Friend Jeffery K, DDS

To start this review, allow me to take you back in time. I am an 8 year old with a bit of a sweet tooth and (in hindsight) not-​the-​best insurance, so needless to say, I didn’t see a dentist very often in my early years, and when I did, I can reasonably say that the jokers that I did see were likely not exactly leaders in their field.
I vividly remember one particular individual that either (a) didn’t believe me when I said that I wasn’t numb or (b) didn’t care, and continued to drill despite my shrieks of pain! Obviously, I repeatedly closed my mouth as the torture continued, to which he responded by cramming a door stop (or something that really resembled one) in my mouth and continued to drill away. That was the last time I saw a dentist for over 10 years. I’m not kidding.
Fast forward several years later and my dental situation reached a point where I had to do something (what ended up being 2 root canals). Thankfully, I had a «grown up» job with good insurance at this point, so I ventured off to find a dentist that also dabbled in psychiatry to remedy the scars (both physical and mental/​emotional) of my youth.
I polled a combination of co-​workers and friends and found a surprising trend (5 of 20) that suggested that I go see Dr. Friend (as a side note, there were no other repeat suggestions in the remaining 15 data points). His name immediately had me at ease, and with testimonial data on my side, I made an appointment.
At the time, his office was in a stripmall office complex off Broad and Libbie; easy to get to near I-​64, and had plenty of parking. I was nervous as I was walked back– a loud noise away from having a PTSD-​like flashback — and was seated in the chair as I waited to see the highly-​recommended Dr. Friend. After a short wait, a voice rang out through the 80’s music playing in the background saying «Nick, what’s happenin’, bud?» I looked over my shoulder and the first thing I saw was blue Dr. Martens with FLAMES on the sides. Yes, flames.
I have been seeing Dr. Friend ever since. 15 years and still going strong.
Dr. Friend was very appropriately named; a warm, genuine, and friendly guy that truly cares about his patients. He has an incredible bedside manner, is very gentle, and EMPHATICALLY tries to eliminate all traces of pain in his patients. What I particularly like is how he goes out of his way to explain, in layman’s terms, what is happening in your mouth. I am taking my 3 year old for her first visit in a few months.
The only thing that I don’t absolutely love about Dr. Friend is that, for some reason, he is considered out-​of-​network (but is part of a partner network) by my insurance, which makes him a little pricey, particularly for major services (e.g. wisdom teeth). That said, I’d easily pay double to get the level of service that I get from Jeff. He is, literally, the best.