Glenn Ulffers, DDS

I have heard from many patients that Dr. Ulffers is telling them that I retired. The truth is Dr. Ulffers fired me. On October 20^th at the end of the day he told me I «was fooling with his retirement» by telling patients to check with their insurance to see if the the dentist who Dr. Ulffers was referring patients to was in network for them. He was in negotiations with this dentist to buy the practice although he requested that his staff keep this a secret. We had always been upfront with our patients about insurance matters which is how it should be done in all healthcare facilities. We had so many wonderful patients — all of who I will miss greatly — who will find it a shock that the practice has been sold as Dr. Ulffers didn’t feel the need to advise them by letter of this change and how they could access their records should they choose to. It’s unfortunate and very sad that after all these years it has come to this.

I received very poor care from Dr. Ulffers for a routine cavity filling. I had to have the dental work he performed fixed by another dentist. My new dentist let me know that the filling Dr. Ulffers prepared was by no stretch of the imagination acceptable dental work. I caution anyone from considering this dentist.

I can’t say enough about what a great dental office this is. From the moment I walked in I noticed how modern and nice the reception area is. I was immediately greeted by Art, the office manager, who was really friendly and put me at ease. I love that Dr. Ulffers is to the point and gives you realistic options for treatment. None of those crazy treatment plans that cost more than my first car. And no unnecessary treatment. Art thoroughly helps me understand my insurance benefits, what I can expect to pay out of pocket and helps me find an appointment that works for me. They also always run on time which is fabulous because who really wants to wait wait around for an appointment they came to on time for. I’ve never been more comfortable and confident in a dental office.

I’ve had quite a bit of work done here with fantastic results. Great staff, thorough and friendly doctor. While sometimes follow appointments are scheduled a little farther out that I would ideally like, I’ve never waited more than 2 minutes between door and the chair after arriving. I’d much rather wait for an appointment than wait AT an appointment. My previous dentist was quicker to fit me into a schedule, but I’d wait at the office for over an hour before being seen. And this was before iPhones, so I was bored!

Dr. Ulffers not only yelled at me during the visit, his hands shook as he maneuvered sharp instruments in my mouth. I’m not sure if this was due to a medical condition, but he wasn’t just having a bad day — my colleague who also sees Dr. Ulffers noticed the same thing. Needless to say, I’m in the market for a new dentist.

My husband and I both got to Dr. Ulffers and we really like it. The staff is so nice. The cleanings are good. Pat the hygienist really takes her time and afterwards my teeth look and feel great. It’s also soooo incredibly fast. I have never waited in the reception area.
Other offices I have been to were always giving me fillings. I wonder how many fillings I have had that may have been unneccesary. Dr. Ulffers never tries to sell you anything and does not do x-​rays unless they are needed.
I feel welcome when I come in the front door, almost like visiting a friends house.
Call Art the front desk manager and make an appointment. You will definitely enjoy the nice people and no-​nonsense way of business.

I too had to fire Dr. Ulffers after 8 years and two referrals of friends. I saw him regularly, every six months and was told I had fantastic teeth and gums. I usually spent the majority of my visit with the hygienist who is a lovely person. I will miss her. Dr. Ulferrs would spend a maximum of 5 minutes looking at my teeth and would tell me everything was fine. I put up with his indifference and lack of warmth because I appreciated the location of his office and his hygienist.
At my last appointment, Dr. Ulferrs was on vacation and I only saw the hygienist. Unfortunately, she made a mistake that she was unable to fix. This mistake caused me a significant out of pocket expense and Dr. Ulffers was unwilling to reimburse me. Somehow her mistake was not the fault of his practice. He seemed indifferent that I would have to find a new dentist. He did offer to refer me to someone else. When I said I was surprised he would treat a customer this way, he replied that he was «my doctor» not a sales clerk at Macy’s.
Over time, his front desk staff became very rude. More recently, the phone is never answered.
I have a new dentist who spent an hour with me and I found out that my teeth weren’t fantastic, I was in early stages of developing cavities if I didn’t change some routines. There are more thorough doctors, I would not waste your money or insurance on this practice.

Glenn Ulffers made me cry. Seriously, here’s why: I went to see him about getting a root canal. He couldn’t do it, but instead told me I had gum disease after stabbing my gums repeatedly for nearly a half hour. I went to his recommended specialist to do the root canal and asked her for anyone else to do the crown work. She totally understood why I didn’t want to go back to Dr. Ulffers. I found out later from another dentist I only needed a gum cleaning for $ 100 which is way less than Dr. Ulffers was gonna charge to cure my supposed gum disease. I left his office with soar gums, thinking I had gum disease that would cost a fortune to remedy, and no solution for my root canal. He’s very rough and I’d get a second opinion especially if he makes you cry too!

My experience has been very positive. Pat, the hygienist, is very personable and engaged in her job. Dr Ulffers himself is professional, but friendly, and takes the time to answer your questions. He does not seem to push unnecessary services to me, which I appreciate.
You will need to pre-​plan far in advance for your cleanings, but it’s not difficult to book for the next time as you leave with your brighter smile and travel brush/​paste/​floss kit.

Edited: My review used to say: One of the very few dentists that accepts my bad dental insurance. Their prices are a bit expensive and it seems to take an exceptionally long time to get an appointment, but the hygienist and receptionist are incredibly nice people. I will be going back, unfortunately, to get a filling.
Now I’ve had to re-​evaluate this place and there’s a big drop. Why? Apparently they don’t want my money. I got a call the day before a big appointment, where I was about to spend major out of pocket cash (crap dental insurance, mentioned above) for 2 fillings and a potential root canal. They canceled my appointment because the Dr. was sick. Ok, I’m understanding about this, but the guy on the phone said, «We’ll call you back in a couple of weeks to reschedule.» Hmm. Ok, if the Dr. is incredibly sick, weeks are ok, but I figured he meant days anyways, so I go with it. 10 days later I call back to make an appointment, as they haven’t called me, and I leave a message, but my call isn’t returned. Like I said, I was originally very happy coming here, but I figured that this Dr. is either really sick or dead (I hope not). By this time, I have quit my job and my dental insurance will be ending before I can get in for another appointment, which frankly, sucks. My new dental insurance (which is better) doesn’t kick in until mid-​September, unfortunately, so hopefully my jaw won’t fall off.
To sum things up, I was happy during my initial cleaning. What I don’t get is — When you’re guaranteed to make a couple grand off of me over the next few years, I just don’t understand why you’d have poor customer service. It just doesn’t make business sense.

I kind of went back and forth between three and fours stars, but decided on four to be nice… The very best thing about Dr. Ulffers is his hygenist. She is so nice and knows her stuff. She’s a little rough on cleanings (and I have never had a cavity, so if I think it’s rough, it’s probably really bad for people who get more intense cleanings.)
I started seeing Dr. Ulffers when I had a dental emergency (broken tooth) but didn’t have a dentist in the city. He got me in and I have been a patient ever since.
His front desk guy is super nice, but I have had more than one mix up with appointments, which is unlike me. So watch out for that — double check your dates.
The office is very clean and conveniently located. The hours also work out well for me.

I have no idea what kind of crazy hours they keep here, but I have called three times to make an appointment and nobody is ever there! I tried calling last Friday and they were closed for the Columbus Day weekend (??). Then I tried calling on Wednesday afternoon and nobody answered. And now I called at 3:00 on Friday and they’re closed until next Monday.
It shouldn’t be this difficult. I’m done trying.

Dr. Ulffers and his staff are friendly, professional and never disappoint. I temporarily sought out another dentist because Dr. Ulffers didn’t have appointments after 6 for several months, and I’d just started a new job and didn’t have that kind of flexibility. When the new dentist told me I needed to have four fillings replaced, I was suspicious, so I headed back to Dr. Ulffers. He said that the situation was not quite so urgent. I knew I’d get an honest assessment of the situation from him. He’s not a salesman; he’s a dentist.

Dr Glenn is fantastic. My husband and daughter also see him. We’ve been coming here for 5 years or so. His assistants are great & friendly and so is the receptionist! We don’t have dental insurance and he doesn’t suggest services that are not needed. Location is great so are his hours of operation. Prices are right along with other dentist in Chicago.

The staff here is friendly and nice, and Dr. Ulffers is also very friendly and nice. However, that doesn’t mean that he does great dental work. I went to him and had two fillings replaced. It took about an hour and a half. It was so uncomfortable to sit there — it has never taken that long to do that type of dental work at any other dentist that I have gone to. To make it worse, he kept chaffing the side of my mouth with his glove — it scabbed over and I couldn’t open my mouth fully for a whole week! That is the last time that I went there.

Please, do not go to this man.
I finally fired Dr. Ulffers as my dentist two weeks ago. It’s been a long time coming: the first thing he ever said to me (when my previous dentist failed to submit my x-​rays) was «you have terrible teeth, you need to get those x-​rays to me NOW». Um, thanks, nice to meet you too. I realize I have bad teeth-​this is why I visit a dentist frequently.
Subsequently, I’ve had several run-​ins with him. On one occasion, when I asked if there was a way to delay on any aspect of an over $ 3000 treatment, he said snidely «YOU’RE the one with such bad teeth». I threatened to leave that day, even though I was already numbed up. I should have.
The last straw was that two weeks ago, while trying to take an impression of my teeth (that have braces), he neglected to tell me 1) that this could really hurt to try to pry off the impression, 2) that brackets could be ripped off, 3) that there was a possibility that he wouldn’t be able to get the tray with the impression material off at all. His only comment ahead of time was «the hardest part is getting the tray off with the brackets on the teeth». This was the understatement of the year. He couldn’t get the tray or the very claustrophobic-​causing material out and seemed angry with me for crying out when it REALLY hurt as he wrenched to get it out. He told me I’d have to bear it… it was only going to get worse (!). Finally, he decided to cut the tray out. It took about 20 minutes, and all the while I had a gag-​inducing mouthful of ever-​hardening material and shards of the material spraying everywhere, including my eyes (to be fair, they did give me safety glasses after they realized this, but it was pretty unpleasant at first).
When I became more than a little freaked out by all of this halfway through, he showed very little compassion to a patient who was really distressed and was more concerned with the tone in which I spoke to him (while distressed). He’s taken this attitude with me once before, as well – the «don’t speak to me that way» attitude that is not relevant to the discussion at hand. That was when I decided I’ve had enough defensiveness, bad attitude and nasty comments from him. I am sure that there must be a dentist with a more compassionate «bedside» manner and a more professional attitude out there. I don’t need to pay thousands of dollars for abuse and poor care.
His hygenist is great; I will miss her. He has a nice receptionist, a great location, and a trendy office. But buyer beware: he can be catty, nasty, and generally childish. Wholly not recommended.

Great dentist. I have been going to Dr. Ulffers for years. Even when I moved out of the city for a while, I still made the trek to see him. Once you find a good dentist, you never change. Even when given the option of free dental care through the military, I still choose to go to him.

I’ve been going to Dr. Ulffers for the past five years. I don’t go every six months because I don’t have dental insurance. The cost for cleanings, fillings, seems expensive but I’m comparing that to what I used to pay in Ohio which of course is going to be less. I like his dental assistants and appreciate his basic dental care. He does not try to push unnecessary treatments on you and understands not having dental insurance (i.e. he told me that I don’t need x-​rays every year, etc.). The location is fairly easy to get to (just north of the Southport stop) and it always makes me laugh because it’s next to two ice cream shops.