I Went to the Dentist and I... Liked It?

No one likes going to the dentist. It’s an accepted truth. It’s daunting, it’s expensive, it’s uncomfortable to lay there with your mouth wide open while masked-up professionals poke around and use that weird thing that sucks up your spit.

Then there are the scars left by braces, after your dentist packed you off to the ortho. Food getting stuck. Cut up lips. The attempts to ease the pain of having them routinely tightened with a rainbow of coloured bands. All usually around the same time you’re getting keen to start pashing.

My orthodontist took it further with something called a Herbst contraption. And contraption it was. Frankenstein’s monster’s bolts – two on each side, attached to my back molars and front bicuspids (that’s dental speak for the chompers just before your molars) – held in place a movable rod connecting my upper and lower jaw. It was on for 12 months and you could hear a little squeak every time I opened my mouth. It corrected an underbite: posturing my jaw forward with force, destroying my ability to pash (a big deal at 14).

I know, baby violins play. But this long-winded whinge is to emphasise the feelings I holdheld for dentists. I’ve only been twice in 10 years. So, when I was invited to come in for the Essential Ritual at Sage Space, the new dentist in Darlinghurst, I thought “no way”. I’ve got no aches – they could be whiter, but I can deal. I read the blurb: dentist Corbin Barry wants to make dental health “a pleasure”. (Good. Luck. Barry.)

With terrazzo countertops and a tiled front counter, textured cement walls, colourful art and Maison Balzac glassware, Sage Space shines (in a different way) compared to the sterile, bright-white practices we’re used to. You feel like you’re in a swish salon, or on-trend wellness space – and I guess you are.

“I wanted to look at the psychology of space. Like, how does a space make people feel?” Barry tells Broadsheet. “You look at restaurants and bars and there’s so much investment into curating how somebody should feel in that space. So, why don’t we apply that same principle within our healthcare system? It’s not just about me telling somebody to brush their teeth. Everyone knows we’re supposed to do that, yet we don’t.”

The Essential Ritual is your check-up and clean. First you hop into a luxe, curtained-off station, where there’s a toiletries bag waiting with toothbrush, toothpaste, floss and lip balm. Brush, then you’re ready.

“Our mission is to focus on prevention. Dental disease is the most preventable disease in the world, and yet we still have a huge amount of people that are suffering from it – decay and gum disease.”

In the chair, the experience is smooth. They pop lip balm on, then headphones. I’m watching Friends. I gurgle out “excuse me” while they’re inspecting my molars, “Can you press play please? The episode’s finished.” Honestly, they were done too quickly – I want the next ep.

There was an X-ray; a check for oral cancer, jaw tightness, gum recession and alignment; a clean and stain removal; then fluoride and varnish. A run-through of what they saw and what to watch, then I was on my way.

“Sage Space is saying ‘You can avoid costly and painful dental experiences, if we all just focus and understand the importance of prevention’.”

Barry’s challenging an industry with a “drill and fill” mentality. “My whole goal is that I do myself out of a job as a general dentist, because if I leave a legacy of dental practice that has a whole lot of patients that need a lot of treatment, what have I done for my community?”

A trip to Sage costs you the same as a standard dentist visit, with transparent pricing on the website. You’ll pay what you see. There’s the Nimble Ritual, whitening Glow Ritual and the Align Ritual, too. Focusing on accessibility, Barry is working on a weekly payment, to provide a walk-in, walk-out experience for your twice-yearly check-ups. “Dentistry isn’t a luxury, it’s an essential – you just have to put it at the front of your mind.”

I’m booked in for another Essential Ritual in six months’ time – and, hand on my heart, I’m looking forward to it.

Sage Space
105 Crown Street, Surry Hills
(02) 8607 8559

sagespace.au
@sagespace.au

The writer was a guest of Sage Space.