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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us July 15, 2005 Getting away from it all – at the dentist’s By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Going to the dentist doesn’t have to be an unpleasant experience. Especially if your dentist is Dr. Randall or Karla Rothfus, a married couple whose practice in Ashland is run more like a spa than a traditional dental office. Amy Harvey listens to a CD while looking at a list of channels to choose from during her cleaning at Mountainside Dental Design. The two dentists at the office, Randall and Karla Rothfus, take a spa-like approach with their patients. Photos by Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings The Rothfus’ practice, Moutainside Dental Design on Washington Street, employs techniques more akin to a relaxing day at a resort than what most people think of a day at the dentist. Patients — which the Rothfuses refer to as clients — have the option of dunking their hands in soothing paraffin wax while work is done to their teeth or cleaning up with a lemon-scented wash cloth when they are done; they can bring their own DVD and watch a movie or cable TV while the dentists do their magic; or simply just gaze out the giant bay windows situated in front of the dental chairs that offer picturesque views of the nearby mountain ranges. “The whole perception about dentistry is that it is this painful, uncomfortable experience,” Randall said. “But it doesn’t have to be like that. We’re more like a spa. Anything that has to do with the traditional stigma of dentistry, we don’t want to have anything to do with.” So concerned with the comfort of their patients are the Rothfuses that they won’t even don the white coat normally associated with medical professionals. “Some people have white coat syndrome,” he said. “They’re afraid of dentists.” To combat this perception, the pair have tried to made their office as comfortable as possible and their work as painless as possible. “You’re not just going to get drilled and filled here,” Randall said. “We try to spend a little more time with our patients.” Patients get a bottle of water while they wait; they are offered lip balm and sunglasses to help stave off some of the more mundane aspects of visiting the dentist. The Rothfuses, whose family practice specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive dental work, say there is growing movement in the field toward this type of practice. The idea behind it, the husband-and-wife team said, is to make customers feel like their are on vacation rather than having their teeth drilled. Harvey dips her hands in wax as dental assistant Sharon Faulkner prepares mitts before Harvey sits in the chair for her cleaning. “I didn’t want to be just another tooth doctor,” he said. “The first three years out of dental school we worked at a managed care unit. We were running people out the door like cattle. Morally, we just couldn’t do it anymore.” The Rothfuses opened a practice in Ashland in 1998. About a year ago, they moved into their new, state-of-the-art facility on Washington Street. The previous facility, Rothfus said, “didn’t have that warm, fuzzy feeling” that the new facility does. He said this kind of care is obviously a bit more expensive but added that since opening this variety of practice, which they did in 1998, they have done well and have many return customers from Ashland and beyond. “People are willing to travel for this kind of treatment,” he said. “It’s a feeling people get by coming to this kind of practice, and people are willing to come back for that feeling. I’ve had people say to me, ‘I couldn’t wait to get here.’” He added, “the way I grew up, people didn’t go to the dentist to get away.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams