This year, Dr. Kevin Swenson finally fulfilled his 26-year-old dream. Thursday, he had the opportunity to show it to the inhabitants of Emporia.

The public got their first taste of the brand new Emporia Dental during its open house on a scorching Thursday afternoon. Although the new facility — located at 601 North Main St. — already held a groundbreaking ceremony in April and has been accepting patients for months, it was the first chance for many to see the new facility up close.

“It’s been in the plans for about 10 years, and I never saw the right time to do it,” Swenson said. “Now that it’s here it’s a dream come true and we are able to provide the highest level of dental services to our community.”

Swenson has been practicing dentistry in the city since 1996, when he opened his old practice next to the Emporia Mall.

According to Swenson’s wife, Kelly, who is the office manager, the new facility has long been a gleam in Kevin’s eye.

“Dr. Swenson and I turned 50 last year,” Kelly said. “He always talked and dreamed of having a beautiful facility where he could provide cutting-edge technology and care in a rural community like La ours at Emporia.”

“When we turned 50, we talked about it and were like, ‘Okay, we’re getting a bit older, so we either have to go ahead with the dream…or decide not to.’ He pretty much said, ‘Let’s go.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 upended the Swensons’ ambitions. They were about to start design and construction and already had local firm Slate and Spivey lined up as contractors.

“We put [Slate] on hold for six months during the pandemic,” Kelly said. “Then we gave it the green light to continue once we realized the pandemic was going to last for some time yet.”

Remia Moore of Lillian’s Rentals, located across Main Street, was in charge of the open house festivities. Rather ironically for the opening of a dentist office, visitors could help themselves to free popcorn, lemonade, barbecue and potato chips outside the building. From the outside, it smelled more like the opening of a cinema than that of a dental practice.

“Gone is the old, make way for the new” was the theme of the open day. The first thing many visitors saw upon entering was a large flat-screen TV that displayed a presentation about the history of Swenson’s dental practice.

Kelly and the rest of the Emporia Dental staff gave guests a tour of the building, showing many of the technological advancements in dentistry now available to patients that were previously unavailable at the former Swenson practice.

One such advancement is the “Solea” CO2 laser machine, which can fill cavities without the need for a needle and drill, as well as reduce snoring by treating the soft palate that vibrates during sleep.

“This thing is a game changer. Not many dentists have that,” Kelly said. “We just did this on two-thirds of our staff and they had an 85% improvement with less snoring.”

As for the old building opposite? According to Ms Swenson, the site of the former practice is now for sale.