I. Love. This. Man.
And who is this man you ask? This is Dr. Clark Thomas, he and Dr. Lauten Johnson have a wonderful dental practice in Hoover, Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry. For almost three years now we have been taking our children to Dr. Thomas for their dental care. Having a fun atmosphere that is kid friendly is just one of the things I like about this office. The pedal cars that the kids can sit in to watch Disney movies in a drive-in style waiting room are a big hit with Yaya and Eden. Colorful hand prints of children decorate the ceilings and walls. Noah’s hand print is up there somewhere. The open area with bench like “chairs” where several children can have their teeth cleaned at the same time is pretty cool. As are the flat screen tv’s on the celling that only play children’s movies. But those things are the fluff and stuff, what is really impressive, is the staff. They are AMAZING! Every hygienist we have encountered is friendly and kind. They understand children and their fears about the dentist. But the best of the bestest is the man above. Dr. Thomas. But I’ll get to the “why” about that later in this post.
Let me set the stage for Thursday, January 15, 2015. It’s 8:50 a.m. and I’m pulling into the parking lot of Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry. I have all three of my children in the car. Noah is awake. Yaya is bubbly. Eden is nervous. Let’s address Eden first. Upon informing her about the upcoming dental appointment, she dropped to her knees, hid her face on the floor and fake screamed and cried. Nice. During the last dental appointment we had to hold her down to clean her teeth and x-rays were out of the question. Sooooo, I began talking to Yaya about getting pictures of her teeth taken and how cool it is. We all pile into the waiting room and the kids all head for the theater area with the kettle cars and begin watching Aladdin. I check us in. Shortly, we all get called back. I’m carrying Eden, who is clinging to me like a small monkey, and I’m steering Yaya around with the top of her head. Noah has long since found his way to x-ray and is done before we even arrive. Placing Yaya on the little stool, I wonder if she is going to have a freak out. When I stepped back to pick Eden up again, Yaya looked apprehensive, however, she complied with the x-rays and did beautifully. Hopping down off the stool she walks to Eden and says, “It didn’t even hurt.” Now I jump up on the stool with Eden in my lap and the ladies just roll with it. Shockingly, Eden complies, she is s a little hesitant to open her mouth but she does and they get shots of all four molars! Success! Off to the cleaning portion of our visit.
We are escorted to a private room for two that is off of the main room. It has a door. You can shut it. Well played friendly hygienist. They must make notes, as I am quite sure we are in this room because we a have a “screamer.” Yaya, of course, lays down perfectly on her bench, picks her animal character spinning brush and flavor of toothpaste then opens her mouth.
Eden, clinging onto me for dear life, allows me to lie her back on the bench but then bursts into tears and hysterics. Here is where the magic begins. Speaking firmly but kindly, the hygienist offers a compromise to Eden, “Eden, if you will promise to stop crying, I will let you sit up for your cleaning.” Hubba-whaaa? You can do that?! Who knew?! “Eden, did you hear me? You can sit up next to Mommy while I clean your teeth if you promise to stop crying.” The child bolts upright and ceases making noise. Now sitting quietly by my side, she picks a pink cheetah spinning brush and sparkle toothpaste. Thankfully, Eden gave us no more trouble, in fact she did beautifully. So much so, that when the hygienist was finished she asked Eden, “Would you mind lying down so I can better see your teeth? I want to make sure I did a good job before Dr. Thomas comes in to check my work.” Surprisingly, Eden complied. Yep, she lied right down and opened her mouth. Of course it helped that she was fairly engaged in watching Aladdin. With both cleanings completed, we waited on Dr. Thomas. By this time, Noah had meandered in playing with a pink bouncy ball. He informs me that if a light green ball comes out of the machine they give you a Target or Wal-Mart gift card. Seriously? Can I go try for a green bouncy ball? While I was speaking with the ladies about future appointments I look over and see this.
In case you missed it…here is a close up…
Do you see the glazed over look in their eyes…totally sucked in to the screen. I’m not quite sure who instigated this sharing of the chair, but I feel like it was Noah because he was tired of squatting down and looking up. Meanwhile Yaya is happy as a clam and we only occasionally had to make sure she didn’t roll of the bench. She’s a bit squirmy. Then Dr. Thomas shows up. He addresses Yaya first. Things are going beautifully, he is talking constantly, directly to Yaya. He praises her for her beautiful teeth and beauty in general and for how proud he was of her being so brave on this visit. Twenty teeth all accounted for, no cavities, but one “sticky” tooth we have to watch, rock on. Next is Eden. As Dr. Thomas starts to roll over to Eden, I quietly say, “Noah, you’re gonna have to hop off.” My comment doesn’t register immediately, so Dr. Thomas has already arrived at Eden’s side. Finally, Noah starts to move to get off the table and Eden realizes what is about to happen and a look of fear ripples across her face. Immediately, Dr. Thomas says, “Noah, stay right where you are. Eden can I count your teeth?” This is what happened next…
And THIS is why I love this man so much!
I mean really, what dentist have you ever seen that does this? He knew how scared Eden was and saw how safe she felt on her brother. The hygienist behind me even remarked, “Now that is something I haven’t seen before.” I grabbed my camera and said aloud, “And THIS is why we come here.” Do you see Noah peaking out through Dr. Thomas’s arms so he can keep watching Aladdin. I think it’s my favorite part. Here’s and action shot if you just didn’t get enough…
Did I mention they do medical missions too…what is NOT to love here. After our cleanings, each girl got to pick out a big bouncy ball of their own and then wanted to make their own hand prints to hang on the wall of the office. They use ceiling tiles to put hand prints on and when a tile is full they hang it like art. It’s pretty cool. Eden picked pink paint, Yaya blue, big shock there. Next ,we went over to a guessing game activity where you guess how many blue rocks are in a Frozen decorated container. If you guess right you win something. We never win. Total time at the dentist for 3 children, one hour. All of you in the Birmingham/Hoover area need to take your kids here. Enough said.
