Monday, February 28, 2011

Open up and say, "aaaahhhhhh"

Did you like going to the dentist as a kid? I sure did. It was one of the only boring, adult-like places where you got a toy! My brother and I loved getting to pick a toy from the box after we were done with our appointments. It was even better than getting a sucker at the doctor's office. (b/c if we were at the doctor's office, it was because we felt like crap.....)

My girls like the dentist. Mostly. Now, at least. Alpha has always been a dental trooper! Never had a single problem or complaint. Beta, well... Let's just say that I am FINALLY able to take her to the dentist and not have to pray beforehand. (or apologize to the office staff afterwards.....Pediatric Dentistry is not for the faint of heart. )

So I took the girls for their regular cleaning a couple of weeks ago. Our dentist has moved to a new building. They, in fact, BUILT a new building. And you wouldn't believe what it looked like if I told you. So, I'm going to show you. It's almost worth a trip up here JUST to see our dentists' office.

(Note to grammar conscious readers: This practice has 4 dentists. All in this one office. That's why I wrote "dentists' office" instead of "dentist's office" or "dentists' offices".)

Here is the outside wall facing the street:

From there, you enter.....The Jungle!!!!
Alpha loved the spherical chairs.

The snake holds video game consoles and controllers.
Their previous office had an ocean and fish theme. (Complete with jumbo shark holding a toothbrush and toothpaste.) So they had to bring the fish over. Look what they did:
That's a fish tank surrounded by a (fake) waterfall with a monkey and elephant on top of it!

You can even watch a movie while you wait.
(Seriously! Is this not the coolest place????)

Once you are called back for your appointment, if you can bear to tear yourself away from all the fun, here is what you have to look forward to:

First stop - X-rays

And the area where the dentists scrub up:

Next step - long hallway to exam rooms.

Movie complete with headphones shown on a monitor in the ceiling.

And sunglasses so the light doesn't shine in your eyes.
And they STILL get to pick a toy out at the end of the appointment!

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Wow--dentist or children's museum? Who can tell?

I need to take Anna soon. We have a pediatric dental clinic here in Conway; I think it's decorated all fun and kid-friendly like that, although probably not to that extent!

Wendy Thibault Kane said...

I started taking my girls when they turned 3. As I mentioned in the post, Alpha never had a problem with it, but Beta screamed bloody murder the first 2 years. Thankfully she's better now. And even with all the fun stuff, I still heard a few kids crying while we were there. :)

Daniel Todman said...

Heheh, once the elephant is visible you get that feeling that it's going to be a fun day at the dentist office. It's nice to see places with this kind of construction; the dentist can be a scary experience for kids, and a place like this shows that there's nothing to be afraid of. Overall, it seems like a great place where you won't get stressed and the kids could have fun while their teeth are being cleaned.

Soaring High said...

Don't you love it? I feel so blessed. A is going to have to have A LOT of dental work an possibly T as well. They both have the same mouth. Major jaw expansion or a whole lot of tooth pulling to be able to fit their own teeth in their mouth poor kids! I'm glad it's a place they really like going now before the painful stuff starts.