Dentist’s office is more like ‘Fun Zone’

When children step into a Kiddsmiles Pediatric Dentistry office, they may temporarily forget that they are visiting the dentist. The multicolored game room, filled with televisions, Xbox and Playstation consoles, and various other games and toys, looks more like a Fun Zone room than a waiting room.

That is the vision that Dr. Michele Savel, 37, the owner of Kiddsmiles, had in mind when she opened her practice in 2006 in North Babylon. Savel has since opened two other offices, and in January, she will open her fourth location in Merrick.

“I just wanted it to be fun,” said Savel. “It’s not like going to the dentist as we remember it as kids, where it was a negative experience.”

The fun isn’t over when the children leave the game room. Each dental room is painted to convey a different theme, such as outer space, the jungle or under the sea. “Most of the kids, when they come in here, they ask their parents, ‘When are we coming back?’” she said.

Savel, who lives in Dix Hills, employs an all-female staff, which includes five other dentists, as well as hygienists. She and her husband, Scott, have two kids, Sasha, 3, and Scarlet, 5.

Savel said that she was inspired to become a dentist because of her childhood experiences. “As a child, I had a negative experience. I was phobic of the dentist until I was 18,” she said.

Finally, Savel said, she had a pleasant experience with a dentist named Dr. Thomas Shea, and realized that visiting the dentist needn’t be such a bad thing. “He just kind of changed my thinking,” she said.

Savel attended the University of Maryland, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, and completed her dentistry degree at the New York University College of Dentistry in 2002.

Initially, she worked as an associate in Roslyn, but then realized that she wanted to start her own practice. “Before, I was practicing at a practice that was a little more antiquated,” she said. “I just felt like I wanted to have my own practice so that I could incorporate new technologies,”

Those technologies, Savel said, include lasers, low-radiation digital X-Rays, quieter drills, and the STA system, which she calls a “wand.”