In the 1990s, Dr. Timothy McNutt, Sr. noticed that most books about dental visits for children involved scary procedures, toothaches, or accidents. He felt strongly that children should be introduced to the dentist in a positive, non-threatening way, but he found nothing in the book market that was focused on the dentist as a safe and enjoyable experience. “At that time, there were very few books written for children telling them how a trip to the dentist could go. Most were written in a way where the child was going because there was a problem. We wanted them to visit before there was a problem and to encourage parents to bring their children in at an early age. The Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends children start seeing the dentist about six months after their first teeth appear. In our office, visits for children 24 months and under are free.”
After an exhaustive and fruitless search for happy stories about dental visits, the idea to write Alley Alligator’s Awesome Smile seized Dr. McNutt’s imagination.
“I was in the backseat of a car on the way to Greenville, North Carolina, with the people I bought the practice from, Dr. Dan Baccus and his wife. Dr. Baccus was my dentist growing up. I started going to him when I was ten years old. I told him when I was thirteen that I was going to buy his practice one day, and that’s what I did. We were going to a meeting, so I had about 6 or 8 hours in the backseat on the way there.” As he created the story, he asked himself, “How can I write this in a way that portrays what I normally do at visits that make things a lot less threatening for the children?”
Dr. McNutt applied tricks he used in his daily experiences. “Alley Alligator’s Awesome Smile is about a child whose big brother has already gone to the dentist, and she’s preparing for a visit. She doesn’t even have all her teeth yet. I used a lot of things we would tell the children at McNutt Pediatric Dentistry. The big light is called Mr. Sunshine, we have a tooth counter, we use the Super-Duper Toothbrush that gets the sugar bugs off the teeth -exactly what we talk about as we go through a visit.”
The search for an illustrator led to a serendipitous moment reminiscent of his childhood. “Frank Weatherby illustrated the book. His wife brought in some prints, and as I looked through them, I found one of an old grocery store in the country. It reminded me of the grocery store where my dad grew up, in Waynesboro, Tennessee. My dad had passed away six months prior, and it turned out the print was of that store.” Mr. Weatherby was terrified of the dentist. By the time we got through working together, I was able to do some work for him.”
Dr. McNutt purchased the practice in 1989. “I’ve been in practice for 36 years, and this practice has been here in Green Hills since 1963.” He has three sons, and his youngest, David, is also a pediatric dentist and works with his father, creating an authentic family atmosphere. Dr. McNutt also contributes to the special needs community by seeing patients with a wide range of physical and emotional disabilities and taking time and care to make sure those patients are comfortable with their experiences.
You can learn more about Alley Alligator’s Awesome Smile on the practice website, or buy it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Google Play Websites