Smile Valley Pediatric Dentistry has been your friendly neighborhood dentist since 2009. In 2024, Smile Valley welcomed a new friendly face: Jude the Golden Retriever, a certified therapy dog.

Dr. Pilcher’s team already had an array of calming strategies and tools in place to help patients who might feel anxious about visiting the dentist. Adding “resident good boy” Jude to the office has given the team another way to bring smiles to their patients.

Jude joined the Smile Valley family through a series of unexpected events. For years, Dr. Pilcher had been investigating the option of getting a therapy dog but had not made a full commitment. On a vacation with her son, they happened to visit Harry Potter World at the same time as a service dog training trip. Because of a hotel mixup, they ended up switching their flight home and found themselves talking in the terminal with a trainer and a delightfully friendly service dog in training, heading home to Spring Valley. On the flight, they wound up next to each other and discovered that the trainer lives on MacArthur Boulevard and keeps horses a few minutes from where Dr. Pilcher lives. A few days after they arrived home, the trainer called – it turns out that Jude (the dog from the plane) is anxious around larger dogs and his previous placement plans would not work. Soon, Dr. Pilcher started meeting with Jude and found that he was a perfect fit.

Since this fall, Jude has been living with the Pilcher family and coming to work with Dr. Pilcher. He stays in the administrative office for most of the day, joining the waiting room or exam rooms when he is needed. Dr. Pilcher is getting training from the company that trained Jude so that she can learn what he knows, and they are learning together what his greatest skills are in the dental office.

Jude has been a huge help for patients with anxiety. One patient who has had severe dental anxiety in the past recently was nervous about her x-rays. With Jude’s encouragement, she not only got x-rays but also was able to get two fillings in comfort. Dr. Pilcher says, “She left skipping!”

Jude tends to notice who needs him the most. Sometimes patients come in the office after a difficult situation at home or at school, and five minutes with Jude can help them feel better. One family had a frustrating moment before they came into the office, and Jude went to the parent first, knowing who most needed a little encouragement. “Golden retrievers know when a person is upset, and he just wants to make them feel better!” (Dr. Pilcher also has a pug at home, and she laughs describing how poorly her pug would perform as a therapy dog.)

For patients who cannot be around dogs due to allergies or canine anxiety, the office will still be clean and safe. The Smile Valley team always asks about patients’ allergies, whether environmental or food allergies, at initial appointments, because allergies and medications can impact dental health. The office has air purifiers and rigorous cleaning procedures. Also, Jude spends his day in the administrative office, not in the clinic, so his visits to the clinic are generally brief.

“I love my families,” Dr. Pilcher says. “I know them personally. I’m sharing my pet with them. Right off the bat, we made sure we had protocols in place, because I want this to be successful. I got in touch with OSHA and the Board of Dentistry.” She also notes that there is precedent for therapy dogs in dental settings. “So far there have only been positives.”

Jude’s presence “has not changed our routines,” Dr. Pilcher explains. “95% of the time, we’re doing things the way we have always done them.” They will continue to be the friendly neighborhood dentist you’ve loved for the last fifteen years, still offering behavior management, nitrous sedation, and the S.A.F.E. technique, but now also have a trained therapy animal able to help patients who are put at ease by a furry friend. “He brings some joy to the day of everybody who interacts with him. He lives to make people happy!”