My previous dentists office went dark after covid and never responded to my attempts to communicate so I had to find a new dentist. The Smile Zone was recommended to me by a friend who had been there before and had a good experience.
The first thing I noted was that they had a good web site with all the paper work I needed to fill out available for me to print out and fill in ahead of my visit. I liked this because I hate spending time at intake filling in that stuff.
The second thing I really liked about this dentist was their hours. I was able to make appointments as early as 7AM on weekdays. While they were not open on weekends, my previous dentist wasn't open as early, on weekends, and also Fridays.
Being able to fill out my paper work ahead of time and arrive for my appointment before I had to go to work saved me a lot of time in my day and afforded me the option of not having to take time off from work to see the dentist.
Upon arrival, I was able to appreciate a few things too. First there was location. The Smile Zone has a good sized parking lot off of Sand Creek rd. Near the Hanna Ford plaza but well before Wolf Rd.
Second was that the office had good Covid protocols in place. They stopped you at the door wearing a mask and ensured you were wearing yours. They had you fill out a questionnaire using a pen they then put into a separate container to then sterilize before someone else used it. There was a temperature check and plenty of hand sanitizer available.
The visit went well. My dental hygienist was amicable, efficient and knew her job well. Best of all, she was well versed at reading the room and didn't feel the need to fill the silence with lots of chat. Sometimes when I visit dentists they talk a lot. Which is weird because I literally cannot respond with a mouth opened and being worked on.
This person simply did her job, made some minor commentary and mostly maintained a professional demeanor where she read off important data to someone else who transcribed it.
Then the dentist and owner visited me, advised I had a couple things that needed work that were minor, and they made my second appointment then and there which I was able to make early in the morning to avoid missing a day of work which I cannot stress enough was a big deal I really appreciated in a dentists office. They further recommended a brand of toothpaste (sensodine) for some sensitivity I was worried about that turned out to be much easier to manage this way than through any sort of corrective procedures.
One big deal I really appreciated was when I asked about my overbite. My previous dentist scared the living daylights out of me when they said if I didn't get it fixed, I would lose all my upper front teeth.
This sort of correction would require a lot of money and not be covered. Likely it would involve breaking my jaw and then wiring it shut to heal for weeks of pain and recovery.
This dentist explained that this fear was unwarranted. That in fact the upside to how severe my overbite was was that my lower teeth were not rubbing up against the gun line of my upper teeth. So while corrective surgery would be something I could make a case for, it was not medically necessary. I had been living with it my whole life, able to eat, and not done damage to my gums or teeth with my overbite.
Shifting the concern from one of medical to cosmetic took a lot of stress off of my decision and I really appreciated it.
Overall, The Smile Zone had a more polished, almost corporate feel than the typical, "some dude in a house they turned into a business" feel many dentists I have gone to before have. There are many dentists at the practice, many hygienists, a great deal of efficiency in their bureaucracy and website, and they even offer referral bonuses which my friend will be happy to hear when they visit next time and get a referral credit off whatever they get done.
I recommend the Smile Zone. They do good work and clearly are capable of adapting and even thriving during difficult times where other dentists did not. read more
