Building Better Smiles With Dana Point Smiles
Putting patients first is Dana Point Smiles’ top priority. The general, cosmetic, and implant dentistry office, based in DP, is run by Dr. Tamer Shalaby, an Orange County local who is laser-focused on creating a safe and inviting experience for clients of all ages and backgrounds. “We’re an office unlike any other,” says Dr. Shalaby. “We’re all about making sure the patient is comfortable, that we listen to their needs, and that we try to understand where they’re coming from.”
Going to the dentist can be an anxiety-inducing chore for many, which is why Dr. Shalaby and the rest of the Dana Point Smiles team are so intent on creating a welcoming environment for their clients. From the front desk to the dental technicians, it’s Dana Point Smiles’ goal to treat everyone who walks through their doors like family — something Dr. Shalaby learned the importance of through his own experience working at offices that didn’t always put the patient first.
“Most dental offices are getting squeezed by insurance companies so they’re trying to be as profitable as possible,” explains Dr. Shalaby. “When you’re focused on that, you’re driven on numbers and not the actual client experience.”
Part of the client experience that Dana Point Smiles strives for includes their “Virtual Smile Consult.” This fully-digital process provides patients who may not yet feel comfortable going to an in-person appointment the opportunity to still have a potentially life-changing consultation. All you have to do is upload a close-up selfie of your smile to SMILEVirtual (the office’s online portal) with your concerns, and one of the office’s dentists will send you a customized video with a set of recommendations.
On top of their client-first mindset, Dana Point Smiles prides themselves on working with Orange County’s best and brightest medical professionals, including oral surgeons and other specialists. They cover all the basics — replacing missing teeth, reconstructive surgery, orthodontics, etc., and also offer high-tech services like laser cleaning (a rarity in most dental offices today).
And, while a winning smile is always a great thing to have, investing in your teeth isn’t just for aesthetic purposes. Improving the shape and location of your pearly whites can drastically improve your quality of life in ways you might not even think about.
Form follows function, so if your teeth are too crowded, for example, you might not be able to floss properly. If you can’t floss properly, more food can get stuck between your teeth, causing issues like gum disease or bone loss, which can eventually lead to tooth loss as well. “Dentistry is not just about teeth. There’s tons of research linking oral health to systemic diseases. Gum disease has been linked to heart disease, strokes, heart attacks, and much more. UCLA and Chicago just published research linking it to Alzheimer’s. Harvard just published an article linking it to colon cancer,” stresses Dr. Shalaby.
“Everything starts in your mouth, so if your mouth is not healthy, everything in your system is not healthy.”
Ultimately, Dr. Shalaby and his team want to build life-long trust with their patients. Especially during the pandemic, they know their clients are truly putting their lives into the hands of medical professionals — something Dana Point Smiles takes very seriously.
On top of the usual disinfecting routine dentists normally employ, the office has installed air purifiers and has made it a practice to disinfect everything between patients — even using electrostatic foggers to disinfect the air (the same thing they use on airplanes)!
Which, if you ask us, is the kind of attention to detail you want when someone’s working on that 1000-watt smile of yours!
For more information about Dana Point Smiles, visit their Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube pages or browse their website at DanaPointSmiles.com.
Logan Cross is a writer, editor, and dancer based in Los Angeles. When she’s not writing, she can be found posting videos of her dog on TikTok or aimlessly scrolling through Instagram.
Photos by Madeline Javier.