Dr. Mark Mancin, at Northland Dental 7229 North Oak Trafficway, Gladstone · 816-436-2760
Going to the dentist is not fun. No amount of free toothbrushes, sugar-free lollipops or tongue scrapers will ever change that. But Mark Mancin's office at least offers plenty of distractions and high-tech gadgetry to make the experience interesting. There are no walls between the chairs, so nearby mini-dramas take the patient's mind off the impending trauma. (Listen to the laser surgery on a child or overhear gossip about some woman who is using laughing gas to stop smoking.) Misery does love company, after all. Then there's the tiny camera, about the size of a pencil, that sends images from inside the mouth to a 20-inch monitor, displaying every tooth, crown and filling inside that undulating pink cavern. Best of all, when possible, Mancin uses a high-tech air-abrasion machine rather than a skull-rattling drill on cavities. A dental journal recently called his office the "Ultimate 21st-Century Dental Practice."
