Skokie New Age Dental

I went to the Skokie location a few years ago for a checkup due to a coupon i received in the mail. The Dr. performed the checkup and «found» 14 different cavities!!! He wanted to charge me thousands to have the cavities filled. I freaked out and wanted a second opinion and went to another dentist. This second dentist only found 1 cavity. Needless to say, I never went back to Dr. Koko again.

I decided to attend the Skokie office because it was close to my job. Once they found out I was a new patient, they ran several exams and screenings that I later found out was unnecessary. They only ran the screenings so that they can bill my insurance company. I went for about 5 – 6 appointments and every appointment I was forced to get on a payment plan because the charges were so high even though they were considered in my network. One day I had to miss my appointment because of a business meeting. My appointment was at 9:00am and the office doesn’t open until 9:00am. The reception desk said she had to charge me $ 50 for the missed appointment. I said that was fine and tried to reschedule an appointment. She said her Internet was down and she had to call me back. Two days later I received a bill for $ 100. I’m still waiting on her to call me back. Or not… I went and got my dental work done at another office. Ive been to my new dentist twice (once to get my wisdom teeth pulled) and I only had to pay $ 50 for an xray. The dental work I received from Dr. Tsau was fine. But that receptionist needs training in customer service.

I couldn’t be happier with the service I receive from all of the employees at New Age Dental. I have severe anxiety when it comes to going to the dentist (kind of like a lot of people) but they make it much easier. The dentist was patient and took his time through the many lengthy procedures I’ve had. After avoiding the dentist for over 2 years, I have found someone I can count on. The only drawback: cost. It’s very expensive.

I had an appointment to bring my son here today. We had a recent insurance change and were planning to switch over the entire family to this practice. I called to let them know I had gotten lost on the way there and would be 10 minutes late. I was blocks away from their office. The receptionist rudely informed me that I would have to reschedule. After I questioned her further, tried to explain my situation, and told her that I would not be switching my entire family over to their practice if they couldn’t be more accommodating she HUNG UP ON ME.
I have never written a negative review of a business, but I was shocked at how unprofessional this woman was. They will definitely not be getting my family’s business.

I look at these reviews with a grain of salt yet I do make my own decisions on a new business largely based on them. Hope this helps.
I started going to New Age Dental in Skokie on Dempster in ¹²⁄₀₉. I saw Dr. Lerias who was so awesome. It was the first time in a long time that I had dental insurance so he did a lot of work. To me, it was a lot. Over a number of visits, he replaced I think it was 9 – 10 30+ yr old mercury fillings and filled another 1 or 2. Im not phobic about dentists, but I don’t like going either. I actually dozed off a couple of times while he was working on me. My 2 kids, especially my daughter, loved him also. Very gentle and mild mannered.
Unfortunately, I may have seen him once or twice after that for check-​ups but then he was no longer there and I cannot find him anywhere. So I continued going as it was about 2 blocks from my home at the time. I don’t remember any of the drs. names. They seem to turn over often. My complaints are as follows:
1) I asked when making the appt for my kids and again as they were being taken in back to be seen — that I wanted them to be shown how to properly brush their teeth. This was not done.
2) I was told that my 3 remaining molars should be removed because the 2 on one side are causing me to bite my cheek really bad and the other one gets sore occassionally because «it’s just hanging there» with out any tooth below it to support it.
3) I found out in future visits with another dentist there that 2 of my 3 molars have cavities — including a large one on the one that’s «hanging there.» I was never told that.
4) On my 2^nd to my last routine visit, I went in and when it came time to clean my teeth — which the dr. did — he asked his assistant for the attachment piece for the tool and she said that it was on order and should be there tomorrow. He spoke a little about it with her to clarify and he wasn’t loud or anything, but you could see he was not happy. Neither was I. He had to clean my teeth manually.
5) On my last routine visit, I got my teeth cleaned and then they told me that the dr. was not there, he had to leave earlier in the day and I’d have to return for him to check my teeth. WHAT?! Ok. Last straw… 1) they can’t call to say they can’t provide me with the service I scheduled for and i’m supposed to cancel 24 hrs in advance?! 2) do they have any idea how hard it is for a single mom to schedule appts without my kids in tow, without babysitters or family to watch them?!
I didn’t really say much at the time but I was pissed.
That was over a year ago and I never went back. Nor have I done the dreaded task of finding a new dentist until now. I got online to find New Age’s number so I can pick up my records as I’m going to another dentist next week.

I have been their patient for quite awhile and with extensive time and painful road I had to go through I thought I was close to walking out with a great experience. My last thing on my list was to get my wisdom teeth out. For going there so often the staff knew me pretty well. My regular dentist referred me to dr. Smulson because it was a complicated case and required general anasthesia.
I took off a few days off work because I knew its a long painful process as well as the healing. They scheduled an operation for me to get all 4 teeth out. When I showed up the doctor said he couldn’t perform anasthesia because I ate. You would think their staff would tell me all the details I needed to know before the surgery. They did not!!! I think I called their office a few times to confirm my appointment and nobody bothered to tell me I shouldnt eat before the procedure. They KNEW I was getting general anasthesia.
Then Dr. Smulson looked at my teeth and said no worries he can rip them out with just local anasthesia. I didn’t have a chance to think this through when he start giving me shot after shot. I was shaking intensly and crying. That was not even the beginning.
As he babied me he started to shake them loose with a metal tool and began to rip them out. I was in shock. I was screaming so loud and crying. The entire Morton Grove office heard me. I felt like I was in a horror movie. There was a lot of blood. I didn’t let him take out my fourth tooth. I couldn’t bare it anymore. I am scarred for life from this experience. But my pain didn’t end there.
I went home with cotton in my mouth and bleeding profusely. Dr. Smuslon prescribed me a weak pain killer. When I called him to give me something stronger he told me to «Get off his back». I couldn’t talk for the first couple of days so I had someone else call him to whom he responded to eat some soup and relax, because it’s not that bad and I am being dramatic. I cannot describe in more words how awful my situation was. Dr. Smulson is a monster and I suggest you never go to New Age Dental to see him.
On a better note: my regular doctor was the only reason I kept coming back there to see. He had treated me like a human, with a personal understanding and all procedures had no issues. He doesn’t work there anymore I heard.
With that said one time my matter was pressing and I had to go see Dr. Tsay because my regular doctor wasn’t available. He opened up a tooth exposed the nerve and sent me home. When the shot wore off I was in so much pain. Had to call emergency number and see my regular doctor the very next day. Same day had to have a root canal on that tooth.
I cannot describe what an awful experience I have had in their office. I will never ever go back there again. When I tired to get my medical records from them they wanted me to pay for it. Just goes to show how low they are. They also called me the same day and hung up. –_​_​_​_​_​–
End of story. I do not recommend you getting your dentistry done there. I trusted them and as a place of healing and helping people they did the least of what’s in their medical conduct. I have been treated inhumanly and do not wish for anyone else to ever be in my position.

I hate hate hate going to the dentist. Granted, I haven’t been the best with brushing and flossing twice a day. At this point in my life, I have felt that the dentist and dental hygenists have become completely apathetic to the comfort of their patient, almost like a «you deserve it for not brushing/​flossing/​coming to the dentist» vibe. This attitude was non-​existent here at Skokie New Age Dental. Everyone was trying to make things as comfortable as possible especially since I had to come in twice to get a deep cleaning on each side of my mouth. There was no blame and everything was explained clearly. They also maximized my local anesthesized mouth by scheduling a filling after so I wouldn’t have to come in an additional time. This place has completely changed my negative view of going to the dentist. I highly recommend this place especially if you dislike going to the dentist. The people here make it a pleasant experience and seem to genuinely care about the patient’s comfort.

Dr. Tsay removed my wisdom tooth yesterday and it was quick and painless! I have minimal pain this morning, and have not taken pain medicine.
This extraction took about 30 minutes to get me good and numb and 30 minutes for removal. I felt nothing, and have zero surprise cuts on my cheeks and gums from slippage.
I HIGHLY recommend this office, and Dr. Tsay. He was very courteous, made lots of eye contact, and was willing to answer any questions. I did not feel rushed, or receive any sales pitches. I will be back to this office for a cleaning and some cavity fillings.

I called and tried to schedule an appt with a dentist — never having been to this office location before. When the receptionist picked up the phone, she asked me if I had dental insurance. I said, yes, I have the Aetna DMO plan. After she heard that, she immediately hung up the phone on me.
Huh? So If I have dental insurance, you won’t even want to talk with me?
Buh bye! You won’t be getting my business EVER.

Just started going here, Dr. Richie Lerias has been very helpful and has really made going to the dentist a breeze.

Dr. Richie Lerias is a top notch dentist. Very informative, helpful and trustworthy. I highly recommend seeing this dentist.