Kaufman & Kaufman Smile Design Studio, LLC

Great, fast service, accepts UChicago dental insurance, right by UChicago campus, Metra stop, 6 stop. Scheduled a visit and was told that a cleaning wouldn’t happen on the same day. But the check up was quick, and the cleaning was equally fast, so I left after the first visit with clean teeth. Positive experience. I would recommend not waiting to schedule an appointment until the week your insurance needs to be renewed, since they don’t always have many time openings.

I’m currently battling cancer and came in to see Dr. Kaufman. He was very thorough and patient in explaining to me what needed to be done while receiving treatment. Being in the dental field I very hesitant to be seen at an office where I am new but all the staff was so friendly that it felt like I had been a patient there already! He’s offered to all the necessary work for me at no cost which I am truly grateful for. I’m set to return for a few more appointments and am very excited to work him. The whole office is very clean and uniform and I will post more updates the next times I visit!

I came in for a cleaning. The hygienist felt around on my neck for a bit, did a few gum readings and asked when I could come back for a cleaning. When I reiterated that I was in fact in for a cleaning, she informed me that this was just an exam and there wasn’t even someone in that day that could do cleanings. What a sham to try to charge for two separate appointments. Since my experience, I have heard of many other people who felt that this office misled them on a treatment or tried to turn one appointment in to many. I’m frustrated that I wasted my vacation time coming in and used up my insurance-​paid visit for the year. I would definitely not recommend coming here.

As a student without dental insurance I was terrified when I started having symptoms of infection where my wisdom teeth had been removed 8 months ago. However, Kaufman & Kaufman did an extremely wonderful job of solving my dental issue while also charging me way less than I expected for the procedure. They also were very accommodating of my uninsured status, as they told me about a student discount which knocked off ¹⁄₃ of my cost and informed me of the price of the various procedures. There staff is also very professional and nice, and all of their equipment is technologically up to date. I would highly recommend this dentist to anyone else in Hyde Park, especially for those who are uninsured and nervous about cost.

I’ve had plenty of bad experiences with dentists — from one trying to sell me on unnecessary procedures, to pain and discomfort, even one who pursued treatment without my consent (while working in my mouth!). Dr. Louis Kaufman is a refreshing change — he and his staff made me comfortable, and he is so clearly above and beyond in terms of experience/​knowledge/​ability, that one can’t help but feel at ease knowing that he will do the right thing for your smile.
He came highly recommended by a friend, and I’m so glad he was there when I needed him in a pinch during a trip! If I lived in Chicago, I would see him as my regular dentist for sure.

Oh lord. I have student insurance and I went in for a checkup and teeth cleaning. Without even ASKING me, they quietly ushered me in for the cone beam CT– I thought it was basic protocol, covered by my insurance. It was actually not. The receptionist tells my slyly that the cone beam CT I just got (that I did NOT REQUEST) «might not be covered, I don’t know, you’re gonna just have to wait until you get the bill.» What is that? Then they offer me teeth cleaning with fluoride treatment. Again I thought it was covered by insurance because I explicitly asked them and they said it was. Apparently the fluoride treatment is extra, which they did not mention. So I get a bill for over $ 200. I am a student and have no income. I am personally really upset by this hush-​hush cheapskate behavior and I feel like I was taken advantage of. I have not yet called the office to talk about it, but I’m sure they’re gonna throw their hands in the air and say that there’s nothing they can do, don’t point fingers, what’s done is done, etc. I can’t believe what they did to me. And treatment-​wise? The guy just tells me that I need a root canal and gives me the name of an orthodontist who is not within my insurance network and who I cannot afford. Thanks. I feel miserable and cheated. I’ll call them but fat chance that I can get any kind of negotiation.
UPDATE IN RESPONSE TO KAUFMAN: I still had to pay near $ 200. I had to talk on the phone for a while with someone at the office a few times to get them to take a little bit (LITTLE BIT) of the fees off. $ 200 for basically nothing. I have no respect for this place. At all.

I first became a patient of Dr. Kaufman the elder in 1969. According to the paper records from the actual file cabinet, I was anxious and threw up. Typical for a 9 year old experiencing the fluoride treatments of the time. Dr. Kaufman the younger is my age, and he inherited his father’s integrity, professionalism, and confidence, but it’s in a newer, better trained package, as time does march forward. I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking for the same sort of customer service in a medical professional as I am in a restaurant or clothing retail joint. I can’t presume to know what’s best for me, but I can expect to have advice and options explained to me at a level that allows me to make informed decisions without having my intelligence insulted. That’s what I’ve found here, and even though I now live in another state, I return for dental work here, I trust the team, we’re talking about close to five decades of trust which has built to up to a very healthy level of mutual respect. Dr. Louis Kaufman obviously keeps up with advances in equipment, techniques and research, he’s now adept at implants which is both frightening and necessary when you get to my age. Sometimes his self-​confidence borders on arrogance, but that’s what I want in a person wielding a laser or drill millimeters away from one of my cranial nerves, I want someone who knows he knows what he’s doing. His partner, Dr. Best, seems pretty good too, and she has a confidence inspiring last name to boot.
Almost all American dentists are properly trained, dentistry has high standards, the big differences are, like physicians, in the way they hire and maintain their support staffs. The oral hygienists here are excellent, skillful and personable (the latter is as important as the former as you are going to endure a one sided conversation though much of the procedure), reception and billing are generally competent. I don’t like the way many younger people talk down to people my age assuming all 50 somethings already have dementia, there’s less of that here than at other clinics I’ve been subjected to lately.

I had a tooth pulled her yesterday and it’s hard to believe that it could go any better. I was dreading it but the calm professionalism of the staff and the skill of the dentist made the experience far better than I expected. Dr. Louis Kaufman talked me through everything he was doing. He made sure I was fully numb before proceeding. He extracted the tooth and I didn’t even feel it. He cleaned out the infected area very thoroughly and put on a graft. Angel, his assistant, was exceptional. She explained everything, including my follow up instructions, very thoroughly. There were also little extras that went a long way. I was given the opportunity to take a naturally calming supplement which did calm me. I was given an eye mask and headphones with classical music. When I reported that I was chilly I was given a first blanket and then a second blanket when I asked for another. I felt that they were fully in charge, knew exactly what they were doing and were very concerned about my comfort. Later when I called the after hours help line with a question about my medication, Dr. Kaufman himself answered and settled my question very congenially. The entire experience was high caliber.

My family and I see Dr. Erin Best in the Kaufman and Associates office. I guess she is an «Associate» though her name is separate on the door. Whatever the professional relationship is between her and the Kaufmans, she is AMAZING.
My wife and I both see her as well as my two kids (7 and 4). We highly recommend Dr. Best to all of our friends and neighbors, and we sincerely hope that she continues to be in the Hyde Park area for years and years. That said, if she were to move elsewhere in the Chicagoland area we will follow her. Very good dentist for the entire family.

louis kaufman:
lack of personal attention — it’s how you’d feel on an assembly line. the doctor was clearly in a rush and overworked. i also had a feeling they are trying to push particular cosmetic products /​procedures onto the patients. the chair (!) malfunctioned on me, so i had to be moved to a different one…
at the same time, the doctor is professional and courteous, my fillings were done very well. i hesitated to go back for more procedures however.

Drs. Richard and Louis Kaufman have always taken exceptional care of my family. They provide the kind of personalized care that I no longer expect from any provider. For example, when my young 7-​year-​old fell from playground equipment onto his mature front teeth, Dr. Richard and his staff immediately got us an emergency appointment and provided TLC for my son and me. It was a pittance for the visit too. Additionally, when my beau was told he needed THREE root canals @$ 2400 each from a high-​end Oak Park dentist, my recommendation that he get a second opinion from Drs. Kaufman yielded a quite different diagnosis: three old cavities that needed new fillings. Integrity like this is obviously in short supply, and I’m so glad to know practitioners like the Kaufmans are still in practice.