Saito says the mission of his practice is to "help children have a better experience" at the dentist. When you first walk into Dr. Tony’s office, you see what the difference is. Children can enter through a special kid-sized door, he says he’s heard children tell each other "you have to try the little door." The waiting room has video games and a reading tent where children can read and watch educational videos. There are paw prints children can follow into the main office. This all helps the children to "forget where they really are [and just] think about the fun stuff," he says.

He built the office himself to be sure it was kid friendly, he says. His ideas include placing toys and games on the ceilings so children can have something to look at in the chair, and putting a fun-house mirror in the brushing area, to help children enjoy brushing their teeth. He had to "computerize the whole office, lay it all out and see how it flows" before starting any construction, he says, in order to plan future growth at the site. "You can’t come back years from now and say let’s put a dental chair in here," without looking at the present plumbing layout, he says. He had to plan for the future because he wants to spend the next 30 years where he is "helping these kids grow," he says.

The mom-is-watching factor

It’s not just this kid-friendly environment that makes Dr. Tony’s special. Monica Lapped, mother of Samantha Lapped, says Samantha’s former dentist exhibited no patience when working with her nervous daughter. Her experience at Dr. Tony’s was very different. He was "very patient," says Monica Lapped, and gave Samantha the time she needed to get accustomed to the situation and to relax.

Monica Lapped says she was also impressed at the effort Saito made to make Samantha comfortable. He had kids’ names for all the utensils, she says, and his assistant even brushed Samantha’s hair to help her relax. She notes that Saito correctly observed that Samantha cried more when her mother was watching. Her daughter thought if she "cried long enough, her mother would save her," Lapped quips. Saito allowed Lapped to watch from another room, so that her daughter couldn’t see her. Her daughter needed a round of treatment for eight fillings, and by the fourth visit Lapped proudly says, her daughter "jumped right into the dental chair."

A new-generation strategy

To start his business, Saito says, he needed to have a system to find where to place his business. He got a map and marked down the amount of pediatric dentists in the area, and found that virtually all of them are nearing retirement age within the next five years. He says he even found other dentists in the area pleading with him to come into the area, because they couldn’t take any more patients.

Saito did some research before settling on the exact West Boylston office. He finds his current location perfect because it’s right next to a McDonald’s, a favorite designation for children. He says he also thinks the location is an advantage because of the "post office, copy shop, tax office, laundry service" located in the same strip mall. "Every parent needs to come to this area for something," he says.

Saito has found the best time to start seeing a child is around two years of age. He says the first visit is not so much to do a cleaning or other procedure, but to educate parents in helping prevent children’s cavities. He says that some parents, for example, don’t know that sending their children to bed with milk is bad for young teeth because of all the natural sugar in milk, and that switching to water is much better.

Parents can also over-inflate their children’s dental health. "We have three year olds who come in, whose parents say ‘oh they are brushing great’, and then you give them a brush and the children have no idea what to do," he says. He says it’s much easier to start regular visits at an earlier age, because the hardest part is when a four-year-old shows up with a bunch of cavities.

Targeting teens next

The practice has exceeded Saito’s expectations, he says. During 2001, he had 1,000 patients. In January, he had 94 new patients. In February, he says, he was headed to 115. He attributes this to "strong word of mouth" - the method of advertising he likes best. After all, he says if he was looking "he’d want to ask someone [and not just] look at an ad and go."