Dr. Patty Merkley is a licensed dentist and owner of Southeast Smiles, a pediatric dentistry office new to Cape Girardeau.

Merkley grew up in Cape Girardeau, but left for dental school and other opportunities. She returned with her family last year and decided to open her own practice.

"I finished my residency in 2013 in the summer, and I practiced with another specialist in St. Louis for a year, and that whole time I knew I wanted to do my own thing, and this is my home. I went to high school here and went to nursing school here before dental school, so I knew I wanted to come back here," she says.

Southeast Smiles opened in October 2014 at a location in Jackson while the current office was being built. At the end of April this year, Merkley opened her doors at 2116 Megan Drive.

Merkley focuses on making a visit to the dentist a less stressful event for children.

"Every child wants to go someplace where they're not scared, and they want to interact and they want to make a friend and they want to be comfortable," she says. "Children, any child, if they're comfortable, they're going to be more engaging and do the things you ask them to do sometimes that you wouldn't think they would do. So that was kind of the goal, to set an environment where they can come in [and] from the second they walk in the door, it's playful, it's fun, there's lots of different things to see and do and lots of ways to get energy out before we get to the back, where we're asking them to do things where they have to be more still and listen and follow directions."

Merkley also works to provide a safe, welcoming environment for children with special needs. Her office has a sensory wall and sensory room to help patients relax and calm down if they need to take a break.

"That is very close to my heart with my residency that I did," she explains. "It was a hospital-based residency, so we had a lot of special-needs patients that we took care of. ... I think it was important to me to make it a little bit more special for them, knowing that not only is this a place for them, but this was a place that was designed with them in mind."

Merkley says the key to success is figuring out a distinct vision and finding supportive team members to help reach a common goal. At the end of the day, she says her main goal is to give her patients quality care, and she prides herself on creating solid relationships with patients and their families.

"It's always nice when you can develop a relationship before you have to provide treatment, because then it's just like any relationship you develop, you know, it's a friendship first," she says. "That works the same way for us ... we're going to be the most successful with children if we can develop that friendship first."

Dr. Patty Merkley at Southeast Smiles in Cape Girardeau. (Fred Lynch)