Joyful Dentistry

Engraved in gold and amber, it seemed like a typical Beverly Hills party invitation, except for one thing: the bash was to be held in a dental office. Even so, some 400 curious neighbors turned out last fall to drink and mingle under wooden beams, amid ankle-deep carpets and expensive French prints. Soft rock music wafted round a small jungle of indoor plants as guests explored color-coordinated treatment rooms and dental equipment discreetly hidden away in wooden cabinets. The idea, explained mod-garbed Dentists Gerard Frankel and Richard Winograde, was to create a soothing atmosphere for fearful patients.

The camouflaged office has apparently filled a deep-rooted need. Business has grown fast, and Frankel and Winograde are planning another cocktail party to announce that a third dentist is joining the office.

"The ordinary filling-station look of a dentist's office is obscene, repulsive," says Frankel. "I hate it. Why can't dental offices be beautiful?" Indeed, Frankel and Winograde are so convinced of the importance of aesthetic surroundings that they sank about $50,000 into decor alone, compared with about $1,500 spent on furnishing a typical dentist's office. The Beverly Hills dentists have also catered to the other senses; in addition to the soft carpets and music, they offer nervous patients sherry and cognac. More effective anesthetics are also available: a sign at the reception desk announces, "Sleep available for all dental procedures here."

Frankel and Winograde insist that their fees are in the "medium range," comparable with those of dentists in Burbank or Glendale. Yet their clientele consists largely of the wealthy and the famous--most of whom seem delighted with their treatment. Entertainer Gary Crosby reports a new-found relaxation amid the antique English furniture and fabric ceilings. "It is so much less of a trauma," says Crosby. "It's more like going into someone's living room." (Crosby has grown so fond of Frankel, in fact, that he has taken him on as a tennis partner.) Sandy Eisner, a Cleveland steel executive who drops in for treatment during business trips to Los Angeles, is another satisfied customer. "The whole office relaxes you and puts you at ease," he says. "You don't get that cold feeling."

Hollywood Dentist Gordon Bennett, ex-chairman of the California Dental Association's ethics committee, who will soon join Frankel and Winograde as a partner, feels that there is a growing trend toward making dentistry a less painful experience. "The whole atmosphere of white jackets, antiseptic smells and waiting rooms," he says, "is on the way out."

While no amount of pop psychology or gimmicks will completely do away with the patients' discomfort, it apparently works wonders for the dentists. "Most dentists are unhappy with dentistry," says Frankel. "They work in sterile, cramped quarters and can't wait to get out. It is hard physical work dealing with frightened people. But we actually look forward to coming to work."

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