When I last stopped at the Costume Trunk in what proved to be yet another futile search for a plastic chicken to add to my collection, I noticed this flyer in the store:
I’ve never heard of a dentist making novelty teeth, so of course I decided that we must check this out. They promise that they’re, “freaky, fun and goofy,” which kind of describes the MBIP blog and my entire life as well. Plus, I don’t have a Halloween costume yet, so the timing is perfect. And so it’s off we go on a toothy adventure!
And awaaay we go!
Here's a shot of the All Smiles Dental Care headquarters from the MBIP mobile.
Ha! That cracks me up, I have a feeling this is going to be a fun time, which is something you don't normally have when you visit a dentist's office.
Let's go in and see what's going on inside of here.
Once inside we're greeted warmly by Danielle, one of two of the Office Administrators in here. She's flashing the custom novelty teeth sign that's on display.
Danielle called out a couple more people in the office to pose for the MBIP camera, that's Peggy on the left who's the Dental Assistant and Amber on the right who's the other Office Administrator. If Amber looks familiar, you must have been following my 365 bars blog because...
She was a guest star on the 350th bar that I went to on that journey and here's a photo from our first meeting. I was supposed to meet Justin Glawe, but he couldn't make it so he sent Amber to meet me and we had a couple of beers on a Christmas afternoon with my dad and my brother, Tom. Check out the whole post here. It was great to see Amber again!
Here's Amber modeling her set of novelty teeth, they look so real and they just snap in to her regular front teeth.
Here's a close-up shot of her novelty choppers.
This is Shaun, who's the Lab Technician and the man who creates the custom-made novelty teeth. He asked what I wanted in my teeth and I told him I just wanted them goofy as they could be. He told me he could do that and so it's time to get this show started!
I was escorted to the back of the building and it was there I met the star of this place, Dr. Phuong Nguyen who's the owner and practicing Dentist here at All Smiles Dental Care.
I was led to this chair and it's time to let the novelty teeth process begin. Even though it's just novelty teeth we're doing, I did tell Dr. Nguyen (which is pronounced, Dr. Win), that I was a little nervous. I have a certain phobia about being in the dentist's office, kind of the same feeling I have about driving over bridges. Maybe I shouldn't have stopped seeing that shrink back in 1981, but what are you going to do?
Dr. Nguyen told me that the goal here at All Smiles is to put the patient at ease and turn a dental experience into fun instead of fear. She's known as the "Singing Dentist," so I asked her to sing a song...
And she proceeded to launch into her own version of "My Girl..."
But she changed the lyrics to "My Marty," as in, "I got sunshine, on a cloudy day, When it’s cold outside, I got the month of May, I guess, you’ll say, what can make me feel this way? My Marty, my Marty...
"My Marty!" Ha ha ha! By now we were all howling and I swear this place is like a party in here! Let the dental work begin!
To start, Dr. Nguyen needed to check out my choppers to make sure there wasn't anything going on that would interfere with the novelty teeth being snapped onto them. The conclusion: I've got a big mouth!
Okay, the top mold is being fitted here. I think we all can agree that my nose hair trimmer is dong some fine work as evidenced in this shot.
Next the bottom mold is being formed here. I should note here that Amber has stepped up to the plate and is taking the photos.
Yikes, I was a little scared when Dr. Nguyen pulled this thing out and aimed it at me...
But it turned out to be as painless as the rest of the procedure, she just needed to get impressions of the top of my toothies.
All done! The whole time we were cracking jokes and laughing, this is the most fun I've ever had in a dental chair. I'll definitely be coming back, I think I've found my new local dentist office!
Amber and Shaun invited me to the back laboratory where the teeth are going to be made.
Shaun immediately gets to work on my novelty teeth.
The mold is being set and remember...
Take caution, grinding is going on in here! Ha! It's a laugh a minute in this place. Okay, I was told it would take a day or two for my teeth to be ready, so I went home and had about 769 beers and...
Here we are a couple of days later.
Check it out, they have their Halloween decorations up. Boo!
Danielle told me my teeth were just about ready and escorted me to a room in the back.
I'm back in the chair, flashing my teeth which I'm ready to cover with my new novelty set of choppers.
And here's Shaun showing me the set of teeth he's designed for me. They look fantastic! He did a great job!
And once again, Amber agreed to take the MBIP camera and record the action going on here.
Here's Dr. Nguyen snapping them into position. The cool thing about these teeth is that they fit comfortably onto your own teeth with no glue and they're not bulky or uncomfortable like fake teeth you'd buy in a store.
It takes a little practice to snap them into place and Dr. Nguyen gave me a mirror to let me see how to do it. It turns out to be pretty simple, which is good, because I've got a pretty simple mind.
Okay, how great are these teeth? I love them!
Who'd have thunk you could have this much fun in a dentist's office?
I've already had a ton of fun wearing this set of novelty teeth. It's funny wearing them out in public and watching people's reaction because they really look like they're your own teeth. I bought toothpaste at a Walgreen's and said, "You know I keep forgetting to buy toothpaste, it's been over a month now," and the woman kept trying to look away from my teeth but she couldn't. It's like having a car wreck in your mouth! I love it!
Big thanks to Peggy, Amber, Dr. Nguyen, Shaun and Danielle for making this such a fun time. In addition to making the best novelty teeth in the world, All Smiles Dental Care is a full service Dental Office offering full dental care and cosmetic procedures. They honor all insurance companies and if you don't have dental insurance, they'll work to give you the best prices in town to make sure you leave with a beautiful smile. I left with not only a smile but a lot of laughs as well, who could ask for anything more? We'll see you all tomorrow.
All Smiles Dental Care
3510 N. University Street • Suite A
Peoria
309-681-0200
