I was the parent who bribed, threatened, and cried before every dentist visit. Growing Smiles made me retire every trick I had. The room is half playground, half spaceship. He walked out asking when we go again. I cried in the car — happy tears this time.
Eight years I carried the pain of a botched root canal from another city. Dr. Mohitaa looked at the x-ray, smiled, and said “we’ll fix that today.” No needle. No drill. The laser humming was almost relaxing. I walked out eating an apple. An apple.
My newborn had a tongue-tie that was affecting feeding. Another clinic quoted surgery under general anesthesia. Dr. Mohitaa did the laser release in 5 minutes, no anesthesia, while I held him. He slept through it. I ugly-cried in the waiting room.
Trauma from age 9. I gagged, panicked, hyperventilated just sitting in a waiting room. The team here didn’t flinch. They slowed down. They let me pick the music. They explained every sound. I finished three appointments in a row. Fourteen years of avoidance — gone in 6 weeks.
My 6-year-old used to scream in the car whenever we passed a dental clinic. After her first visit here, she asked when we could go back. Three visits later, she has her own Growing Smiles sticker on her school bag. She calls it “the happy place” — and tells her friends.
I genuinely don’t understand the hype around root canals being painful — maybe 30 years ago they were? Dr. Mohitaa laser-treated mine in under an hour, sent me home with a single ibuprofen I never even opened. I keep waiting for the pain that didn’t come.
Anonymous or named — your story helps the next anxious patient find their way to a clinic that doesn’t hurt. Two minutes of your time could change a life.