SP Clinic. The Comfort Zone

Ten years ago, the phrase “going to the dentist” evoked emotions far from the most positive. Now it is part of everyday life and the culture of self-care. How did this transformation happen? How did dental clinics turn into pleasant places to visit? These are the questions the Museofnomad project team asked, and we visited SP Clinic, one of the most advanced dental clinics in Kazakhstan, for answers.

SP Clinic has been accepting patients in a cozy house on Qajymuqan Street since 2008. Once inside the clinic, you can’t help but wonder if this is the right address. The guest lobby resembles anything but a medical institution: beautiful and smiling girls at the reception (I do not dare to call it a registry), you can accommodate comfortably at a stylish table, dip into magazines and enjoy a cup of delicious coffee. A team of forty people is responsible for the quality of SP Clinic’s work, and eight doctors receive patients.

Ruslan Gadjiev, founder of SP Clinic, shared his views on why and how dentistry has become part of a “lifestyle”. He believes there’ve been two main reasons: first, a beautiful smile evolved from just a nice bonus to the appearance to an important part of the image, and secondly, due to the overall increase in the level of dentistry in Kazakhstan. If earlier the aesthetic component of dentistry was interesting mainly for women, now men also take care of a snow-white smile.

“In addition, there is one important factor – you can go abroad once to get dental care (I insist on this wording, medicine is not a service), but you need to visit the dentist regularly. In the past, many people used to go to the dentist abroad, but now there is no such need – the quality of dental care in our country is very high,” Ruslan said.

When thinking about opening a clinic, he had to fight his own skepticism. “When I first visited Europe and saw their clinics, it seemed to me that we would never have something like this. But now, we work with European equipment and adopt a European approach. Our level is not lower, if not higher.”

Ramina Agapova, a dentist-surgeon and orthopedist, spoke in a similar vein.

Visiting the dentist has become part of quality life, Ramina believes, due to the fact that any discomfort has completely disappeared from this sphere. “We’ve achieved this through the pleasant atmosphere, innovative technology, quality medicines and, just as importantly, the emotional support our doctors provide. A visit to the surgeon is no exception – a patient of any our specialist will feel as comfortable as possible.”

By the way, relationships with patients are the most important part of SP Clinic work. Friendly atmosphere, qualified medical care, comfort and empathy are the key to a strong patient-doctor relationship. Such relations last for many years, patients recommend SP Clinic doctors to their relatives and friends, who, in their turn, come to us from other cities of Kazakhstan and even from other countries.

Conscious desire to have healthy teeth is one thing, but in order to make the dental culture ingrained in a family, the most demanding patients – children – should visit dentist regularly. The youngest visitors of SP Clinic find themselves in the caring hands of Kseniya Kim, pediatric dentist and leading orthodontist of the clinic.

“We recommend bringing your child to the dentist for the first time when the first tooth appears, that is, at six or seven months. Then you should have a check-up every three months. Thus, by the age of three or four, the child gets used to the doctor and easily allows treatment,” Kseniya says.

Of course, each child is unique, has own temperament and needs an individual approach – a combination of adaptation techniques and various medications. In some cases SP Clinic applies nitrous oxide sedation, in others – general inhalation anesthesia. Yet individual and comprehensive approach is the key to a successful treatment.

Author: Igor Toporkov

Photo: Aidyn Ahmet @aidyn_ahmet