Midtown Dental Care is 'home-like' for new and long-term patients

Bright, fluorescent lights, hand-held teeth scrapers, metal instruments in your mouth — what's not to love about the dentist? Luckily for the children of Wauwatosa, Midtown Dental Care, 8726 W. North Ave., feels nothing like a dental office, but rather, an extension of home.

Adorned with cherry wood, a flat screen TV and a waiting room fireplace, Midtown Dental Care greets patients with warmth and comfort. The office replaced paper charts with digital files, so patients no longer sign a litany of papers while waiting.

Owner and general dentist Mark Crego even installed a door-hanging basketball hoop and pinball machine in the hallway and dedicated two walls to "hall of fame" clients who have undergone "smile makeovers," he said.

That, and spiffy new technology in the practice has "kind of brought the fun back into dentistry," said Crego, who bought the business 20 years ago. "We want to make kids feel comfortable."

The kid-friendly atmosphere paid off Friday, Feb. 6, for national "Give a Kid a Smile" day. Crego provided free dental care to a qualifying child, in coordination with National Children's Dental Health Month in February.

"It's a way for the dental community to reach out and help the underserved," said Crego, who has participated in this initiative for 20 years. "It's provided millions of dollars worth of dental care to needy kids."

Children are first screened to qualify at the Marquette University School of Dentistry, where Crego used to teach. Crego graduated from Marquette and is still a basketball season ticket holder with his family.

Crego recently renamed his practice from his own name to Midtown Dental Care to be inclusive of his two other resident dentists, Laura Russell and Ann Marie Hoyme. The office serves 4,000 families.

"We're trying to form long-term relationships with them. We don't want to see patients for when they're having a problem. We want you to come for long-term care to have your teeth for a lifetime," said Crego.

Though Midtown Dental Care is a general dentist office, Crego said "if you can imagine it, we can do it."

In-house technology can engineer a crown that looks identical to a real tooth in one visit, rather than waiting and requesting it from a third-party. Crego's team has also performed cosmetic changes for patients who want to improve the look of their teeth, or a "smile makeover."

The procedure happens in more than one visit. When it's all done, patients leave feeling more comfortable in conversation and no longer guarding their teeth, said Crego.

He said, "It's very rewarding because you can almost see someone's personality blossom with their new smile."

At a glance

WHAT: Midtown Dental Care (former Mark Crego DDS)

WHERE: 8726 W. North Ave.

CONTACT: (414) 258-5351

WEBSITE: MarkCregoDDS.com