"Kill them with love." That’s the philosophy of Dr. Ivan E. Vega of Vega Smile Studio in Boca Raton, on how he treats his dental patients. "Nobody likes to go to the dentist," he said. "I don’t know a single person who says, ‘Oh yes, I have a dental appointment!’ But it’s one of those things you have to do, and we try to make it as comfortable as possible. We take our time with each patient, nothing is rushed. The atmosphere in the office is not of a mill or a factory, it’s kind of like a little family."

 

And it must be true, because who else but a family would bake fresh chocolate chip cookies for you each morning? That’s one of amenities offered by Vega Smile to make patients feel more comfortable. "We bake cookies every morning so the office doesn’t smell like a dental office; it smells more like a bakery. We try to keep it fun."

 

Dr. Vega studied dentistry in Guadalajara for five years, then came back to the United States to go to NYU. In between he worked as an assistant in Fort Lauderdale, and he said he got the idea from that dentist. "He would do that every morning, and every time I walked in there it smelled so good. When you go to a hospital or a dental office, there’s that ‘smell,’ and there are little triggers that make us fearful – you immediately think of something like the drilling of a tooth. I just try to counter that."

 

And then there’s the aquarium. "Yes, we have a nice big aquarium, again, trying to make it a peaceful environment. We have so much water here in Florida, and every time I go to the beach I’m thinking, ‘OK, this is so relaxing, how can I get this peaceful feeling to my office.’ And this is the closest thing I could come up with; we just want to try to imitate that."

 

But more important than cookies and fish, Dr. Vega offers truly worthy incentives like a free exam and X-rays for first-time patients. "One of the reasons why it ‘hurts’ to go to the dentist is that it’s so expensive. Most people have to dish out $250 or $300 to have an exam and X-rays, but we don’t charge our new patients. That way we can at least give them all of the information they need without them having to pay. That’s something I started not long ago, because so many people, friends, would say ‘Ivan, I would love to go see you, but I don’t have insurance and I can’t afford an exam.’ So I just made it easier so they don’t have any excuses.

 

"When you haven’t gone to the dentist or the doctor for a long time, you’re afraid of what you are going to need. But it’s almost worse not to know. It’s better just to know, and if you don’t have to pay for it, that kills two birds with one stone."

 

Dr. Vega started his dental practice about four years ago when he bought an existing practice. He said the previous dentist had it for about 10 years, but, as is sometimes the case when a professional is planning to retire, the business wasn’t kept up-to-date with the latest technology. "There are so many new things coming into the field, like in this line where people don’t want to wear (braces) any more, but they want to straighten their teeth to try to prevent periodontal disease, which we know has been linked to heart disease and diabetes and all types of diseases. So what I wanted to do was try to bring in all the new technology to take an existing practice that was successful and respectable, and take it to the next level in the sense of the new ways of treatment."

 

While Dr. Vega says he handles just about all types of general dentistry – including implants, reconstructive work, and root canals – he especially likes cosmetic dentistry. "I love changing somebody’s smile who doesn’t feel good about smiling. Many people who walk in put their hand at their mouth when they smile because they’re ashamed of their teeth. And then when they leave – to have them hug you, I love doing that."

 

At Vega Smile Studio, you can walk in for chocolate chip cookies and walk out with a new smile.