There\u2019s a huge tree growing out of the floor in Hayden Perkins\u2019 Oxford office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against one wall, a bank of video game systems, mobile and standard, beckons his eager clients. A huge saltwater aquarium serves as a divider between two waiting rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as if the furniture in bright primary colors isn\u2019t enough, original artwork and hundreds of photographs brighten the office at every twist and turn. The ceilings are vaulted. It\u2019s airy and full of sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large Golden Retriever patrols the halls, collecting love pats, totally unruffled by the commotion and chatter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on most days of the week, the Children\u2019s Dental Center brims with 80 to 90 children, from toddlers to teens. Perkins is their pediatric dentist, and his patients come from as far north as Corinth and far south as the deep Delta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His staff is crazy about him. So are his patients and their parents, especially those whose children cope with health challenges, including autism, paralysis, Down syndrome, seizure disorders and congenital heart failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpecial-needs parents are saints,\u201d said Perkins, 38, a 2004 graduate of the School of Dentistry who received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Mississippi in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His practice includes a specialization in caring for disabled patients, and to many of those families, Perkins is likely seen as a godsend: Unlike a lot of dentists in the state, he accepts Medicaid and the state Children\u2019s Health Insurance Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of pediatric dentists just won\u2019t take that. There\u2019s not much money in it,\u201d said Dr. Frances Gordy, professor of care planning and restorative dentistry. \u201cI admire him for taking and treating those patients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perkins stands apart in Mississippi\u2019s pediatric dentistry community, and it\u2019s not just because of the patient-friendly comforts of his office or his choice to care for children from low-income families who may have nowhere else to turn. His career is a calling, and his goal is to educate parents so that all children begin good dental hygiene in their first year of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hollandale native was in the first kindergarten class that went all the way to graduation at Deer Creek School in Arcola. He was a 15-year-old ninth-grader when the truck he was driving flipped, robbing him of the use of his legs. Perkins enrolled at Ole Miss, but had no immediate plans for dental school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started off in computer science, of all things, because someone told me it would be good for someone in a wheelchair,\u201d Perkins said during a chat in his private office, a comfy lair that shows off the fruits of his family hunting trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI took my first calculus class. That cured me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he loved biology and chemistry, and soon found himself shadowing Dr. Andrew Abide Sr., his dentist in Greenville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI decided I wanted to do something in the health field, and after observing him, I got my mind set on it,\u201d Perkins remembered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spent a year after graduation teaching high school biology, physics, chemistry and algebra in Rossville, Tennessee, as he studied for his dental school acceptance exam. After graduation, he completed a two-year pediatric residency at Batson Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven before I started dental school, I was leaning toward pediatrics,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cI love kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While wife Jessica worked, Perkins sometimes had to take their twins, John Seton and Ashton, now 13, to class. Their oldest son is Preston, now 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019d be under my feet, or sitting in a corner playing. The dental school folks knew them well,\u201d Perkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treating special-needs children, Perkins said, \u201cis a big part of pediatric dentistry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my residency program, almost all of our patients were special needs,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery pediatric dentist in the state . . . if they had someone they couldn\u2019t handle, they sent them to UMMC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHayden was an outstanding resident and probably worked harder than anyone,\u201d said Dr. Bill Duncan, professor emeritus and interim chair of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health. \u201cHe\u2019s gifted in terms of communicating with children. He\u2019s always gravitated toward children and has a big family of his own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gordy, who Perkins counts among the professors who had the biggest impact on his career, said he made her proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t cut him any slack, but we made it so that he could have wheelchair access with everything needed in his reach,\u201d Gordy said. \u201cHe probably thought I was a witch who rode him. We didn\u2019t, but he did such a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perkins also singles out Dr. Neva Penton Eklund, former associate professor of pediatric and public health dentistry, as a mentor who helped shape his future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was the one that introduced me to the joys and rewards of taking care of these \u2018special babies,\u2019 as she would often say,\u201d Perkins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perkins\u2019 practice is divided between seeing patients in his office and performing dental surgery three mornings a week at the Oxford and Batesville hospitals. He shares office space in Oxford with his two partners, pediatric dentists Dr. Clyde Musgrave and Dr. Jason Coleman. Perkins and Musgrave together staff a clinic in Grenada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a typical day, Perkins sees approximately 10 children with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a huge spectrum,\u201d he said of their health challenges. \u201cWe love taking care of those kids, and there\u2019s not a lot of places they can go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDr. Perkins is the one who taught Barkley how to do wheelies,\u201d said Kelli Melton of Charleston, whose 8-year-old son, Barkley Criswell, a paraplegic, is one of Perkins\u2019 patients. \u201cHe even taught him how to get back in his chair if he falls out. He\u2019s an inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melton, whose 11-year-old daughter, Cheyanne Criswell, also is a patient, added: \u201cHe is the most extraordinary man you could ever be around. He and Barkley kind of share the same injury.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore anything gets worse, he takes care of it,\u201d said Angela Hawkins of Water Valley, mother to patients Bradley and Caleb Ferguson, 10 and 7 respectively, and Lauren Hoskins, 12. \u201cHe gets them not to be shy or scared. The kids love to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perkins and his staff make a priority of educating parents on proper dental health. The vast majority of his surgery patients, most not yet school-aged, have \u201crampant dental decay,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to do a lot of crowns and extractions. It\u2019s a huge problem in Mississippi and in states that are considered poor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He finds that some parents with lower education levels put their children to bed with a bottle or sippy cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wears their teeth out,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cUnfortunately, sometimes the damage is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe stress that kids visit us at age 1. That gives us the chance to educate parents, and that child will have less likelihood of problems down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tempering that a visit to the dentist can be scary for some kids is the fact that Perkins\u2019 Oxford office is just plain delightful. He said he\u2019s had to replace pint-sized chairs \u201ctons of times\u201d that parents have broken as they enjoyed the video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His patients draw pictures displayed across the office walls, as are their photographs. The tree? It\u2019s custom-made by a California company, and frequently decorated by his staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe try to make it fun,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cWe want them to be excited to come see us. We see them from infant to teenagers, around 16 or 17. The boys are ready to go then, but the girls won\u2019t leave. I tell them when they graduate from college or get married, they\u2019ve got to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s difficult is that you\u2019re working with kids. It\u2019s hard to reason with a 3-year-old. You learn how to talk to a child and how to calm their fears. From 8 to 5, there\u2019s somebody crying in the office. Some come in and they\u2019re hurting. We get them through it and try to make it as easy and pleasant as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His patients at first are intrigued by his wheelchair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have kids who want to ride,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cThey are inquisitive, and they don\u2019t have a filter. I tell them I hurt my back a long time ago in a car wreck, and I wasn\u2019t wearing my seat belt \u2013 and that\u2019s why Mama makes you wear yours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The office\u2019s open bay has 12 chairs. \u201cI wish I had 18,\u201d he said. \u201cHere, the kids are right beside each other. They don\u2019t care about being in their own little room. They give each other confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, Perkins said, children will be children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get bitten all the time, but I know how to get in there and get out pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, there\u2019s Sophie, the mild-mannered, laid-back family pet who reports to work with Perkins several days a week. Look at Perkins\u2019 website, www.oxfordpediatricdentistry.com, and you\u2019ll see photos of children sprawling across Sophie, shaking her paws, or giving her tight hugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had two Golden Retrievers, but the oldest died when Sophie was 2,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cShe\u2019d just gotten through with obedience training, and she seemed sad at home, so I brought her here. Within two days, she was trained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen she hears my keys jingle at the house, she grabs my duffel bag and is ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one of Barkley\u2019s visits, Sophie was taking a break in Perkins\u2019 personal office, but spied Barkley coming through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe came out and got in front of him and put her head in his lap. She knew,\u201d Kelli Melton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perkins fills a need \u2013 and a loving space \u2013 in his patients\u2019 lives, those around him say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHayden does have a soft spot in his heart for kids from all walks of life,\u201d Duncan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every family on his patient registry gets a card with his cell phone number on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a child has an emergency, we fit them in, no question,\u201d Perkins said. \u201cI\u2019m always on call for my patients.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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