Hossein Araghi, DDS

I am not exactly sure if I am the exception to some of the other reviews but I have never had anything but a positive experience at Dr. Araghi’s office. I have been going to him for close to a decade and, even after moving to Indiana for 4 years, still traveled back up to this office for continued care and cleanings. I am a Friday only appointment person so his split schedule while he was living in LA never really bothered me much; in fact I usually always took his last appointment on Fridays as it accommodated my schedule better. He always seemed as equally interested in my move to Indiana as I was in his move to California and we discussed it often during my visits. Since he has moved back to Chicago, and I have moved back to Rogers Park, I have continued my care with him.
Personally, I like getting to know the doctors and staff at the professional offices I rely on for care because that is one less thing I have to think about if an emergency happens. I like that Dr. Araghi takes the time to get to know his patients when there are so many other offices in the area that are nothing more than a rotating door where you are treated with only as much respect and professionalism as your insurance billing amounts to. And I say that knowing I am a cash only customer but still see the insurance dependent working moms and dads that are always waiting to get themselves or their kids seen and treated.
As a simple example, I am terrified of needles and somehow he always seems to remember that and advises me to turn away when he has to do injections. Again, if it were a toss up between someone taking extra time to chat with me for a bit, get to know my habits and treat me more like friend than a cold patient, I would choose that person 100% of the time and have done so here.

A few years back, there used to be another dentist sharing this office. That dentist suggested I use teeth whitener, and I did for a few weeks. All of my white teeth turned brown from me trying to make white teeth whiter. I was furious and regretted it immediately. I went back to this same location to ask what to do next and Dr. Araghi carefully scraped off whatever teeth whitener remnants from Crest that were screwing my teeth up. This is 99.9% of the reason why I have been so loyal to this location and keep going back.
I’m seeing a lot of criticism for this dentist. Here are the ups and downs.
The service is quick. The problem is that he seems to be more interested in folks’ personal lives than he is on teeth. I have never in my life had to deal with a dentist who I had to actively keep on track when talking about teeth. When I switched insurance, he wanted to know what happened with my last job and why I wasn’t there. If you bring a book, he’ll want to lean back and talk about the book. For a few visits I stopped bringing books altogether because I just wanted to get the visit over with and avoid the small talk. But it seems like any topic he can find to ramble about, he’ll use. And I wouldn’t care if he did it while working, but he’ll sit back, take the mask off and do nothing but talk and talk and talk. And I’m looking at my watch daydreaming about when he’ll put the mask on so I can get the hell out of there.
This time around (a couple of weeks ago) I just simply grabbed my book before he could see the cover and refused to get off the topic of cavities, teeth whitening and coffee stains. He looked absolutely bored to talk about teeth, and this last visit was when I decided I was done. During my last cleaning six months ago, I didn’t even realize my cleaning visit was over because he was sitting where I could get out of the chair and didn’t move so he could finish some random story. Finally I just asked, «Are we done?» He nodded and kept on talking, still blocking the way to get up from the chair. His assistant was on the other side so there wasn’t much room to move. Finally I (literally) hopped over him and got out of the chair.
I think I need to visit someone new because I want a dentist who is more interested in my teeth than he is my personal life. I just want to get in, get my teeth cleaned, and get out. But he’s told me several times that people like me are what make dentists go out of business — because I take care of my teeth — so the profit isn’t there. He meant it as a joke, but he’s said it several times. The extent of him talking about teeth is to suggest teeth whitening (profit).

While this shop might not look impressive or updated, I would not trust my dental work to anybody else. I have had several excruciatingly painful experiences just getting a cleaning at the dentist, and Dr. Araghi has such a light touch! He always explains thoroughly what work he is planning to do, and helps me have a better understanding of my overall dental health. The shop is clean and quiet, and Dr. Araghi and his staff are welcoming and friendly. We all hate going to the dentist, but Chicago Dental Care makes it a little less painful (literally).

Insurance fraud?
Is that what you call it when the medical provider performs unnecessary procedures in order to get more money by billing the insurance?
I went in for a dental cleaning. He did not give me a dental cleaning. Instead he said I had to come back in a week for some sort of specialized cleaning which cost me $ 100 out of pocket and was much more for my insurance. The only difference that I could tell was that the specialized cleaning hurt like hell and ripped apart my gums.
I should add that I am in my 30s, have never had a cavity in my life, and the dentist I saw before this told me that my teeth were in amazing shape and it looked like I had just recently been to the dentist. Suddenly at my next appointment with a new dentist I can’t just get a regular dental cleaning? Super shady.
When I first entered the office I asked if I could have some Ibuprofen for pain before the I saw the dentist. I explained that I have had TMJ which creates soreness in my jaw when I have to keep my mouth propped open for a long time. They offered to write me a prescription for AFTER the cleaning. I explained that this would not be helpful, I need to take it before. I usually take it at home first, but I happened to forget that day. I swear I had to explain this three or four times to two or three different people before they told me that they don’t even have Ibuprofen in the office! I had to run across the street and buy Ibuprofen from the gas station. It was ridiculous!
Finally, when I saw Dr. Araghi, he seemed really nice. He chatted a lot, was occasionally difficult to understand, but then he learned that my job involved working with different immigrant populations. After this he went through an incredibly xenophobic rant about how his immigration to the U.S. from Iran in the 70s was so different from immigration today and how all the new immigrants were lazy and trying to take advantage of the system. Yikes.
Let’s recap:
1. Insurance fraud
2. Super shady
3. Xenophobic rants
Needless to say, I will not be returning.

I had an appointment at 10:30 am and I was not seen until an hour later. There was no apology! I went in for a cleaning and the doctor instead filled a cavity. Once in back and in the chair, I sat for another 20 minutes while the doctor worked on another person in the next room. He was very kind but rushed me out very fast and didn’t dry the filling? Just told me not to eat or drink anything for an hour. 2 weeks later the filling falls out. So I took my business else where! Turns out my tooth is cracked! So I got charged $ 100.00 for nothing… Would not recommend this place.

I think I have found my dentist! Yay! For YEARS, I have been looking for a dentist who is affordable, patient and does not appear to be more concerned about payment than patients. Dr. Araghi is the one.
I needed to have a wisdom tooth pulled badly. And I’m very squeamish in the dentist chair. He shot me with novacaine 4 times stating, «You cannot be in pain, this is most important.» Even better, he and his assistant told me what my copay would be BEFORE working on my tooth. What a novel idea! This has never happened before. I was pleasantly surprised.
Very very nice guy. His assistant is a sweetheart too. Gentle and patient dentist. I will definitely be going back.

Let me begin this review by telling you that I am DESPERATELY afraid of dentists/​dental work. At least I used to be. I’m not great with pain, and I’ve had a few dodgy experiences. In fact, to give you some perspective, I used to take a valium (10mg!) for a cleaning. A cleaning, people! There you go.
Years later and once again I find myself in a lot of pain, and can’t ignore it. I stumbled across Dr. Araghi’s name from a reference, and I hesitantly make an appointment. Long story short, I needed a root canal. Amazingly, he did the procedure without even telling me, under novacaine, which is AWESOME! I would have flipped had I known, but after it was all done, he told me what was going on and I was so grateful. A few more follow ups for a crown, and voila! good as new. He’s such a nice guy, and he really does a great job calming my fears– I trust him, for sure. Plus– He has Saturday morning hours! Awesome! I don’t have to burn sick or personal/​vacation days, which is great.
The only con here is: the décor. I’d like to see him reinvest a little money in a new paint job, updated furniture, etc. The office looks a little run-​down, and it doesn’t always instill confidence in a first time patient. But the work is great, and if I had to choose, I’d rather have a good dentist than a nice room to look at any day.

I tried Dr. Hossein Araghi office on North Clark and did not have a pleasant experience and would not recommend anyone to this dentist. I was taken back on time, however, he tapped my tooth several times knowing that I told him that it severly hurts. Next he took an x-​ray which is standard and required. However, after he took the x-​ray, a woman came in that was not a patient and he walked to the back with her without saying excuse me or this will take a few moments or anything of a professional chairside manner should have.
After sitting in the chair for 30 minutes with no one around me, I left the office. Very unprofessional and definitely if you are in pain and you want to go ahead and get the pain overwith and see the dentist, you want somone that is going to be proactive and get the ball rolling on your road to recovery instead of someone that ups and leaves a patient without knowing a thing and you are sitting there in pain.
I much rather sit at another dentist office in pain knowing that once I get to the back, I will be taken care of.