- Therapy dogs like Molly and Murphy help anxious dental patients in Utah.
- Pediatric dentist Walker Clark introduced therapy dogs to ease patient anxiety during visits.
- Patients report feeling calmer with therapy dogs, improving their dental experience significantly.
SALT LAKE CITY — Anxious patients are being coaxed into the chair at the dentist's office by a new kind of dental assistant — dental therapy dogs.
Chastyne Wahlstrom's 10-year-old daughter, Remi, had mouth pain and needed to have some teeth extracted, but she couldn't get Remi past the door of the dentist's office.
"Yeah, we've tried a few times to make an appointment, but with her anxiety, she just wouldn't even go in the doctor's office," Wahlstrom said. "Usually she throws a fit in the parking lot."
But Remi consented to see pediatric dentist Walker Clark not because of Clark or because of any new high-tech tools, but because of his dog, Molly.
"Molly's the best dog, same for the others. I love them all equally," Remi said as she leaned back in an exam room chair with Molly relaxing on top of her.
Clark was used to dealing with anxious patients, but he was seeing anxiety levels rise during the pandemic and had an idea.
His dad was a veterinarian, and he grew up with animals.
"We basically all grew up in the animal hospital helping out," he said.
Clark got two Goldendoodle dogs, Molly and Murphy, and had them trained as therapy animals.
"They sit on their (patient's) laps. It's kind of a deep pressure and a fuzzy friend to hold on to," he said.
"The dentist's office is a very unfamiliar place. The sounds are unfamiliar, the noises are unfamiliar, the tastes are unfamiliar and there's something really familiar and comfortable about a dog that kind of brings the sense of peace to a lot of kids," he said.
The dogs aren't just for kids. They are for patients like Charles Cribbs, who goes to the Simply Smiles dental practice in West Valley City.
Cribbs said he has some bad memories of the dentist from his childhood, and when he got injections to numb his mouth, they would hold his head down. On top of that, he has PTSD from his time in the service, which he said increases the level of anxiety.
Eberle, an Irish Pomeranian dog, jumped up on the dental chair and into Cribbs' lap.
Dental hygienist Alisynn Dickson got Eberle and named him after former Oilers player and fellow Canadian Jordan Eberle. She had the dog trained to be with patients like Cribbs.
"A lot of our patients that are the older generation had trauma as children. So there's a lot of dental trauma out there," she said.
"When patients come in with anxiety, it can display in a lot of different ways: shaking, tears, panic attacks. We've had patients get up out of the chair in a panic attack," she said.
"It's just really relaxing and calming for me," Cribbs said.
"If you have a traumatic experience, it's sticky and that trauma sticks around through your whole life," Clark said.
After asking if Molly helps her, Remi said, "A lot — 100,000, infinite percent. They keep me calm."
She continued, "It keeps me calm. It keeps me entertained. It feels like I'm safe."
Remi's mom noticed the difference. "She lays there (in the chair) so, we take that as a win," she said.
"It really changed a lot of kids and how they perceive the dentist," Clark said.
As he escorted Remi and her mom out to the lobby after the procedure, the girl who had once pulled full-on fits asked the dentist if she could come back again to see him sometime.
Clark smiled and said, "Sure," knowing full well that who she really wants to see is not the dentist.
