienist are extremely gentle.
I know it's not in Lake view but figured I'd mention it!
I also go there and have only had good experiences. I also travel from Lakeview to go there. It’s not that far and it’s not worth it to risk trying to find something closer that compares to them.
I've been very happy with Lakeview Dental Arts on Broadway. Friendly staff, consistent on following up about patient concerns, never been upsold on anything
I used to go here until a new dentist they hired completely crossed boundaries and broke trust and gave me a panic attack in the chair and just kept touching my arm.
I just moved to Chicago and got in at Wellness Dental Care on Ashland. I really really loved the dentist, she made me feel really well taken care of and heard. I also was able to get a quick appointment and they had no issues with my insurance that other dentists have had problems with.
Caveat I only got a cleaning and night guard with them, I didn’t need any cavity or other dental work thankfully.
I just started going there recently and loved it! Very thorough and patient and had no problem answering my (many) questions. I have some serious work I need to get done and Dr. Lee walked through each aspect to let me know what to expect and gave me a good timeline based on both insurance and out of pocket costs. I have a lot of general medical anxiety and they made me feel totally at ease. I'm not even anxious about my next appointment like I usually would be. Really recommend them!
I had a good experience at Miswak Dentistry (Tariq Riyal) back when I lived in Ukrainian Village. I'm no longer in the neighborhood, but I went there for about 8 years when I was.
Looks like their price went up, but it was cheaper than my current dentist for cleanings and X-rays when I dropped dental insurance. I've never had cavities or major problems with my teeth, so it usually was pretty straightforward cleaning + exam. He smoothed and patched a molar for no cost when I chipped it. He actually looked at my teeth and would go over the X-rays in front of me. Didn't seem to have an ego and answered questions. Didn't push any procedures or products.
I'd probably still go to him if my current dentist wasn't fine and a block from me.
Had a former colleague go to work at Dentologie so I looked them up out of curiosity. Its a Dentist LARPing as a Techbro starting a dental care practice.
I'm biased though because I've been seeing the same local dentist for 30 years.
Dentists are absolutely getting/going to get rolled up by private equity funds the way vets have been. Specifically when you're dentist retires in the next ten years
A dentist practice is worth some single digit number of millions of dollars but is really hard to sell - there's few buyers who have money. The people to whom it's most valuable are newly graduated dentists with a bunch of student loans . It makes sense as a family business, if you can get a family member to take it on. Otherwise you'll look to a big business to buy you out.
My dad is a dentist and simply cannot find the help that he needs. Small practices just can't compete with the bigger firms that are spinning up right now, and it sucks.
My friend's a doctor and he said the best way to make money is pack a suitcase and go to Oklahoma City or whatever to do 200 surgeries in one weekend. It's already here.
I can't speak for the dental industry, but healthcare has been tipping for some time now. I'd already do whatever it takes to avoid corporate (like HCA) or catholic hospitals... Which leaves university hospitals, pretty much.
My dentist is a long time family friend (went to high school with my dad). The only reason I ever go to Naperville is because that’s where the office has been since the late 90s. It’s going to suck when they retire
Not OP, but I live near the West Loop location and like that one. Some of the shit they do like having an app is dumb, but it’s nice being able to text with the receptionists to schedule stuff and they have pretty flexible hours (open until 8 P.M.) which makes them better than most dentists. And my dentist Dr. Busoul there is great.
Definitely seems like the case where it depends on location and your specific dentist.
i like it! i just moved to chicago so i needed an new dentist but i wasn’t actively looking. then i had an emergency and dentologie had an early morning appt available the next day.
i originally booked it with the intention of solving the problem and then finding another “regular” dentist.
i got there and the place was pretty up-to-date and had a younger staff which i’m not used to. not only that, they had a BUNCH of operating chairs as well as more than enough staff. the wait at this place is never longer than 5 min for me. every single person in there is so nice. i ended up making an appt for a routine clean up after my emergency procedure and im gonna keep going back here. it’s close to my house, they take my insurance, and the prices are about the same with fantastic quality of work
I like it and my dentist is hot AF and not a floss shamer. I also don’t feel like they push for unnecessary treatments. Prices are clear and fair, and again the dentist is 🔥.
Maybe I'll get downvoted for this. But as funny as I get the joke of this. We don't need anymore Storefronts closing in all seriousness. I know people will spout about the pricing of Dom's groceries, and Foxtrot's coffee.
But in all reality, they brought life to the areas they were in, people had another option to go get their groceries if they needed some, and a place to study or hangout with friends or colleagues at Foxtrot -- all things that we now have less of, and now many of those spaces will be sitting vacant for **years** to come and that's the last thing I think anyone wants to see in this city -- or any city for that matter. Things already seem bad enough as it is -- sure, I get Dentologie has a big criticism for it's *chainyness* and horrible practices (as I've heard) but it's a business that brings life to where it's located, provides a service to Chicago, gives employment to real people and brings in money for the economy. All things that will go away if those close too like Dom's and Foxtrot.
All in all, I hope we don't see anymore of these mass closures of storefronts -- of any kind of business, for the rest of this year or for a while. Again, I get the joke, but really hope it doesn't come to that.
It's a fair point.
Foxtrot I think will go down in history as a shitty employer and a bastion of financial mismanagement, but the fact that lots of well known locally owned smaller businesses have also been closing all over the city since the pandemic is a big problem.
We do also need to recognize that the city doesn't exactly make it easy or affordable for a new business to stand up, and that the *rents are just too damn high*.
Aside from how foxtrot treated employees, it’s wild seeing the amount of hate for a legit Chicago founded business because they were backed by venture/PE funds.
It feels like the only “loved” businesses are the ones with one or two locations max that have been ran the same way for the last 20+ years. Nothing wrong with supporting those types of businesses but I don’t get the level of hate for anything else
I'd like to say its a little bit of A and a little bit of B
I am sure there are some people that dislike anything to do with VC/PE funds, but alot of the discourse is over the fact that this was a bespoke shop that only served "affluent" areas. There is more to Chicago than where these stores were located, but the way people speak you would think it is the only major grocery store within miles. Additionally when something like did happen on the South Side, the hive mind here basically said "a few people stole now no one deserves anything"...which truly did impact whole communities.
Midwesterners are slow to adapt change, so anything new (aka not a 20+ year old business) could be seen as untrustworthy. With that said, the majority of this sub are young transplants, so I take back what I said earlier. It is all A
I mean South Park nailed this decades ago with their Wal-Mart episode. They burn down the Wal-Mart, all go shop local, the local store gets bigger and bigger, then they burn it down and repeat the cycle. Not quite the same since the VC stuff seems to be prevalent (and I don't know anything about that besides Reddit comments I've seen in the past 24 hours) but some people love a business until it gets a little *too* big for their liking.
the rent is too damn high. ain't nobody gonna take the risk of starting a ma & pa type business at the current rate of commercial real estate. the only thing you will get are chain style business that have a proven business plan and have an eager franchisee willing to front the capital.
I completely disagree with this take. If chains are owning the storefronts all it does is neutralize business diversity. Yes it sucks that they are vacant. But we need the landlords to drop rent so smaller businesses can fill these spots. Right now places are closing left and right because rent is too high while consumer spending is dropping. We need the landlords to be squeezed a bit so rent starts to become obtainable again.
Also, they didn’t bring anything that the communities didn’t already have. Foxtrot continuously opened in areas where coffee shops already existed. Dom’s made a deal with the landlords of Plum Market and pushed out Plum and Intelligentsia which I thoroughly enjoyed standing by at.
Also, These places wanted to survive on a delivery model as well. Which actually helps people isolate.
You do realize both Intelligentsia and Plum are also big chains too right. Theyre hardly little guys. guess who owns intelligensia
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB\_Holding\_Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company)
it really just sounds like youre saying "i like some big corporate chains, and not other big corporate chains"
Also, foxtrot stocked a lot of stuff from local companies. I.e. you could buy bags of Metric coffee or half acre beer there or whatever.
At the time that Plum Market opened in Chicago, it was their third location and first outside of Ann Arbor. They have a few more now but "big chain" is quite a stretch.
I’m aware of Plum and Intelli being separate chains. However, they already existed in those spaces well before foxtrot and Dom’s. Plum also stocked a ton of local brands and intelligentsia was a Chicago original maybe one of the first Midwest high profile roasters.
Plum wasn’t trying to aggressively expand. It wanted one store and did it extremely adequately in its one location.
Foxtrot didn’t bring anything new to the table and neither did Dom’s. What frustrates me is the VC funding Dom’s and Foxtrot’s parent company got to help them push out existing businesses to do the same thing that their former tenants did. And advocating that they were doing something new to help failing communities is false.
You're pointing at a problem (high rents / non-chains unable to compete) and completely ignoring the root cause (rents are high because of perverse incentives to keep storefronts vacant) and taking it out on chains that, despite their flaws, created third places for people who live here and who now will have no corner store in that area for years.
I swear some residents of this city would cheer another Great Fire and city decline because "lol screw those yuppies and their $5 coffee"
There are corner stores close to every foxtrot location. They thought they could do better than the existing businesses in a saturated market, rather than opening in areas that actually needed them. They didn’t open any to the Southside or NW side that would actually benefit from things like a new corner store.
I concede that I don’t fully understand commercial rental practices. I still stand by my statement because if commercial real estate is vacant, while property taxes rise, I find it hard for a real estate business to continue surviving on this vacancy model rather than lowering rent to get tenants in.
> They didn’t open any to the Southside or NW side that would actually benefit from things like a new corner store.
Their target demo was folks looking to buy at an upscale convenience store. They were never going to open stores on the southside or more family oriented/quieter NW side.
Using venture capital to supplant other businesses while operating a failing business model to ensure market presense is the reason there aren't other options
Haha I literally just had 2 filings at one of their locations. Honestly, I like my dentist. Yeah, it’s a little flashy. I bet some people probably have poor experiences. But I guess I’m glad mine have been good.
Agree. I've been really pleased with the staff and the dentists at the Wicker Park location. Nothing has been surprising price-wise to me, either. I like that I can text them to get or change an appointment.
One of the dentists at the River North location often prominently parks their brand new high end Ducati out front. Even though they have exorbitant prices and terrible value I hope they don't go under or this poor soul may have to trade it in for something you can use more than 3 months out of the year. Nobody should have to make that kind of sacrifice.
i think this was mostly because of the particular dentist i got and not reflective of the entire practice but she said i had a bunch of cavities i didn’t. (confirmed a few years later by another dentist who saw my original xrays) at the time i was lazy and just went for it, got them filled. two of them were botched and turned blue/grey. they were refilled and i had severe pain that nearly ended in a root canal. i havent been able to chew on one side of my mouth in 4 years. im aware that this can happen with any cavity no matter how good the doc is but if it hadn’t been messed up the first time it would have been fine. 😑
Geez. I think you are giving them a lot of grace. They effed up while being greedy. Honestly this was a common theme I saw in the comments. They either ignored emergencies involving pain or caused pain. 😅 Sounds like a chop shop.
Foxtrot tried opening near me in a vacant storefront in Andersonville. The community kind of rallied together to shut the idea down (which in retrospect is a good thing now that it’s gone all over), but this meme rings true because Dentologie is now building out in the space instead.
idk i have a lot of anxiety when i go to the dentist and i had a really great experience the first time i went. the dentist was really educational, the assistants were super nice, and it felt more comfortable than most dentist offices.
End of the day it wasn’t the price that concerned me, it was the fact they wanted me to cough up $4.5k right then and there or take out a BNPL loan with an obscene interest rate.
Gross.
Dentologie catches a lot of flack but there's some amazing doctors in there. There's a doc in the south loop branch who just started his own practice, and he totally poached me.
Seems like they embarked on too much expansion of Foxtrot. Also besides buying Dom's, this merged company got to the point of accumulating $180 million in debt.
FWIW, I used to go to the Dentologie in Streeterville and liked it well enough. I stopped going after the dentist i really liked move out of Chicago, and the replacement didn’t really come up to par for me just in terms of general customer service. I like to build genuine rapport with my Docs, Dentists, etc.
You mean the dentist office that has a sales team? God I went there they pushed something new. New retainer? Pre-Cavity? Extra treatments not covered by insurance? all of the above.
They tried to convince me to get a crown for some old fillings. Went back to my usual at Pure Dental Spa and they were like "That's fucking dumb," and repaired the old filling.
The name Dentologie really bothers me.
Same. My immediate thought goes to, “why is this dentist trying to be like Anthropologie? They have nothing in common!”
They're both trying to sell overpriced bullshit.
This is the correct answer!
idek how to pronounce the name of that store. i have a feeling everyone wants me to pronounce it like anthropology but that goofy ass spelling makes me want to say anthro-poe(puh?)-loe-gee (like hoagie) edit: oh so now it’s illegal to mispronounce stuff
You do realize anthropology is a real word, right? Adding or at the end doesn't change the entire syntax.
i know it’s a real word but swapping out the y for ie just feels contrived, gratuitous even. plus out of all the ology’s out there, it’s not like anthropology is a particularly well-known ology.
It's certainly a marketing choice, but it's really not that wild.
[удалено]
hoe-gee, for some reason idk why i couldn’t think of hoe so i put hoa. it’s fixed now
Lol, got it
There’s a new dentist office near the West Loop Jewel Osco that’s called “Dentistrie” and that feels even worse.
Ewwwwwww
That makes my skin crawl
Now they just need a "Dentiste".
I would go to a dentiste far before going to a place that specializes in dentistrie.
Dentist office names are always bad because all the good names are already taken and there are a lot of independent offices. The worst include intentional misspellings like "Smyle", or I saw one called Dentist Tree.
If you're over 40 and bothered by shitty product names, I have got the cure for you. It's called NuGenix and it's endorsed by Chicago's own Frank Thomas. You know it works because it's named after Nazi pseudoscience and those Germans really know engineering. Oh, and fellas.....she'll like it too 😉
Disgruntled upvote 😒
I like to pronounce it Dental-loogie
Same! What an unnecessary name for something so necessary
Its going to happen. So many new dentist offices are opening in Lakeview with in walking distance of each other.
We got a Dentologie opening in Andersonville across the street from another dentist office with another dentist office a block down. Fucking dumb.
I also live in Aville. One dentist office is a crappy and predatory dentist and the other is a smaller office with limited availability so maybe that’s why
Curious which dentists you’re talking about? My regular dentist is in Andersonville and I guess I’ve been a little unsure if they’re predatory. (Feel free to dm me if you don’t want to name anyone publicly!)
A dentist at 1st Family Dental assured me the pain in my molar was nothing to worry about. They took x-rays and said it was fine. Three months later the tooth split in half. 0/10 would not return.
1st Family Dental, assured me that they took my insurance(I even got preauth) They misscoded my procedures and my insurance rejected the claim. I tried to get a correction but ended up stuck with like $400 out of pocket bill.
damn what!!! I go to 1st Family Dental on Grand... this kinda freaks me out
mine as well, but ive liked mine so far - if we want to compare notes
Is it Andersonville Dentistry on Foster and Paulina? That was the only place in the neighborhood that took my old job's crappy dental HMO and it was a nightmare.
wait why was it a nightmare? i was about to book an appointment with them
They double or triple book their appointment slots but only have one dentist. I had two appointments with them that were both 45+ minutes late. One of them I went up to the desk and asked about it, then someone else waiting said that their appointment was the same time as mine, two other people said their appointments were before ours. I told the front desk I wanted to reschedule and she said she didn't have access to the scheduling software and I would need to call on another day. At the other appointment they ran out of waiting room seats and asked someone to wait in their car. (Their waiting room is small to start with, but still.) The dentistry was fine though a bit rushed. I've only had basic cleanings there, I can't speak to anything more complicated.
holy shit. thanks for letting me know, i was literally about to call there this week. it seems my insurance only covers flop dentists—the last one i tried hadn’t updated his office since the 80s, still used a manual chair and manual x-rays. never going back there.
Yeah, I had a crappy dental HMO at my last job and it was basically the only place in a two mile radius that I could go to. I had better luck when I booked an 8 am appointment, but it's still frustrating when you get there and there's two other people with the same appointment time as you. At least you get put in a room quickly, but it's just a fancier chair to wait in.
If you don't have extensive dental needs, it might be better to just forget about the bullshit dental insurance and find a good dental practice. Ask them about a cash payer rate. Often it's about the same cost as insurance premiums plus whatever copays. Dentists hate dealing with insurance companies as well, and some will incentivize people paying cash.
They'll go well with our multiple eyecare outlets and secondhand stores.
I bet the existing dentists have long lead times if you are a new patient trying to get an appointment. I get the hate towards these PE backed practices, but that doesn't mean there isn't necessarily a need for more dentists. If a dentists wants to open an office that has night and weekend hours, I bet they would have no shortage of patients too.
I had a filling popout and had an appointment at 11 am the next morning from a regular dentist.
I'm not a dentist but a doctor. Part of the secret sauce at most medical/dental clinics is that there are different types of appointment slots and the receptionists fill them differently. Many places have "emergency" slots that they leave open for same day or next day appointments for situations like yours. But when you want to schedule a new patient visit, a general physical, or in the dentist's case a cleaning they will put you will the next available time slot which might be in 3 months, for example. They wont give you an emergency slot for your prophylactic cleaning, but sometimes you can call and say "I'm off work today and was wondering if you had unexpected cancellations I could be available any time so just let me know." That has worked for me several times. In general if you are a cooperative, friendly, long-established patient of any medical or dental provider the receptionists will be more flexible with you.
What on earth? I've never in my life called to schedule a cleaning and had the first appointment be available farther out than like 2-3 days. Usually they try and schedule me next day and I have to ask them what they have open the next week.
Yeah it depends on the dentist, how long they have practicing for, and the number of other dentists in the group. My childhood dentist was a partnership between two of my neighbors and they had been working for 40 years when I went to them so they were pretty often booked out. But large practices hiring new partners regularly will likely be more flexible
All anecdotal but my dentist is booked 6 months out. Had to switch 2 doctors due to the long lead times. Also on a very specific insurance so may have to do with it.
Dentologie isn't even PE backed. The owners are just assholes.
I live within walking distance to like 5 different dentists, including one that's in my building
I feel like that is unfortunately quintessential Andersonville. I believe we have two eyeglass places across the street from each other. And a few more sprinkled across the neighborhood.
There are two Big City Opticals along Clark, within a half mile of each other
At this point I feel like I’m being punked
Private equity is backing them. It's a new bubble of sorts.
It would’ve been a foxtrot too if the alderman didn’t block it
Yep that's right. What a mess that would have been
There's like five on Belmont between Clark and Sheffield. It's pretty ridiculous at this point.
I go to Lakeview Smiles, which moved into the second floor of the old Belmont Army space. Pretty much immediately their old space a couple doors over became home to a new dental practice.
How is Lakeview Smiles? I'm not the biggest fan of my current dentist. Do they have those TV's you can watch while they do the cleaning?
They've been fine for me. Been going there for a few years now with no complaints. I'm no expert or anything, but I've had an extraction and implant done through one of their satellite offices, as well as a separate root canal and crown, all pretty hassle free.
Have been going to Lakeview Smiles on Belmont for 5 years and have been happy with them. They did a root canal and resulting crown for me and at my next checkup I learned my normal dentist had moved practices so I met with a new dentist who pointed out my crown didn’t sit right and he redid it for free.
Really? I’ve recently had a horrible experience at the Lakeview Smiles on Belmont with a new Dentist they have there. Never going back.
I don’t think my ‘new’ dentist was a dentist new to the practice, just ‘new’ to me so your mileage may vary. Honestly, I think ALOT of the conversation in this thread and others with respect to Chicago dentists (and any dentist / service provider) can be boiled down to “it’s the dentist, not the practice.” I’m sure some practices have policies / procedures in place that impact the quality of dentists they attract, but I’m sure there are outliers all over the place.
Seriously, why are there so many dentist offices? Have they always been around? A bubble? Like 4-5 within a couple blocks of me, and I feel like everyone says similar. Idk everything about modern dentistry just seems like a complete racket. Insurance that covers nothing, constantly trying to peddle unnecessary/expensive procedures and services, lack of transparency with hidden charges etc
> Seriously, why are there so many dentist offices? > Idk everything about modern dentistry just seems like a complete racket. Sounds like you answered your own question.
Last time I went to Mexico there was a dentist office on every other street. And I too was like Why
Many of them are decamping from larger office buildings.
Instead, go to Perfect Smile Dental Spa. They are the nicest people, have been operating for a while, provide amazing service, and give free goofy gas on request. Having had years of dental anxiety, they have been the best.
😂 dentologie is literally the influencer dentist. I wouldn’t trust this place since they hand out free services for influencers to say it’s amazing.
Can confirm it was TERRIBLE. I had a filling done at Dentologie, same dentist tried to fix it (she didn’t). Ended up having to go back to my non-aesthetic, less conveniently located, regular degular dentist to get it fixed. 2 weeks of fucking around with Dentologie and my old dentist fixed it in 30 seconds.
Okay any good dentists? I had an okay experience at Chicago Dental Studio but then they tried to sell me some huge mouth renovation project that I don't really need, which broke my trust. I have a hard time gauging medical practitioner trustworthiness.
I go to Grand Dentistry. They have locations in the Loop and River North. I've had nothing but excellent experiences there and this is coming from someone that's been traumatized by dentists in the past. They don't try to scam you or get you to do dental work you don't need. Their hygienist are extremely gentle. I know it's not in Lake view but figured I'd mention it!
I also go there and have only had good experiences. I also travel from Lakeview to go there. It’s not that far and it’s not worth it to risk trying to find something closer that compares to them.
I've been very happy with Lakeview Dental Arts on Broadway. Friendly staff, consistent on following up about patient concerns, never been upsold on anything
I used to go here until a new dentist they hired completely crossed boundaries and broke trust and gave me a panic attack in the chair and just kept touching my arm.
I actually [asked](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskChicago/s/bhyXBBXdZ0) this same question about a year ago!
White dental studio on Chicago Ave
Modern Smiles!! Dr. Iqbal is a saint. I would die for her.
I just moved to Chicago and got in at Wellness Dental Care on Ashland. I really really loved the dentist, she made me feel really well taken care of and heard. I also was able to get a quick appointment and they had no issues with my insurance that other dentists have had problems with. Caveat I only got a cleaning and night guard with them, I didn’t need any cavity or other dental work thankfully.
I just started going there recently and loved it! Very thorough and patient and had no problem answering my (many) questions. I have some serious work I need to get done and Dr. Lee walked through each aspect to let me know what to expect and gave me a good timeline based on both insurance and out of pocket costs. I have a lot of general medical anxiety and they made me feel totally at ease. I'm not even anxious about my next appointment like I usually would be. Really recommend them!
I’ve been at Webster Dental Care in Lakeview for a few years. They’ve been very good.
I had a good experience at Miswak Dentistry (Tariq Riyal) back when I lived in Ukrainian Village. I'm no longer in the neighborhood, but I went there for about 8 years when I was. Looks like their price went up, but it was cheaper than my current dentist for cleanings and X-rays when I dropped dental insurance. I've never had cavities or major problems with my teeth, so it usually was pretty straightforward cleaning + exam. He smoothed and patched a molar for no cost when I chipped it. He actually looked at my teeth and would go over the X-rays in front of me. Didn't seem to have an ego and answered questions. Didn't push any procedures or products. I'd probably still go to him if my current dentist wasn't fine and a block from me.
I know someone who works there and I believe they’re a good dentist but apparently the owner guy is a little high on his own ideas
having been to one, I would describe dentologie as “millennial aspen dental”
they didn’t even give me a toothbrush >:(
Lame I get a toothbrush and mouthwash and floss and lip balm and a lozenge do you go to streeterville?
I did go to that one! I switched to a dental spa in LP that’s closer to me tho.
Dental Spa sounds nice - what is it called?
Okay that confirms my opinion on it
Living on NW side I guess explains why I've never heard of any of these until yesterday.
Had a former colleague go to work at Dentologie so I looked them up out of curiosity. Its a Dentist LARPing as a Techbro starting a dental care practice. I'm biased though because I've been seeing the same local dentist for 30 years.
Dentists are absolutely getting/going to get rolled up by private equity funds the way vets have been. Specifically when you're dentist retires in the next ten years
Yeah I believe it. I'm lucky that my Dentist daughter is already in process for taking over the practice and she seems pretty solid so far.
A dentist practice is worth some single digit number of millions of dollars but is really hard to sell - there's few buyers who have money. The people to whom it's most valuable are newly graduated dentists with a bunch of student loans . It makes sense as a family business, if you can get a family member to take it on. Otherwise you'll look to a big business to buy you out.
It’s already happening. Several firms are actively doing dental and medical practice roll ups.
My dad is a dentist and simply cannot find the help that he needs. Small practices just can't compete with the bigger firms that are spinning up right now, and it sucks.
It’s literally the direction our entire healthcare system is moving. UnitedHealth now owns 10% of all doctors in the country
My friend's a doctor and he said the best way to make money is pack a suitcase and go to Oklahoma City or whatever to do 200 surgeries in one weekend. It's already here.
I can't speak for the dental industry, but healthcare has been tipping for some time now. I'd already do whatever it takes to avoid corporate (like HCA) or catholic hospitals... Which leaves university hospitals, pretty much.
Aspen Dental is another one.
My dentist is a long time family friend (went to high school with my dad). The only reason I ever go to Naperville is because that’s where the office has been since the late 90s. It’s going to suck when they retire
I’m barely southside and have never heard of them either
lol i just got back from my appt at dentologie to see this
review pls i need to know what’s it’s like there
Not OP, but I live near the West Loop location and like that one. Some of the shit they do like having an app is dumb, but it’s nice being able to text with the receptionists to schedule stuff and they have pretty flexible hours (open until 8 P.M.) which makes them better than most dentists. And my dentist Dr. Busoul there is great. Definitely seems like the case where it depends on location and your specific dentist.
i like it! i just moved to chicago so i needed an new dentist but i wasn’t actively looking. then i had an emergency and dentologie had an early morning appt available the next day. i originally booked it with the intention of solving the problem and then finding another “regular” dentist. i got there and the place was pretty up-to-date and had a younger staff which i’m not used to. not only that, they had a BUNCH of operating chairs as well as more than enough staff. the wait at this place is never longer than 5 min for me. every single person in there is so nice. i ended up making an appt for a routine clean up after my emergency procedure and im gonna keep going back here. it’s close to my house, they take my insurance, and the prices are about the same with fantastic quality of work
One in gold coast is nice. Root canal wasn't too bad. They are really efficient.
I like it and my dentist is hot AF and not a floss shamer. I also don’t feel like they push for unnecessary treatments. Prices are clear and fair, and again the dentist is 🔥.
I owe dentologie like $500 for my night guard, maybe I’ll wait to see if they go under.
It’s like blockbuster but with your mouf
Maybe I'll get downvoted for this. But as funny as I get the joke of this. We don't need anymore Storefronts closing in all seriousness. I know people will spout about the pricing of Dom's groceries, and Foxtrot's coffee. But in all reality, they brought life to the areas they were in, people had another option to go get their groceries if they needed some, and a place to study or hangout with friends or colleagues at Foxtrot -- all things that we now have less of, and now many of those spaces will be sitting vacant for **years** to come and that's the last thing I think anyone wants to see in this city -- or any city for that matter. Things already seem bad enough as it is -- sure, I get Dentologie has a big criticism for it's *chainyness* and horrible practices (as I've heard) but it's a business that brings life to where it's located, provides a service to Chicago, gives employment to real people and brings in money for the economy. All things that will go away if those close too like Dom's and Foxtrot. All in all, I hope we don't see anymore of these mass closures of storefronts -- of any kind of business, for the rest of this year or for a while. Again, I get the joke, but really hope it doesn't come to that.
It's a fair point. Foxtrot I think will go down in history as a shitty employer and a bastion of financial mismanagement, but the fact that lots of well known locally owned smaller businesses have also been closing all over the city since the pandemic is a big problem. We do also need to recognize that the city doesn't exactly make it easy or affordable for a new business to stand up, and that the *rents are just too damn high*.
Aside from how foxtrot treated employees, it’s wild seeing the amount of hate for a legit Chicago founded business because they were backed by venture/PE funds. It feels like the only “loved” businesses are the ones with one or two locations max that have been ran the same way for the last 20+ years. Nothing wrong with supporting those types of businesses but I don’t get the level of hate for anything else
I'd like to say its a little bit of A and a little bit of B I am sure there are some people that dislike anything to do with VC/PE funds, but alot of the discourse is over the fact that this was a bespoke shop that only served "affluent" areas. There is more to Chicago than where these stores were located, but the way people speak you would think it is the only major grocery store within miles. Additionally when something like did happen on the South Side, the hive mind here basically said "a few people stole now no one deserves anything"...which truly did impact whole communities. Midwesterners are slow to adapt change, so anything new (aka not a 20+ year old business) could be seen as untrustworthy. With that said, the majority of this sub are young transplants, so I take back what I said earlier. It is all A
I mean South Park nailed this decades ago with their Wal-Mart episode. They burn down the Wal-Mart, all go shop local, the local store gets bigger and bigger, then they burn it down and repeat the cycle. Not quite the same since the VC stuff seems to be prevalent (and I don't know anything about that besides Reddit comments I've seen in the past 24 hours) but some people love a business until it gets a little *too* big for their liking.
And a lot of that is due to property tax rates.
the rent is too damn high. ain't nobody gonna take the risk of starting a ma & pa type business at the current rate of commercial real estate. the only thing you will get are chain style business that have a proven business plan and have an eager franchisee willing to front the capital.
I completely disagree with this take. If chains are owning the storefronts all it does is neutralize business diversity. Yes it sucks that they are vacant. But we need the landlords to drop rent so smaller businesses can fill these spots. Right now places are closing left and right because rent is too high while consumer spending is dropping. We need the landlords to be squeezed a bit so rent starts to become obtainable again. Also, they didn’t bring anything that the communities didn’t already have. Foxtrot continuously opened in areas where coffee shops already existed. Dom’s made a deal with the landlords of Plum Market and pushed out Plum and Intelligentsia which I thoroughly enjoyed standing by at. Also, These places wanted to survive on a delivery model as well. Which actually helps people isolate.
You do realize both Intelligentsia and Plum are also big chains too right. Theyre hardly little guys. guess who owns intelligensia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB\_Holding\_Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company) it really just sounds like youre saying "i like some big corporate chains, and not other big corporate chains" Also, foxtrot stocked a lot of stuff from local companies. I.e. you could buy bags of Metric coffee or half acre beer there or whatever.
At the time that Plum Market opened in Chicago, it was their third location and first outside of Ann Arbor. They have a few more now but "big chain" is quite a stretch.
Now that FoxTrot closed my coffee options are Starbucks and the Capital One Cafe.
On that one stretch of southport there's: Cafe Tola Bombastic Cafe Steingold's And there's a Colectivo that's being built out right now.
Oh I thought cafe tola was just empanadas. I'll check it out.
Their horchata cold brew is life altering
I’m aware of Plum and Intelli being separate chains. However, they already existed in those spaces well before foxtrot and Dom’s. Plum also stocked a ton of local brands and intelligentsia was a Chicago original maybe one of the first Midwest high profile roasters. Plum wasn’t trying to aggressively expand. It wanted one store and did it extremely adequately in its one location. Foxtrot didn’t bring anything new to the table and neither did Dom’s. What frustrates me is the VC funding Dom’s and Foxtrot’s parent company got to help them push out existing businesses to do the same thing that their former tenants did. And advocating that they were doing something new to help failing communities is false.
So you'll take 16 empty store fronts for years on end, over Foxtrot, Dom's and Deontologie?
Yes
So what does having 16-20 empty store fronts bring to Chicago that's better then what Dom's, Foxtrot and Deontologie brings? I'm genuinely curious.
Good luck on your crusade to get commercial real estate owners to seek less money.
You're pointing at a problem (high rents / non-chains unable to compete) and completely ignoring the root cause (rents are high because of perverse incentives to keep storefronts vacant) and taking it out on chains that, despite their flaws, created third places for people who live here and who now will have no corner store in that area for years. I swear some residents of this city would cheer another Great Fire and city decline because "lol screw those yuppies and their $5 coffee"
There are corner stores close to every foxtrot location. They thought they could do better than the existing businesses in a saturated market, rather than opening in areas that actually needed them. They didn’t open any to the Southside or NW side that would actually benefit from things like a new corner store. I concede that I don’t fully understand commercial rental practices. I still stand by my statement because if commercial real estate is vacant, while property taxes rise, I find it hard for a real estate business to continue surviving on this vacancy model rather than lowering rent to get tenants in.
> They didn’t open any to the Southside or NW side that would actually benefit from things like a new corner store. Their target demo was folks looking to buy at an upscale convenience store. They were never going to open stores on the southside or more family oriented/quieter NW side.
Using venture capital to supplant other businesses while operating a failing business model to ensure market presense is the reason there aren't other options
Haha I literally just had 2 filings at one of their locations. Honestly, I like my dentist. Yeah, it’s a little flashy. I bet some people probably have poor experiences. But I guess I’m glad mine have been good.
Same! They’ve been great for me in Wicker, no more expensive than dentists I’ve gone to elsewhere
Agree. I've been really pleased with the staff and the dentists at the Wicker Park location. Nothing has been surprising price-wise to me, either. I like that I can text them to get or change an appointment.
One of the dentists at the River North location often prominently parks their brand new high end Ducati out front. Even though they have exorbitant prices and terrible value I hope they don't go under or this poor soul may have to trade it in for something you can use more than 3 months out of the year. Nobody should have to make that kind of sacrifice.
I've been saying this has got to be some type of mattress firm money laundering scheme. No way we need all these dentists.
fuck them. expensive ass shit
I heard Dentologie was ass. Their reviews aren't that great.
i had such a bad experience there lol i do not recommend
That's too bad. I m sorry to hear that. I saw the reviews and went to Cameo Dental instead. Instagramable office almost got me.
Now I need to know what happened?
i think this was mostly because of the particular dentist i got and not reflective of the entire practice but she said i had a bunch of cavities i didn’t. (confirmed a few years later by another dentist who saw my original xrays) at the time i was lazy and just went for it, got them filled. two of them were botched and turned blue/grey. they were refilled and i had severe pain that nearly ended in a root canal. i havent been able to chew on one side of my mouth in 4 years. im aware that this can happen with any cavity no matter how good the doc is but if it hadn’t been messed up the first time it would have been fine. 😑
Geez. I think you are giving them a lot of grace. They effed up while being greedy. Honestly this was a common theme I saw in the comments. They either ignored emergencies involving pain or caused pain. 😅 Sounds like a chop shop.
lol hopefully not before my teeth cleaning next week
Go to a real dentist
It’s definitely staffed by real dentists
I’ve had good experiences with dentologie 🤷🏻♀️
Same but it doesn't fit the circle jerk
Foxtrot tried opening near me in a vacant storefront in Andersonville. The community kind of rallied together to shut the idea down (which in retrospect is a good thing now that it’s gone all over), but this meme rings true because Dentologie is now building out in the space instead.
They only took the south side of Rezas. The north corner part of Rezas is still vacant
I feel like Dom's and Foxtrot would be the same door bc same parent company and closed at the same time, but I get your point OP
lol they’re about to open one in andersonville
the beacons of neighborhood gentrification
Glad to see this Ora Dental forever!
We can only hope
Not dentologie 😩🤣
I certainly hope not. I had a very good experience with the south loop location.
idk i have a lot of anxiety when i go to the dentist and i had a really great experience the first time i went. the dentist was really educational, the assistants were super nice, and it felt more comfortable than most dentist offices.
They tried to sell me Invisalign for $4.5k all upfront. Either in cash or via CareCredit. They can f*** all the way off.
What does it normally cost?
I'm surprised - I price shopped three places and Dentologie was within $100 of the other two. I paid $3k.
End of the day it wasn’t the price that concerned me, it was the fact they wanted me to cough up $4.5k right then and there or take out a BNPL loan with an obscene interest rate. Gross.
Dentologie catches a lot of flack but there's some amazing doctors in there. There's a doc in the south loop branch who just started his own practice, and he totally poached me.
Currently in the south loop looking for a dentist. Could you send me in the right direction?
Probably Dr RJ Villa, one of the Dentologie OG dentists that opened up his own practice. https://www.bocadentalstudio.com/about
My wife and I both use Lena Casimir she is FANTASTIC and in the south loop [https://www.yourclassicsmiles.com/](https://www.yourclassicsmiles.com/)
Worked at foxtrot years ago, wat happened?
Seems like they embarked on too much expansion of Foxtrot. Also besides buying Dom's, this merged company got to the point of accumulating $180 million in debt.
Never liked the owners got a chance to meet a bunch of them. Seemed over their heads but they where the ones opening businesses soo..
please
The place that was going into the old Rezas vs the place that is going into the old Rezas.
Yes please!
I think it’s hit or miss with the dentist you see.
I am so happily ignorant of this drama. Just come up Devon in Edgewater/Roger's Park and visit Devon Market - the original and the greatest.
If anybody is looking for a dentist in or near the Wilmette area I highly recommend Wilmette Dental Institute with Dr. Nolan
FWIW, I used to go to the Dentologie in Streeterville and liked it well enough. I stopped going after the dentist i really liked move out of Chicago, and the replacement didn’t really come up to par for me just in terms of general customer service. I like to build genuine rapport with my Docs, Dentists, etc.
You mean the dentist office that has a sales team? God I went there they pushed something new. New retainer? Pre-Cavity? Extra treatments not covered by insurance? all of the above.
Funny enough, they're owned by a PE firm so it's only a matter of time lmao
Imagine caring so much about a grocery store
I can't stop reading Dentologie as Deontology in my head
I've lived in Chicago my whole life and I've never heard of these places lmao
They tried to convince me to get a crown for some old fillings. Went back to my usual at Pure Dental Spa and they were like "That's fucking dumb," and repaired the old filling.
Did that Foxtrot in Andersonville ever open?