FISHERS — A central Indiana dentist is letting her Fishers office go to the dogs.

That’s not as bad as it sounds. Dr. Ana Vazquez, a pediatric dentist, knows that check-ups can be stressful. So she’s supplementing patients’ visits with a cuddly canine.

“You do have to go to the dentist for the rest of your life – if you have a bad experience starting with, it will be a bad experience for the rest of your life,” she explained.

It’s that concept that got Dr. Vazquez thinking. She says she was playing with a dog one day when the lightbulb went off. Kids are her specialty. She knows their ins and outs – and knows what will get them in to the dentist.

“To make him come into the office, I was like: ‘there will be a dog there.’ He was like, ‘really, Mom?'” said Fabiola Delgado.

Meet Pearly. She’s a nearly six-month-old “Labradoodle” that’s hypoallergenic. She’s been trained to be a “comfort” dog of sorts for children at the dentist.

“We focused a lot on her social skills – so we want her to be very happy going towards kids and goings towards them in a very calm and disciplined way,” said Jennifer Cattet, dog trainer.

This concept is Dr. Vazquez’s brain child. She says she wanted an addition to Fishers Pediatric Dental, an office that’s already unique.

Since Dr. Vazquez is originally from Puerto Rico, she brought the entire island atmosphere – including a rainforest and the beach – and of course you add Pearly in, and you have the perfect atmosphere for kids.

“By making this environment as non-dental as possible and explaining to the kid, ‘hey, this could be fun, our main purpose is to make the first experience as pleasant as possible,'” she said.

“He used to be like, ‘no, I don’t want anyone touching my mouth.’ He would just go like this (gestures hand over mouth) but he’s just – doing so great – I’m like surprised!” said Liliana Escareno.

Pearly doesn’t roam around the office just like she owns it. She stays in different places – either in the doctor’s lounge – or in the business area. She goes to the patient when the patient asks for her.

Pearly comes from a good breeder in central Indiana. The program is essentially as old as Pearly is. There’s a team that’s trained to handle her.

Parents we spoke with seem to love the idea. As her child got a cavity filled, Escareno said thanks to Pearly, the process is easier “because she gets distracted instead of thinking, ‘oh my God, I might be in pain.'”

“The last couple of times we came in, he was a little nervous, but it’s all gone!”

Source: WTHR