University Dental Professionals

I had my implants made there. After over 2 years, $ 35 000 and MANY, MANY visits to the office the implants came out OK. My voice definitely changed too. The personnel there were very friendly and accommodating, but the quality of implant work was not good.

Lou Graham is a masterful dentist. I would not go to anyone else.

I went to UDP for both Invisalign and believe it or not Botox! Dr. Shira Levy is fantastic. She is warm and compassionate with light hands. She makes the experience of going to the dentist a good one.
I came in with crooked bottom teeth from grinding. My consult with Dr. Levy went very well. I wanted to straighten my teeth and get a bite plate. She suggested using the Invisalign as my bite plate following treatment and ended up saving me money!
As for Botox — I know it sounds weird. Wouldn’t you go to a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon? But who better knows the facial muscles than your dentist? I have been to Dr. Levy two times already for Botox and she is wonderful. It looks completely natural as she errs on the side of caution and is careful not to over treat.
I would recommend Dr. Levy and UDP to anyone looking for dental or cosmetic treatment.

The primary practitioner at UDP is Lou Graham, dentist to at least some of the Blackhawks. When Duncan Keith had his teeth eliminated by a hockey puck, he went to Dr. Graham. You can Google the Tribune article about it. Based on my experience with this office, there are good reasons for that.
I have a history of tricky tooth problems including a large number of adolescent fillings, cracked and fissured teeth, and other legacies of decades of ferocious grinding and a year in India when I drank mostly Coke and Orange Fanta. Most dentists I have been to have not been able to work on me because it’s too hard to pinpoint problems and I have too much sensitivity. I was relieved to find Dr. Graham about a dozen years ago and my wife and I haven’t been to another office since.
Dr. Graham combines the best of academic dentistry with real listening and attentiveness to patients. He loves to explain what he’s doing, why he’s choosing this procedure rather than that one, and to involve patients in decisions about their care. It might sound a little nerdy, but Dr. Graham is passionate about dentistry. He teaches workshops and will sometimes photograph interesting conditions or procedures to use in lectures. His office is constantly being updated, as are the procedures his assistants and hygienists use.
At this point, I see Dr. Graham alternately with a young dentist in the office – who has done some fancy work on my cracked teeth and whom I would highly recommend – Dr. Shira Levy. I’ve also seen Dr. Samantha Chou once, in an emergency and she was able to diagnose the problem withina few minutes and save me from what I felt certain was going to involve redoing a deep filling.
There are two other reviews on this site which say negative things about the practice, but neither mentions Dr. Graham and I doubt he’s the dentist involved there. In the dozen or so years that I’ve been going to UDP, I’ve had my mouth worked on by 5 different dentists there, 4 of whom are still in the Hyde Park office. This includes the victim of one poor review here, Dr. Vacendak, who did a great job invisibly refacing a cracked tooth I incurred. My Chicago Public School insurance covers only a small part of the fairly high costs at UDP, but it’s my only set of teeth so I’m willing to pay the extra hundreds of dollars each year. I have never felt overcharged for anything and there have been many times when I had to go in to have something looked at and wasn’t charged at all.

So, I decided at 28 years old to get braces… After a few failed attempts at finding a nice, professional, and clean dental office in Chicago, I was referred by a friend to University Dental Professionals. I had my first appointment in May, and decided to go with 6 Month Smiles (braces on and off in 6 months!). Firstly, the UDP office is immaculate, which is a huge plus for me. My appointment also started on time, which is pretty much unheard of at a lot of dental offices. During the actual appointment, the dentist took the time to explain all aspects of the treatment (is it a treatment? I don’t know what the dentist jargon is…) Anyway, I had the braces put on at the end of May and have gone back monthly for checkups and adjustments. First and foremost, all of the staff are so nice and warm (the assistant, Kristie, is so funny and friendly). Everyone smiles and says hello as you walk through the office. Each of the dentists that I have met with have been very good at explaining how my teeth are moving and what steps they could take to ensure that the process is the most effective (hard to explain mostly because I don’t fully understand, but there are a lot of little things that can be adjusted to help move your teeth). If you have ever had braces, you know that it can be painful and downright annoying. I feel as though the dentist and assistant are so gentle and always ask me how I am doing, offering to give me breaks if I need/​want them… and they send me home with plenty of wax to help ease the scraping/​irritation in my mouth :/​I am SO pleased with my progress at the halfway point. I can’t wait to see how my teeth are going to look with another 3 months of work.
In short, I give UDP 4 stars so far (As soon as my braces are off, I will be back to update!). In my opinion, the clean and up-​to-​date office, the friendly staff and the knowledgeable dentists have made it an overall great experience for me. I would definitely recommend University Dental Professionals to my family and friends.

I had a tooth that was cracked under a filling. Dr. Vacendak tried fixing it by drilling away the cracked part and re-​filling the cavity. I went back 6 weeks later because the tooth was still painful in a tiny area. When she couldn’t find the precise location, her response was to act incredulous, like I was wrong about my own teeth (her chair-​side manner is terrible). Then she scheduled me for a crown even though she never pinpointed the problem. I went out in search of a second opinion.
My new dentist took an X-​ray and identified the problem immediately: the cavity hadn’t been filled properly, leaving a tiny area still exposed. She re-​drilled and re-​filled it, and now it feels great! No expensive procedures needed.
Having another dentist fill my cavities was like a breath of fresh air. At UDP, novocaine injections are slow and you feel the burn the entire time! Dr. Vacendak accidentally hit my nerve last time, eek! Drilling also took forever. My new dentist got me in and out of there in half the time and with no pain. The difference between a good and a bad dentist is huge, and I had a terrible experience at UDP.

I am very pleased with this dentist. I am from Europe and have generally found American dentists to be quite substandard, but am now glad to have found this office. Their technology is much better than what I have seen in other offices (digital x-​rays, for example). My doctor’s name is Dr. Vacendak, and she is absolutely great. She also sees my three children and has been great for them as well.
The reason why I gave the office four rather than five stars is that they make you pay any bill yourself and then have the insurance reimburse you. It works and you end up paying the same, but I hat to have to front a thousand dollars for a root canal…