Toothfairy, move over for the Toothtapus.
Not a fantasy, the Toothtapus is the business logo of Point Loma Children’s Dentistry.
It reflects the fact that Nora Tleel, DDS, MSD, the owner of the dental practice at 2445 Truxtun Road, Suite No. 106 in Liberty Station, is a scuba diver too.
“I wanted something to connect my diving with what I do,” said Tleel, a native of Jordan who moved back to that Middle Eastern nation for a time after getting her education in the States before returning. “We started working with the tooth, coming up with different logos before deciding on an octopus, a tooth with two roots and six other tentacles (some holding dental instruments),” Tleel said.
It was her youthful clients who actually gave Tleel’s logo its name.
“Kids just started asking questions,” she said. “One said the octopus was wrong, it only had six arms (not counting tooth roots). Another called it a Toothtapus.”
A marine theme permeates Tleel’s office, from artist-drawn murals of divers underwater on the walls, to a rocks-and-water motif “washing over” the floors.
“I just thought I’d bring the water here — and that’s what I’m doing,” said Tleel, adding, “All I do is kids (dentistry). I’ve been doing it for 20 years.”
It’s all part of the fun at PLCD, which has been in business at the former Naval Training Center since January. “I love it; it’s a very unique location near lots of military families and schools,” said Tleel. “It’s nice to see the kids walking around (lunchtime).”
Tleel said the biggest difference between treating adults and children, ages 1 to 18, is “behavior management.”
“Kids are difficult because they’re always apprehensive of the treatment,” she said, adding, “We try to make it as fun an environment as possible because it might take us two or three visits before we can actually have a kid open their mouth.”
Tleel said it takes a lot of TLC to walk kids through dental procedures.
“We show them every instrument, let them feel it, explain what we’re going to do with it,” she said, noting a procedure that might take as long as 1½ hours with a child might only take half an hour with an adult.
A practicing children’s dental specialist, Tleel is board certified and is an examiner for the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. She is also actively involved with both the San Diego and California Dental Societies.
Tleel had an interesting story to tell about how she got involved with scuba diving.
She returned to Jordan near the Red Sea, which she described as “the most magnificent place to dive,” to practice for a while after graduating from school. A friend of hers, a scuba instructor, asked her what she did on her leisure time to reduce stress, then introduced her to the sport.
“I liked it and got hooked,” Tleel said, adding she’s “an assistant (scuba) instructor right now.”
Discussing dentistry, Tleel said the science has come a long way. She expects more improvements in the future.
“They’re working on immunizations against decay to prevent or minimize people from having cavities,” she said, adding medical insurance, including dental, is presently in the throes of change. Tleel counseled families to double check their insurance coverages with their dental practitioners and their employers to ensure their children have proper pediatric dental coverage, a new requirement under Obamacare.
Currently, PLCD, which Tleel owns and operates along with an associate, is open three days a week.
“Next year we’re going to open four days a week as we grow our patient population,” she said.
For more information, visit www.plcchilrensdentistry.com or call (619) 567-8977.