Enamel Dental Studio — Attraction in West Chicago Township

Run fast and run far... I visited Enamel for the first time in January, my fiancé had gone in during the fall and it was conveniently located by our apartment. We’re newer in the Chicago area and I had always gone home (NY) to get my cleanings, but because of COVID I was forced to find someone more local.

My fiancé went in for a routine cleaning back in the fall, when meeting Dr. Choi the first question he asked was “you mentioned your dentist back home, I assume he was old and his vision was going?” Confused, my fiancé was then led down the path to believe all of the fillings his “old” dentist did, needed to be replaced, and there might be a root canal needed, but Dr. Choi wouldn’t know “how bad it was” until he got in there. A few weeks later my fiancé had all of his fillings replaced by Dr. Choi and didn’t ask many questions, he trusted him, also no root canal was necessary.

Fast forward to my January appointment. Upon entering the office you’re hit with a smell that appears like a Pine-sol or cleaning product, like it's covering up an odor, X-Rays were thorough. Next, the hygienist who explained everything in the room and was lovely, but I could tell she was pushing a narrative, everything felt like a sale, also the replacement of running water and sinks, with a suction machine didn’t give me the most thorough cleaning, but we can blame COVID for that, and I was happy to see they were putting systems in place to ensure everyone's safety.

Once the hygienist was done, I meet Dr. Choi and he’s “marking to teeth", he then proceeds to ask me about my hometown dentist. His first question was “so you say you’ve been going to your dentist for a while, is he older?” And then proceeded to ask me about how well my previous dentist could see. He then proceeded to tell me I had two “massive” cavities with one maybe needing a root canal but he wouldn’t know until he got in there- quite literally the same verbiage he gave my fiancé. He also mentioned that if I were to go to another dentist in the area, they wouldn’t catch this. As a caveat- my hometown dentist is comprised of four different dentists that I’ve rotated through and have seen over the years, the chance my hometown dentist would miss a potential ROOT CANAL, let alone three other dentists missing this, wasn’t sitting well with me, also they are all under 40. So, Dr. Choi whips out a quote giving me the full rundown of what it will cost me to get these cavities taken care of. I leave the office with an appointment on the books for the following week.

Not completely convinced, I called my dentist back home to explain my disbelief and disappointment, asking them how they could possibly miss something this large. My hometown dentist called from his personal cell phone at 8pm to talk me through previous X-rays I had done in July and said they looked perfect. I then suggested to my old dentist that I send over the X-rays done at Enamel, just in case (might be worth noting that I’ve had cavities and dental work done in the past, I’m very proactive about dental health). He checked them over and this was his response:

“I looked at X-rays. They are as perfect as the ones I have in July. Run as fast as you can. If he wants to call me out on this I’d be happy to tell him the same thing and then maybe have the local dental society look into his practice ethics. Dr P”

I've visited a new dentist here in Chicago since, and have a clean bill of health, no cavities or red flags for root canals.

Dr. Choi is very condescending and manipulative, and is the first to throw other dental professionals under the bus. I do find it strange how many of these reviews are first time goers needing work after their first visits. Sadly I’ll never know if my fiancé’s dental work with Dr. Choi was truly necessary, but he won’t be going back. If you do end up visiting Enamel, do your research and ask pressing questions to Dr. Choi, he’ll likely have the same fabricated, uncanny response he gave to both me...

I have been using this place for 2 years. I'm getting 3 major treatments from David. First of all, I'm not good at English, so I hope you understand even if I'm a little bit poorly expressed. I would highly recommend Enamel Dental Studio to you. I'm really grateful and honored to David. Getting treatment from David will be the best gift for your teeth. This dental system and staff are all the best. There is no need to worry about corona. But I'm going to focus on David's story today. I received 6 treatments, including the crown treatment at first, the second tooth was pulled, and now I am undergoing implant treatment. First of all, David has very good skills, communication skills and honesty. David is very quick and precise. All of my treatments and surgeries were difficult, but I have never been sick after receiving treatment. I never had any problems and had to visit the dentist again. David accurately diagnosed my problem. He has never hesitated, and he has never been wrong. He was always clear. So, it is always reliable. I have never been insecure. With his diagnosis, I had no difficulty in judging and making decisions. What I'm strongly insisting on is that you can trust David's words entirely. If you don't judge something well, just follow David's words. I once refused to accept David's counsel, and I insisted on judgment. But the result turned out to be very, very sad. So I just believe and follow David's judgment now. And, he is honest. You don't have to worry at all that he's going to rob your pockets. I already said that I had my teeth removed as a second procedure. I wanted to do an implant then. By the way, David told me not to. Some doctors said that implants can be done through bone graft surgery. But David was determined. He said that it would be better not to do so because the risk is too high even if it is operated like that. In doing so, he firmly said that the teeth should just be pulled out. Looking at it, David became more aware that he was a doctor who was thinking about what the patient really needs and what would ultimately benefit him, and he became more trusted. I know many dentists who are really good and have good character around me, and I get along with them. But David is a really great doctor among those people. David suggested that it would be better to implant the teeth on the other side quickly. Although the teeth were a little uncomfortable, I didn't feel serious enough to have an implant. So David gave the same advice before, but I had been putting it off until this time. But I decided to fully believe and follow David's suggestion rather than my feelings and judgments. So, yesterday I pulled out the other side of the tooth and tried the implant. When I pulled my teeth out, my condition was much worse than I felt. If I didn't take David's advice and did my stubbornness, my teeth wouldn't be safe. So, again, don't trust your feelings, just trust David's judgment. Then you and your teeth will be saved. After doing the implant surgery yesterday, I am completely comfortable. There is no pain. I now have a new opportunity. If you can't go to the dentist, it's your best luck. But you have another luck. It's Enamel Dental...

I was a patient for a few years and if you have good teeth, this is an okay short term option. If you have time to do more research or plan to stick around Chicago, I would go with someone else that has better bedside manner & is less conservative. Conservative meaning as little interference as possible.

The hygienists are decent/above average at removing plaque without any pain. Very skilled at the painlessness. (They missed a spot between my teeth near the front last time.) However I noticed they never floss each tooth. Always skipping over a couple.

Doctor has been nice the last few years but at the most recent visit, he was very rude, I've never encountered a ruder medical professional. I think I offended him by not knowing too much about dental options (I have 1 larger gap between my 2 teeth) or medical things in general. I was wondering besides braces what else could fix a gap. I hadn't done previous research because it wasn't a super urgent concern and he rudely laughed(?) at me being disappointed and surprised the only choices were braces, crown or implant. I was surprised I named the only options without doing any research. He took it personally. I also thought a gap could be completely fixed, which he found offensive as well.

Due to his rudeness, I found it hard to believe when he said I needed a filling and had a large cavity that required semi urgent treatment (in a couple weeks was fine). His approach was he would go in to do the filling and see at that point if a root canal was needed. My life would've been easier if I just trusted and saw him, but I got a second opinion, which mostly agreed with his. I did my work at the next doctor who was much nicer. This doctor was less conservative and patiently explained the rot was pretty close to my nerve and recommended a root canal right away. I went to a root canal specialist to do that part & the doctor did the crown. (this doctor also agreed I needed a small filling on the...