Originally published June 2020 at https://www.escondido.org.
Escondido Insight — Business Spotlight
Escondido Welcomes The Super Dentists
Perhaps you have seen the commercial on tv with the catchy chorus, “We love the Super Dentists!” The Super Dentists, with five practices throughout San Diego County, recently opened their newest and largest practice in Escondido after having to suspend operations during the pandemic.
Now with stay-at-home restrictions lifting, The Super Dentists is reopening with safety as their first priority. “Patient safety is our #1 priority!” said co-founder Dr. Kami Hoss, whose superhero alias is Dr. HaveOneSuperSmile. “The Super Dentists have put procedures in place for reopening to ensure the health and safety of our patients, crew members, and doctors.”
A temperature checkpoint is one of several precautions The Super Dentists is taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19
This two-level facility provides comprehensive dental procedures from pediatric dentistry to orthodontics and everything in between. Before the pandemic, its warm and interactive atmosphere, including a one-of-a-kind play slide between the floor levels, which helps children of all ages feel comfortable and secure while undergoing dental procedures, had been one of the reasons many flocked to the facility. As they open, these interactive spaces will be limited for the time being.
“We are not your typical dentist,” said Hoss. “We put our kids in the center of our business model.”
The Super Dentists has worked relentlessly during office closures to lead in the areas of safety and delivery of patient care during the pandemic. Now, patients and staff will be thoroughly screened, required to wear face coverings, and the number of patients in the facility will be limited. Patients will be asked to wait in their cars until their child’s chair is ready and virtual check-ins will take place. Children are being asked to brush their teeth at home prior to their appointment.
Dr. Kami Hoss is one of the co-founders behind The Super Dentists, which has opened its newest practice in Escondido
Hoss, who is a business partner with his wife, pediatric dentist Nazli Keri, DDS aka The Tooth Keri, was inspired to create his business model when he was at a friend’s party. “Statistically, 80% of all healthcare decisions are made by women. They are very powerful when it comes to healthcare,” he said. So he figured marketing to moms would bring the kids to his practice. However, when he noticed a child at the party who was in constant need of attention, Hoss said this was his “aha moment.”
“That’s when I realized, moms are not my customer, kids are my customer. If we do everything in our practice to take great care of kids, everything else will come into place.”
What came into place is a dental practice that gives patients a top-grade, comforting experience while educating them on the importance of good dental health.
“Patients can still expect an out-of-this-world experience at The Super Dentists. Escondido is one of our largest offices and houses all our specialties: pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and teen and parent dentistry, which is one of our fastest-growing areas. We have separate Super Lounges for kids, featuring brand new games, a very cool interactive photo booth and our Starbucks café, where patients can help themselves to coffee, tea or hot chocolate. We have tons of magazines and free Wi-Fi. We like to keep our patients up to date with what we’re doing so our screens run our movies (we have 4!), news clips, and fun facts about our practice,” Hoss said.
Right now, the magazines, children’s toys and other sharable items will be shelved because they cannot be easily disinfected. Hoss added, “However, The Super Dentists has developed an out-of-this-world ‘ Virtual Super Lounge ‘ and has virtualized many amenities families expect from The Super Dentists.”
Themes help establish a fun atmosphere and make a trip to the dentist more enjoyable.
“The Super Lounge has a theme park design with the goal of creating positive associations for kids so they’re not afraid to go to the dentist,” said Hoss.
As restrictions are lifted, the Escondido office hopes to reincorporate its unique, tailored space on the lower level for teens and parents. Hoss explained, “For teens and parents, we created a separate area called the VIT/VIP (the Very Important Teen/Very Important Parent) lounge and a completely different aesthetic. Amenities include flavored gloves, free childcare, aromatherapy, massage chairs, and customized latte art, all intended to surprise, delight, and relax our patients.”
While the fun atmosphere will continue, sanitizing and cleaning has been a top priority. “As a healthcare facility, The Super Dentists already had stringent cleaning and infection control protocols in place but added more,” said Hoss.
The Super Dentists has upgraded its HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) with new, advanced filters and have added professional air cleaners and UV light technology as an additional safeguard.
Some dental procedures have been modified to reduce or eliminate aerosols. The Super Dentists is pleased to announce that they are one of the first dental offices to utilize an advanced droplets and aerosol terminator (ADS) to provide an additional level of safety for patients, crew members, and doctors.
Beyond the office visit, Hoss provides his patients with at-home tools to continue positive oral health. “We have our own toothbrush and dental products,” explained Hoss, who is also a part-time musician. “Our toothbrushes have a custom two-minute song, which I wrote.” In addition, augmented reality 3D characters appear in a hologram in the child’s bathroom to help teach them how to brush and floss properly. A new virtual consultation tool for tele-dentistry will also soon be available for certain visits.
With a 250-person staff and 20 doctors, The Super Dentists is a full-service oral care provider. “We use all the latest technologies,” said Hoss. This includes many of their own proprietary technologies including Accelodontics, an accelerated orthodontics procedure that shortens the time patients wear braces. Other features include zero to net zero radiation x-rays, computerized anesthesia for maximum comfort, virtual reality treatments, and even massages.
Hoss is so adamant about teaching his patients and others about the importance of oral care, he has used his creative talents to develop learning videos with The Super Dentist superheroes and a YouTube channel that helps inform people.
His book, “If This Mouth Could Talk,” which connects oral health to overall health, will be published later this year.
Dr. Kami Hoss's new book will be published later this year
For a hands-on education, The Super Dentists has partnered with the San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum in Escondido to create an exhibit called “Grinland.”
“That’s been such a fun partnership,” said Hoss. “We started working with the museum last spring, collaborating on exhibit elements to be a premier sponsor of Grinland.” The exhibit will include a mini Super Dentist exhibit complete with a dental chair, lab coats, tools, and an exaggerated fun-sized toothbrush. Children can pretend to be dentists and work on each other while learning about oral hygiene.
“It’s been a blast to watch it come to fruition — kids climbing all over the dental chair, wearing our dental coats and sitting at our replica Welcome Tower. The exhibit shows kids they don’t have to be afraid of the dentist and that it can even be a lot of fun.”
The Super Dentists superheroes also participate in the event. “We hosted story times where our Tooth Keri character read our storybook, ‘A Brush with The Super Dentists,’ and we donated our Super Toothbrushes and their sales to the museum,” Hoss said.
The exhibit ran at the museum until the pandemic hit.
Hoss and The Super Dentists have been building relationships with the City of Escondido for quite a while, “starting with the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Business Association, Escondido Visitors Center and we are planning to sponsor events related to kids and education at Escondido’s signature events like the Grand Avenue Festival, the Kids Obstacle Challenge and others,” said Hoss.
The Super Dentists also has an outreach program for teachers and schools that will continue as schools begin to reopen again. “We encourage Escondido teachers to consider a visit from our Tooth Keri character. She visits hundreds of schools each year and gives fun, interactive presentations about the importance of good oral hygiene to elementary and middle school students,” said Hoss.
As The Super Dentists’ offices reopen in Escondido, they are scheduling appointments to see patients daily per the new restrictions. One of those restrictions is the postponement of their most popular event, Free Dental Day, a dental visit and free dental work targeted to children 12 and under who don’t have regular access to dental care or dental insurance. This day has been postponed until further notice.
Hoss had wanted to open an office in Escondido for a long time. He said, “We had our eye on Escondido for a few years. It’s really a central place.” Their office, located in Signature Pavilion, “is close to the freeways, really central, and accessible from many parts, especially northeast San Diego.”
“With our five locations we covered most of the county but inland North County was one of the few areas we didn’t cover. It’s definitely one of our biggest practices, and it’s our first practice with two full floors, two levels of dentistry.”
Now in Escondido, Hoss hopes to continue to spread his positive message about oral healthcare and to treat patients with the latest technologies, advanced treatments, and caring approach. As Hoss put it, “We want patients to know their oral health matters more now than ever!”
“After two months in lockdown, we know many of our patients are ready to catch up on their entire family’s personal grooming and healthcare. While delaying a haircut may not be pretty, it’s not likely to cause harm, but having no choice but to delay preventative dental care for months can start causing problems.”
During the pandemic, The Super Dentists remained open to treat emergencies. While they weren’t as frequent in mid-March, now ten weeks later, the cumulative effects of not being able to see the dentist is catching up with many of our patients.
Oral health is not only important in maintaining healthy teeth and gums, it’s also linked to overall health in profound ways. Our mouth is the gateway to the body and nearly everything that enters the body enters through the mouth — COVID-19 is no exception.
The Super Dentists staff is taking extra precautions to keep patients safe
Hoss has been a sought-after speaker during the pandemic. He encourages everyone to continue to seek oral care as soon as they can. “The COVID-19 crisis upended our way of life and the disruption of routine healthcare will continue to have long term impacts on our society.” He further explained, “Sometimes, it takes a global crisis to focus on what’s important. Your family’s oral health matters now more than ever before.”
The Super Dentists is located at 390 W Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA 92025. (760) 336–8478