Drinking a cup of coffee and going to the dentist are usually two different activities. However, for a patient of Phinney Ridge's Espresso Dental, coffee and dental work coincide.
Espresso Dental was started by a dentist in 1991 as a place where patients could receive dental work, drink coffee and receive a massage. Dr. Connie Manuel bought the practice, at 6725 Greenwood Ave. N., in 1996 and has been there ever since.
"I knew exactly what I wanted my dental practice to be like. I looked at a lot of dental practices, and when I walked into this one, I really felt at home," Manuel said.
A creative endeavor
When Manuel bought the practice she decided to keep the name and continue to serve coffee to patients. However, Manuel said, she wasn't initially enthusiastic about serving coffee to patients.
"I didn't want to at first; I thought it might be a little corny. But the patients seem to like it so much," she said.
The coffee is made with an espresso machine right in the office. Espresso Dental offers a variety of drinks, including coffee, tea and steamed and iced drinks.
Although she doesn't make it, Manual said that there are employees in the office who have a talent for making coffee.
"We have a big espresso machine, like Starbucks does. We serve lattes, and we get creative. We have all the syrups," Manuel said.
Not only does the practice offer its patients coffee for free, cookies are also available to patients. Manuel said that she bakes Otis Spunkmeyer cookies every day in an oven made just for baking cookies.
"We serve them to patients, and our patients just love them. We have little bags just sitting there, and they can stuff these bags full of cookies and they take them with them," she said.
Good oral hygiene
Serving coffee and cookies to customers is unique because people usually presume that coffee can cause stains to teeth and sugar can cause cavities. However, Manuel is confident that they aren't causing her patients dental problems.
"Stains don't hurt your teeth. They're not a factor in any gum disease or dental decay. So we're not contributing to any poor oral health by serving coffee," Manuel said.
Manuel also added that they aren't hurting their patients' dental health by serving cookies, either. She explained it would be unrealistic to ask her patients not to eat sugar because there is sugar in many foods. She said even natural sugar can be cavity causing.
"The important thing is to have good oral hygiene, and then you can actually be more free to eat what you want," Manuel said.
Manuel said many patients take their coffee as they're leaving the office because it helps make the anesthetic wear off faster for them. Even people who aren't patients try to buy coffee from Espresso Dental.
"We only serve coffee to our patients. Every once in a while, someone will walk in the door and want to buy a coffee, and we tell them it's not for sale; we don't sell coffee," she said.
Customer service
Although Manuel has decided to continue to serve coffee to patients, the practice no longer offers massages.
"I'm not a massage therapist, and we don't have a licensed massage therapist in our practice," she explained.
However, Manuel said that eventually, she would like to reintroduce that feature.
"If I ever remodeled and added on, that would be a really nice thing to bring back," she said.
Unlike the previous dentist, Manuel doesn't advertise that her practice serves coffee. The original owner of the practice marketed big specials to attract new patients. Manuel said that she is more interested in customer care and maintaining loyal patients.
Manuel said that she wants to cater to her patients and enjoys being able to make the decisions as to how patients are treated in her office. She said believes her patients feel very comfortable in her office because of its great atmosphere.
"It's like a little house; it's really quaint inside," Manuel said. "It's very serene and peaceful.
Espresso Dental is not only popular with its patients. According to Manuel, the practice has been featured often in the media, including coverage in USA Today and on TV's "Good Morning America."
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