Doctor Smith has been my beau's family dentist since childhood, the dentist who oversaw removal of wisdom teeth and regular cleanings among much trickier procedures. My beau's bright, solid smile owes much to Doctor Smith and his hygienists for performing all the routine work that comes through childhood to adulthood.
The Woodward Avenue office is in the large medical complex on the southbound side of the street, complete with ample parking that never fills up unless it's Dream Cruise or Arts, Beats, and Eats. His office is right inside the front door, and the waiting room is a pleasantly decorated area complete with more magazines than the Huntington Woods public library. None of the cluttered areas or bland, sterile white walls here. I spent Labour Day Sunday curled up in a chair with my Kindle during an emergency appointment.
The practice itself doesn't have lots of extra frills like digital screens on the wall and swishy frosted glass. That's a-okay by my book because the dentist has all the modern tools and equipment needed to do good work. It's a bright space nonetheless, and I would feel comfortable having dental work done in the chair. Nothing worse than a creepy yellowing room that looks like a vacuum hasn't gone through in two decades, and fortunately nothing of the sort is to be found here.
Doctor Smith, however, earns four stars for being a genuinely caring and friendly man. He's known my boyfriend's family for decades and followed up after the now adult kids at an unplanned visit on the weekend. My beau suffered excruciating tooth pain and gum swelling on a Friday night that Anbesol and ibuprofin weren't cutting. We looked high and low for any 24/7 dental care or emergency drop-in clinics to no avail; short of emergency we seemed out of luck. Doctor Smith was celebrating his son's wedding on Saturday night, and the earliest anywhere had an appointment was Tuesday. Dental pain for three days? Yeah, no.
A call on a Sunday morning got us in within 30 minutes. The soul of kindness itself, Doctor Smith came in shorts, got smocked up, and soon sorted out the cause of misery: a nasty gum infection. Two prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics later, and one very appreciated shot of novocaine, and all was good as gold. Throughout, I was impressed by his calm and personable demeanor as he explained what was going on, chatted, and didn't try to ask too many questions to a patient with his mouth cranked open. I really liked the seatside manner of this dentist, and I highly recommend him. Not only did he whip right over, he's had an established relationship with many patients in his practice for years and if they're satisfied customers, that says a lot. read more
