Braces and fun it sounds like an oxymoron. But for the past 15 years, orthodontist Oles Drobocky has wanted to make getting braces a pleasurable experience for his patients at Drobocky Orthodontics. His U.S. 31-W By-Pass offices reception room features an area for children and teens to color or play video games. Patients can munch on chocolate chip cookies and swig coffee preferably after their appointments but if the need for a snack fix before the appointment prevails, there are brushing facilities within the office. His business cards are computer discs that show a variety of information about the office, including what a first visit will be like. I think about what would make it more comfortable for them, he said. This gives patients a comfort level of what the experience will be like and who theyre dealing with. Drobocky doesnt limit his thoughts about patients comfort level to just in his office. He has been known to rent places such as the Russell Sims Aquatic Center, the Capitol Arts Center or one of the movie theaters so his patients, staff and their families can have fun together. Some of my patients dont usually get to experience that, he said. We try to make it a unique experience. It wont get dull. Being an orthodontist doesnt get dull for Drobocky. The health field has intrigued him since he was a boy. My father was a veterinarian and my brother was a physician, he said. Dentistry captured Drobockys attention while he was a Bowling Green High School student and as a biology major at Western Kentucky University. He graduated from the University of Kentucky Dental School in Lexington and, after practicing a little more than three years of general dentistry in Bowling Green, went to Washington University in St. Louis to specialize in orthodontics. He chose orthodontics because it allows him to see the change in his patients. A child may come in self-conscious and insecure and I get to watch them get more confident and self-assured. Their smiles stay with them forever. Its something they always have. Changes in adults who get dental work can be just as profound, Drobocky said. He remembered one patient whose whole life was improved because of it. She had been a shut-in, unpleasant to look at, he said. She changed so dramatically afterwards. She became outgoing. She became a real estate agent. Because patients wear braces for an average of two years, and go in every few weeks to get them checked and adjusted, Drobocky becomes a part of their lives. I grow with them. I start seeing some of them as 8 year olds and see them off to the senior prom, he said. I hear about first dates, ballgames, achievements in school. For his patients, Drobocky likes to keep on the forefront of orthodontics. He is an Ormco Insider, an exclusive group of 100 orthodontists worldwide who help develop products that orthodontists use. Hes a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the only recognized national organization for university-trained orthodontists. He lectures about orthodontics and has had articles published. He also keeps busy in his home life with his wife of 13 years, Camille, and their three sons: Zenon, 6; Dane, 4; and Ivan, 15 months. Theyre what keep me going, he said. Drobocky finds his profession rewarding and strives to run his office by a mission statement: We pledge to deliver high quality orthodontic care in a loving, caring manner, at an affordable cost, in an atmosphere that is enriching to both our patients and ourselves. If we ever feel anything is not right, we just review our mission statement, he said.