No one wants to go to the dentist, ever. Filling and root canal procedures aside, there is no more objectionable a sound than that of a dental scaler scraping crud off your teeth. So it’s crucial for dental practices to entice patrons into thinking a trip to the dentist twice a year may not be so bad. Some take on hip, quick names like Floss or Tooth to appear nonthreatening, but Big Smile Dental (2833 N. Milwaukee) in Avondale opts for a more over-the-top approach. Looming above the storefront’s entrance is an incredible shrine to dentistry that features a cartoony, oversize set of teeth being tended to by both a dentist with a mammoth toothbrush and the tooth fairy with a magic wand—what devious operations the tooth fairy is up to with that wand, though, I have no idea.
Have a particular observation or favorite oddity about a neighborhood? E-mail it to zoomin@chicagoreader.com.