Voorhees Pediatric Dentistry

When you walk into Dr. Dan Dinowitz’s pediatric dentistry office, you can’t help but smile. A large, colorful mural greets you on the wall to your left. Three rows of realistic airplane seats take the place of waiting room chairs. Pink and green and blue lights hang from the ceiling. A customizable departure board sign first displays toothpaste flavors and then flips to read: “Welcome back, Kari! We are so happy to see you.” He greets me in the waiting room and offers me a drink from their coffee station, only one element of a patient comfort menu which includes personalized music, a weighted blanket, and noise-cancelling headphones. (They don’t just prioritize taking care of patients; a sign on the desk next to a basket of snacks reads: “To our awesome delivery drivers - take whatever you need for the journey ahead! Thank you! Cold drinks in mini fridge.”)

It is clear that this is not your average dental office. “I wanted my practice to have the feel of a boutique hotel lobby and a fun, modern children’s playspace. I wanted it to be somewhere that my team and I would feel excited about walking into every day, and I wanted to make it a space that my younger patients could enjoy and would feel cool and comfortable coming back to for years to come.”

A fun and vibrant office does not mean that Dan takes his work as a dentist any less seriously. His goal is to create a dental experience for children that takes both their physical and mental health into consideration. He wants his patients to feel comfortable and excited about visiting the dentist, and he wants to make sure he is catering to the needs of all children who walk through his doors.

Every nook and cranny of the space tells a story and was created with intention, and I was lucky to have the most fabulous tour guide to show me around: Dan’s vivacious 4-year-old daughter.

A Jersey boy all his life, Dan grew up in Central NJ, where he watched his father - a podiatrist - thrive in his medical practice. “I would go to his office every now and then, and he always just made it fun. He was a very social person. He worked with a lot of elderly people, and he was always telling jokes. When I was there, his patients were often laughing. I realized that you can pursue a profession in which you both help people and have a good time.”

Dan decided he wanted to go into healthcare himself, and he credits his childhood orthodontist for influencing him towards dentistry work. “I ended up falling in love with dentistry through a Rutgers program called ‘Gateway to Dentistry,’ a 2-week internship where we got to explore the hands-on aspect of dentistry and all of the different specialties. I experienced that same feeling that I described when spending days with my father. I thought, ‘This is so cool. It’s medicine, you get to work with your hands, and you get to interact directly with people. Something about it really clicked for me.”

Additionally, Dan had spent many of his summers growing up working as a camp counselor. “I love working with kids. It feels natural for me. I really enjoyed being a camp counselor, and I loved being a big brother. When I rotated through the pediatrics speciality in dental school, it was an ‘aha’ moment. I realized I could combine these two things I was good at.” Interestingly, both of Dan’s siblings became dentists as well.

While in dental school, Dan met his wife, Michelle, who lived in Manhattan and worked in media. He eventually pulled her over to Jersey, and the two started a life together in Hoboken. “I always knew that I eventually wanted to start my own practice, but my wife and I needed to decide where we were going to settle down permanently before we took the plunge. After about ten years of working in a dental practice in Northern New Jersey, we moved to Cherry Hill. We drew a 30-minute driving radius around our new address and decided we wanted to open the practice within that area. Because I wasn’t familiar with South Jersey, I got advice from a dental consultant who helped me study the area, and we landed on Voorhees. My office ended up being only 10 minutes from where I live, which is such a blessing in raising my family.”

“Building my practice was the thrill of a lifetime. It was also one of the hardest things I have ever done.” For years, Dan had been putting together a digital vision board, imagining the day that all of his ideas could come together. “I am a big kid at heart, and I loved thinking about little details and themes I would want to include.” He drew inspiration from hotels and playspaces, and it all came together after walking into a cafe in Montclair. “We wanted to incorporate travel in the design, because my wife and I love exploring other countries. So when I walked into this really cool cafe with airplane chairs, I knew I wanted to use an airplane theme. I actually reached out to the owner of the cafe, and he gave me a lot of cool advice.”

Once they landed on a location, Dan’s life began changing at a rapid pace. “I had never been as busy in my life as I was then. And it hasn’t stopped since. It was almost like a boot camp for my brain to prepare me for what the next phase of my life was going to be. It was a thrill in the sense that there was no downtime. It was also super stressful. I always say I was just naive enough to do it. I’m sure most logical people wouldn’t take the plunge.”

One of the factors Dan had to figure out was how to build a practice in an area in which he had no preexisting reputation. “When I was in North Jersey, things were great. I worked for someone else, I had a wonderful experience there, and I had built up a solid reputation. Now I was starting completely from scratch. I knew I had to build a presence remotely so I could hit the ground running once we moved and opened. In order to do that, I was going to have to get creative.” This is where social media came in.

Dan, with help from Michelle, created his social media page. “We’ve been doing it ourselves since the very beginning; we don’t outsource it. My staff also helps contribute ideas. The page is a combination of education, silly videos, and candid discussions about practice ownership. It changes all the time. I used to overthink it - I wanted to make every single video Hollywood-quality and perfect - but I realized what people really want to see is authenticity.”

Social media was also the way Dan found his current team of employees. “Not being down here and having any connections, I thought, ‘Ok, let’s do things a little differently, because I hear using typical job sites can be a mixed bag.’ I created a video in the middle of my office while it was still under construction. I was giving a tour, and I said, ‘We’re hiring!’” In addition to requesting the typical resume and background information on each potential hire, he also asked for a video of them answering questions like, “Tell me what your favorite emoji is, and act it out with your face.” This was all done intentionally, because in addition to wanting to hire individuals who were skilled, he wanted to make sure they had the right personality for the patient experience he was trying to create. “It really helped me find the wonderful people I work with today.”

In June of 2024, Voorhees Pediatric Dentistry opened for the first time. “That initial year was terrifying. I went in with a very optimistic attitude - I’ve always been an optimist, and I still am - but reality set in quickly. In the very beginning, things are not going to be as fast as you wish they would be. I was used to seeing a packed schedule at my old job, and in the first six months, I was lucky if I was seeing 3-4 patients a day. I’m not saying this to be dramatic, but there were many moments of, ‘What did I do? Do I have to sell my practice? When am I going to pay myself?’ I realized it was going to take some time.” Nine months in, as the initial patients began coming back for return check-ups, and as Dan’s presence spread online, the pit in his stomach began to subside. The effort he put into creating a positive and fun dental experience for children began to pay off. Over time, the practice was able to transition from traditional advertising to growing through word of mouth alone, which was their ultimate goal.

Dan says what truly sets his practice apart is the personalized attention each patient is given for their appointment. “We really take the time to get to know these children and their parents. We don’t rush into things. This starts at the front door. When you walk in, you get a warm and friendly greeting by my team. We offer seasonal beverages for the parents and a whole box of sensory toys for the kids to get comfortable. We customize the music playlist for the patients. Then we give a tour of the space.”

One of the first stops is Dan’s emoji wall, where kids are asked to point to the face that best expresses how they are feeling in that moment. Dan does this with every child, whether it’s a new patient or someone coming for a return visit. “A lot of the kids who come in feeling fearful may not want to talk, but they may be willing to point to a face. I want to know if this is a child who is eager to be here or if they are feeling a little upset. Over time, I’ve noticed that sometimes a child who is clearly anxious when they walk in the door is able to point to the happy face by the time they get to the emoji wall because my staff has already helped them.”

Children waiting to be seen are also given the opportunity to dress up, have their hair tinseled, or get their face painted by the team. “Ingrid, my dental assistant, Trista, my patient care coordinator, and Deanna, our new hygienist, have contributed so much to the patient experience here in details big and small. They add incredible warmth and friendliness, and I am so grateful for them.”

It is after all this fun that the dental appointment begins. Dan shows the children his dental equipment, lets them hold the tools, and allows them to practice using them on stuffed animals. “I chit chat with families about their hobbies and who they are. Then we eventually start talking about nutrition, which is something that I think is often skipped in dental appointments these days. We discuss healthy snacks for their teeth and their body, and we customize a nutrition plan for each patient. I explain that my kids aren’t perfect - they eat candy too - but we try to come up with a reasonable plan for each child. We review toothbrushing technique, and everyone gets their own electric toothbrush to take home. The cleaning is important, but it’s a small part of what we do. The conversations are what the patients ultimately take home with them.”

Over time, Voorhees Pediatric Dentistry became known as a safe and welcoming space for children with special needs. “In my last job, my boss was one of the original special needs dentists. I always watched him, but I didn’t do a lot of special needs work myself back then. Suddenly, he needed to take time away, and I had to take on all of his patients. It was at that point that I realized, ‘I can do this.’ There's no secret sauce for working with kids with special needs; it’s just about taking time and involving them, whether or not they are verbal. It’s about not talking through them just to reach their parents. No one is treated with a cookie cutter approach here.” This portion of Dan’s practice slowly grew, and “it really exploded in the last six months. I think when you know how to take care of kids with special needs, word of mouth spreads. I guess there weren’t too many outlets for neurodivergent children.” 

This element of Dan’s reputation became quickly clear to me when I shared on social media that I would be including him in this project. I immediately began receiving messages such as, “We love them!!! Such a great practice, and love that they’re so neurodivergent inclusive.”

Dan and his team also participate in a significant amount of community service work, especially with Breakthrough T1D, an organization focused on raising money for type 1 diabetes research. “Michelle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about three years ago, after our daughter was born. Adult onset type 1 diabetes is pretty unusual. This was right before we opened the practice, and we decided we didn’t just want to see patients, we wanted to have a meaningful impact on the community. It was important for us to find a cause to support with our office, and this one had personal meaning.” 

Breakthrough T1D is a nationally based organization, and they have a local Philly chapter. “Every October, they host a big walk in the stadium that the Phillies play in, and we raise money for that. This past year, I told people if we raise enough money, I would dye my hair blue, which is the color of the organization. You can still see a little bit of electric blue on the top of my head here.” Also in October, a Barbie with type 1 diabetes was released. “You can see her on the wall over there. My dental assistant, who is very creative, made a life-sized Barbie box and dressed up as the type 1 diabetes Barbie, and we had a photo op session at the Y.” Now the box is on display in the office, where kids (or Dan) can play inside it as well. They also have the autistic Barbie doll on display.

Ultimately, Dan built his practice with his family in mind. “My dental consultant asked me, ‘What do you want to be remembered for when you retire?’ I said, ‘I want to be remembered as a dad who was present, a husband who was present, as well as for my dentistry work. I love family time, and so I baked that in intentionally from the very beginning. Living ten minutes from home was a big game changer. There’s no work/life distinction in my world, because my office and home and social circles are all in the same place. Balancing it isn’t always easy. I always have to be “on”. But this is why I believe in being my authentic self in my practice. I am able to be the exact same person at work that I am in my community.