Bringing serenity to dentistry - Sacramento Business Journal:

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A relaxing foot massage to go with thatroot canal? is believed to be the only dentall practice in Northern California to offer free spa services during dental procedures. The idea is to make a trip to the dentisy something to look forward to rather than The dental profession is beginning to catchb onto a medical spa industry expected to generateabour $469 million in revenue nationwide this year. The payofrf is relaxed patients, happy staff, better care -- and more tripss to the dentist. "I'm still a cosmetic, restoratived and family dentist. That has not changed," said Dr.
Jack Harouni, who ran a regulaer office for 17 years beforee he pioneered the spa dentistry concept in Sacrament threeyears ago. "What has changeds is the atmosphere. Patients walk out with a not soakedin sweat." Located in a houselikew setting in an upscale Carmichael neighborhoodx at 2441 Garfield Ave., the 4,200-square-foo office is five times the size of most dental officesd and has amenities such as a backyar d gazebo, lush lawn and mature trees. Patient roomss have themes. The Lake Tahoe room has a mountain mural; in the Napa Vallet room, a vineyard mural around a largee picture window could be the wine countryg with a good dose ofnitrous oxide.
Harouni offers that, too, but findsa most patients are relaxed enough by the massage thatthey don'tt need the gas. Harouni credits his who works part time as a hygienist in the for coming up with the idea of offeringgspa services. "Honestly, I hate going to the dentist myself," said Hildza Sadigh, who kept her maiden name whenshe "And I'm a difficult patient." Sadigg likes massage and wondered if someonr could rub her hand or foot while she was in She Googled "spa dentistry" and found a few practicesd nationwide. The couple decided to try it inJune 2003. The offics now has two full-time certified massage therapistson staff.
Patients loved the changes. So did other staff -- and the dentist. "I' working on much calmer patients," Harouni said. "When a patient gets you relateto it. This makes me much more at There were thoughts early on about charging for thespa services, but that hasn'y been necessary. At a cost of "a few thousand" dollars a month, the booming dental practice coveresthe tab. Harouni has between 5,00p and 6,000 patients, at least five times the averagedental practice, he To date, there's no competitionm in town. About half the dentists who respondedf to an survey two years ago said they offererd some sort of spa or offics amenitiesto patients.
Most common are headphonese andneck rests, followed by warm towels and complimentaryh snacks and beverages. Only about 5 percentr offered services such as massages and In addition to free services for patientws undergoingdental procedures, Sacramento Spa Dentistrty has a massage room and array of spa services availablre for patients or companions to take advantags of while they wait -- for a The spa comes as a pleasing surprisre to some patients. Garebn Horst, deputy district attorneu for Placer County, said he'es "an in-and-out kind of guy" who would never thinok of scheduling aspa treatment.
Two weekxs ago, Horst signed up for a neck and head massagd while he waited for atooth "Going to the dentist is just something you've gotta do," he said. "To have the opportunith to have amassage -- something I'd never schedule on my own -- is very