Destin dentist offers medical touch, without the medical feel

When you enter the Destin Center for Cosmetic Dentistry for the first time, you may feel you’ve stepped into the wrong office.
“People will often come in and say, ‘Is this a dentist office?’” said DMD Dennis Lichorwic, the president and founder of the DCCD.
Lichorwic’s office décor is a combination of contemporary and traditional art and photos of clients, family and personal accomplishments. One room is equipped with a computer for guests to browse different company services and a library that contains classic literary works and medical textbooks such as Gray’s Anatomy.
“I realized I spent more time here than I do at home, so I figured I’d want to make this as nice as somewhere I’d live,” he said. “Also, people have anxiety about coming in. It helps them a lot that it doesn’t look, sound or smell like a dentist office.”
The University of Florida Dental School graduate opened his first cosmetic dentistry practice in Destin in 1999 after working in Tampa and realizing he wanted to stretch outside of the traditional dentistry field and follow in the footsteps of several friends who he called, “Yodas” of the practice.
“You really don’t know that many things out of dental school,” he said. “I was working in Tampa at Springhill (clinic) and knew I needed to get my own place.
“I visited Destin on a work related trip and fell in love. I then asked myself what I really wanted to do.”
Today Lichorwic has 12 employees at the DCCD and offers services that range from teeth whitening, facials and waxing to wrinkle treatments and smile enhancements. He is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and has been named America’s top dentist for five straight years by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.
According to a press release from DCCD Practice Administrator Steve Barber, the office, built in 2005, provides every comfort possible from a beautifully appointed facility, complete with coffee bar and fireplace, to massage chairs and movies in every dental suite.
“This place is totally different than the old office,” he said. “It was really a starter-up type of practice.” “When we started developing the new office, I put down on paper my dream dental office.
“I think it came out to be what I wanted.”