Why wings? Why Columbus Tooth Fairy?:
The short answer – marketing to attract the lgbtq+ community and their allies.
The Dr’s husband, Kevin Derenzo, made the 14ft wide wings from scratch taking almost 100 hours to complete. Since Columbus pride of 2022, we have changed our practice from about 20% of our patients being a member of the lgbtq+ community to close to 80% and we couldn’t be prouder or happier with those results.
We opened our practice from nothing in July of 2019 – 6 months before the pandemic. While we had some patients find us, we felt that we were missing our true mission of helping our own community; members of the lgbtq+ community who often face discrimination and mistreatment when accessing health and dental care. This can have a negative impact on their quality of care and decrease the likelihood of accessing care in the future. Some patients may be denied care or treated differently because of their HIV status, which is heartbreaking and unjust. Patients may also experience discomfort or anxiety when dental staff use the wrong name, pronouns, or make assumptions based on their gender presentation or sexual orientation. These experiences can make lbgtq+ patients feel unwelcome, unsafe, or invalidated.
LGBTQ+ patients may also have unique oral health needs and challenges such as changes in bone density due to hormone therapy or more pronounced dental disease because of an increased chance of care avoidance, homelessness, or substance abuse disorder.
By focusing on our own community’s needs, we are ensuring a safe and welcoming environment for lgbtq+ patients, where you can feel comfortable and confident that you are receiving quality dental care from providers who understand your concerns and specific needs.