On behalf of Dr. Felicia Chu and our entire Celebrating Smiles dental team, we welcome you to our office. We are very excited for you to experience our newly designed green dental office! Our office was designed, constructed and operated following the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors. We have earned the gold award in LEED certification!
At Celebrating Smiles, we offer our patients the most current dental treatment technology in a friendly, comfortable and healthy environment. Our goal is to provide you with dental care that will enhance the quality of your life. We provide a variety of preventive and restorative dental services designed to extend the life of your teeth and overall dental health contributing to your overall physical health, outer appearance and inner confidence.
The doctors and staff at Celebrating Smiles are committed to helping patients improve their dental health which will also improve their overall health. Our goal is to provide care in the most gentle and caring manner, so patients will feel confident with their smile for the rest of their lives.
Our office design reflects our mission. The state of the art facility is Gold LEED certified to promote a healthy environment for patients and staff while also being kind to the environment. The office design and latest technology allows the staff to deliver patient care in the most efficient and safe manner. Celebrating Smiles welcomes all patients! Our team looks forward to improving your oral health and smile!
Erann was welcomed to the Celebrating Smiles team as a dental hygienist in June 2017. She brings over fifteen years of dental experience with her. She started her career as a certified dental assistant and fell in love with the field of dentistry. In 2003, she graduated from Rock Valley College with an Associates Degree in Applied Science and a degree in Dental Hygiene. While working for over eight years as a hygienist, Erann decided to go back to school and attended Northern Illinois University. She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelors Degree in Public Health. Eranns friendly, caring and gentle touch along with many years of experience will give you a very comfortable and enjoyable visit at our office. In her spare time, Erann enjoys the outdoors, hiking, traveling and spending time with her family.
Anna joined our team in June 2015. She is one of our full time, dual-trained employees who works as a receptionist and chairside dental assistant. Anna can also speak Spanish fluently. She brings over 15 years of experience to our Celebrating Smiles team. Anna is certified in coronal polishing and pit fissure sealants. She is also certified in OSHA and General Practitioner Orthodontics. She enjoys making people smile and making our patients comfortable at their dental visits. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family, watching movies, cooking, reading and watching sports.
Alejandra is grateful for the opportunity to join the Celebrating Smile's team as a receptionist. She is excited to learn and expand her knowledge of the dental field. She looks forward to making long lasting friendships with her co-workers and patients. Alejandra speaks Spanish fluently and will be able to welcome you with a hello or hola when you enter the office! Activities she enjoys outside the office are spending time with her baby boy and watching movies with the family.
Esmeralda is one of our newest team members and is training to be a dental assistant. Esmeralda is fluent in Spanish. She is excited to start her dental career and reach her potential. Outside the office she enjoys exploring makeup ideas and giving friends makeovers. When she is not getting glamorous she likes to work out and enjoy the outdoors.
Patty is a bilingual dental assistant who has been in the dental field since 2012. She plans on expanding her dental career by becoming a dental hygienist. Patty has been very busy with work, school, and her two young children. When Patty has free time she enjoys reading and shopping. A recent addition to her family, is their new dog named Kiko.
Stephany is a bilingual cross-trained team member since 2020. Cross-trained means you may see Stephany working as a chair-side dental assistant or at the front desk as a receptionist. She enjoys developing relationships with the patients and helping them improve their smiles. In her free time Stephany enjoys working out, going to the movies, and traveling with her family.
Dr. Felicia Chu received her D.D.S. degree from the University of Iowa in 1993, after completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Upon graduation, she completed a general practice residency program at the Dental Clinic of Hines VA Hospital in Hines, IL. This residency enabled her to gain valuable experience working with medically compromised patients, as well as develop the skills necessary to treat a variety of complex cases.
Following her residency, she began practicing family dentistry in Elgin. She finds it extremely rewarding to be able to fill the dental needs of the entire family by performing a wide range of dental procedures including sealants, tooth-colored fillings, crowns and bridges, veneers, partials, and dentures, restoring dental implants, extractions, and root canal therapy. She prides herself in delivering all dental treatment in the most gentle and caring manner. She also finds helping others extremely rewarding. She has volunteered her time to these organizations: Greater Elgin Dental Clinic, the Elgin Junior Service Board, The United Way, YWCA, Girl Scouts, Elgin Community Dental Assisting Program, the Fox Valley River Dental Society, the Dental Department of Sherman Hospital, and TriCity Health Partnership inSt. Charles.
Since 2007, she has been in charge of a program called Dentist with a Heart where local dental offices provide free dental care for 1 day in February to those who otherwise could not afford these services. She strongly believes in the importance of continuing education because it keeps her current with the latest advancements in dentistry. She has received her Academy of General Dentistry Fellowship Award.
The Fellowship Award is based upon the completion of 500 hours of continuing education and the successful completion of a written exam. She has been a member of the following organizations: Women in Management, YWCA Board of Elgin, American Dental Association, Illinois State Dental Society, Chicago Dental Society, Fox Valley River Dental Society, Academy of General Dentistry, Chicago Academy of Interdisciplinary Dentofacial Therapy Study Club, Elgin Dental Study Club and the Dental Department of Advocate Sherman Hospital. She has been the past president of the Dental Department of Sherman Hospital, Elgin Dental Study Club, and the Fox Valley River Dental Society. For fun, Dr. Chu likes to play golf, tennis, and run. She has run 9 marathons and has hit a hole-in-one on the golf course!
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Dr. Cathy Nguyen was born and raised in the western suburbs of Chicago. After graduating high school locally, Dr. Cathy continued her education at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she was a pre-dental scholar and majored in biomedical sciences. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelors degree from the College of Health Sciences and ultimately graduated with honors, cum laude, as a Doctor of Dental Surgery from Marquette Universitys School of Dentistry. Upon graduation, Dr. Cathy received an award from the Quintessence Publishing Company for outstanding clinical achievement in restorative dentistry. She also received an award from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry for outstanding achievement academically and clinically in implant dentistry.
Dr. Cathy joined the Celebrating Smiles team in 2011. She is currently a member of the American Dental Association, the Illinois State Dental Society, and the Fox River Valley Dental Society. She is an active member of the Elgin Dental Society of which she was the president during the 2013-2014, the 2014-2015 and the 2015-2016 seasons. Additionally, she stays at the forefront of dentistry with regular continuing education courses. She has volunteered for Dentist With A Heart, Head Start, Give Kids A Smile and the Wisconsin Mission Of Mercy.
Dr. Cathy enjoys and is proficient in all facets of general dentistry. Along with her clinical skills, Dr. Cathy is an effective communicator and can speak Vietnamese. She can calm an anxious child or ease a fearful patient because above all, she cherishes the relationships formed with each patient while working with them to achieve healthy and beautiful smiles.
During her free time, Dr. Cathy enjoys baking and gardening. She is also interested in fitness and loves NFL football. She enjoys watching all of the NFL teams, but of course, the Chicago Bears are her favorite. Most of all, Dr. Cathy enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She lives with her husband Peter, daughters Helen and Hannah, and cat Apollo in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Dr. Ambreen Jafri received her Doctorate of Dental Surgery Degree from New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry in 2005. To keep abreast of cutting edge technology, shes a member of the Academy of General Dentistry, the American Dental Association and the Illinois Dental Association. Dr. Jafri is committed to the highest quality dental care. She applies a caring, detailed-oriented approach to each patients case, taking the time to solve their dental issues effectively and thoughtfully provides treatment options that are specifically designed around each client's needs.
She always encourages her patients to be involved with their course of treatment in order to achieve the best result possible. Dr. Jafri says, Dentistry offers me the opportunity to combine my artistic skills with science and the joy of healing to bring happiness to others. My greatest pleasure is when a new patient enters feeling nervous or anxious and leaves feeling happy, relaxed, and free of pain! She and her team deliver the most skilled dental care possible in an atmosphere of satisfaction and well-being. Her patient-centered approach to dentistry emphasizes comfort without compromise so that each visit is a great dental experience. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her husband and three children. They enjoy playing squash (racquetball) and going on family bike rides.
If you have never had a cavity, congratulations! If you have had one, you are not alone. About 78% of us have had at least one cavity by the time we reach age 17, according to a 2000 report by the U.S. Surgeon General. Fortunately there's a time-tested treatment for cavities: the dental filling.
Fillings do just what the name implies seal a small hole in your tooth, i.e., a cavity, caused by decay. This prevents the decay (a bacteria-induced infection) from spreading further into your tooth and, if untreated, continue on to the sensitive inner pulp (nerve) tissue located in the root canal. Should that happen, you would need root canal treatment.
There are a variety of materials used to fill teeth these days, but the process of filling a tooth is similar regardless. The first step is a clinical exam of the tooth with x-rays, to determine the extent of the decay. Then the decayed area of the tooth is removed, usually with a handheld instrument such as a dental drill. Of course, your tooth will be anesthetized first, so you won't feel any discomfort. If you normally feel nervous about receiving numbing injections, it's possible that taking an anti-anxiety medication or using nitrous oxide can help you feel more relaxed. After removing the decay, the remaining tooth structure is roughened or etched with a mildly acidic solution; then translucent cement is applied to bond the tooth and the filling material together.
Amalgam The classic silver filling in use for more than a century, dental amalgam is actually an alloy made up of mercury, silver, tin, and copper. The mercury combines with the other metals in the amalgam to make it stable and safe. These fillings are strong and inexpensive, but also quite noticeable. They also require relatively more tooth preparation (drilling) than other types.
Cast Gold Among the most expensive restorative dental materials, cast gold combines gold with other metals for a very strong, long-lasting filling. It is also highly noticeable, which can be considered a plus or minus.
Composite A popular choice for those who don't want their fillings to show, composite is a mixture of plastic and glass, which actually bonds to the rest of the tooth. Composites are more expensive than amalgam fillings, and the newer materials can hold up almost as long. Less drilling of the tooth is necessary when placing composite as compared to amalgam.
Porcelain These high-tech dental ceramics are strong, lifelike, and don't stain as composites can. They are sometimes more expensive than composites because they may require the use of a dental laboratory or specialized computer-generated technology. While considered the most aesthetic filling, they can also, because of their relatively high glass content, be brittle.
Glass Ionomer Made of acrylic and glass powders, these inexpensive, translucent fillings have the advantages of blending in pretty well with natural tooth color and releasing small amounts of fluoride to help prevent decay. They generally don't last as long as other restorative materials.
The numbness caused by your local anesthesia should wear off within a couple of hours. Until then, it's best to avoid drinking hot or cold liquids, and eating on the side of your mouth with the new filling. Some sensitivity to hot and cold is normal in the first couple of weeks after getting a tooth filled. If it persists beyond that, or you have any actual pain when biting, it could signal that an adjustment to your filling needs to be made. Continue to brush and floss as normal every day, and visit the dental office at least twice per year for your regular checkups and cleanings. And remember, tooth decay is a very preventable disease; with good oral hygiene and professional care, you can make your most recent cavity your last!
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