Down at the Portage Lakes end of Manchester Road, the patient list looks the way a neighbourhood practice's list usually does: families booking two or three appointments back to back, retirees from Coventry Township and New Franklin, and a steady flow of people who need a tooth out and would rather not be awake for it. Alpha Dental's Akron office, led by Dr. Gregg Mendel, an Ohio State College of Dentistry graduate, covers cleanings, whitening, fillings, crowns, bridges, root canals, dentures and implants — but the surgical side is what gets the most emphasis, particularly extractions and wisdom teeth.
Take a lower wisdom tooth as an example of how that runs. An X-ray first establishes how the root sits relative to the nerve canal that runs through the lower jaw, because that geometry decides everything that follows. On the day, you are numbed locally, or sedated if you have chosen that route; the gum is opened, a little bone is trimmed if the tooth is trapped beneath it, and the crown is often sectioned into pieces so it can be lifted out through a smaller opening rather than forced whole. The socket is irrigated, stitches go in, and you bite on gauze until clotting settles. Swelling peaks on the second or third day, not the first, which surprises people. The one complication worth knowing about is dry socket — a lost clot leaving bone exposed, usually around day three, and far more likely if you smoke or use a straw during the first week.
Sedation dentistry and intravenous sedation are both offered, which is the reason a fair number of patients travel here rather than to a closer office. Staff have Spanish available, and financing runs through CareCredit and Healthcare Finance Direct.
Two practical caveats. The office accepts most managed care plans but specifically does not participate with Humana Horizons, AmeriHealth or Aetna Better Health, so confirm your plan before you make the trip. And hours are weekdays only, finishing at half past four Monday through Thursday and half past two on Friday — there is no evening or Saturday cover.