WHAT DO YOU GET when you cross a dental exam with a massage? Open wide and say “ahhhh” to a new concept called Spa Dentistry in Oakland.

Located in the stunning Rotunda building in downtown Oakland, City Center Dental offers all the latest dental care with a focus on comfort. What a concept!

Instead of sterile white walls, you get sage, fresh flowers and aroma therapy. Instead of a lecture on sweets, you get fresh Otis Spunkmeyer cookies in the reception room.

“It’s comfort food,” says Judy Travis, the founder of Spa Dentistry (who adds that you can always spit and rinse).

And who likes a little herbal tea and a massage with their root canal? Big, macho guys like players on the Golden State Warriors and the Oakland A’s. But you don’t have to be an athlete to get pampered here. There are plenty of eye masks and neck warmers to go around. For details, call 510-763-6300.

Helping kids

If you have room in your heart and your home this summer, keep reading.

A great organization call Kidsave is hosting a free party from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Oakland’s Leona Lodge. The party features live music from the Oakland Youth Orchestra, Kharma Dogs and other local musicians, as well as food, drink and prizes.

Kidsave finds homes in the United States for abandoned children from countries like Russia, Kazakstan and Colombia. The idea is to “host” a child for the summer and see how he or she fits with your family.

Several readers have told me they went on to adopt the visiting children. To learn more about Kidsave, call 510-339-2237.

Lighthouse memories

Two readers have stories to share, after reading last week’s column on East Brother Light station.

Mary Feinberg writes, “We attended a wedding out there for a friend many years ago and to top off the great food and fun, the happy couple got picked up by a helicopter. The rest of us had to take the little boat back to the mainland.”

My article also brought back memories for the folks at Standard Saw Works Inc., an Oakland business that’s been around for 86 years. Owner Gloria Hartshorn says 94-year-old Walter Fanning (who was instrumental in saving the lighthouse) used to get his tools sharpened there for work he did at East Brother. “He was a gentle man and a pleasure to talk to,” she remembers. Reading about Howard in my column last week has led to a reunion for Hartshorn and Fanning, who haven’t seen each other in many years.

Then there’s trash

Who would dump a crummy stained couch, without the cushions, along a residential road in the hills? Somebody with no scruples, no morals and no taste in furniture.

That being said, if you’re tired of seeing trash and garbage in our canyons and around the village, the Montclair Safety and Improvement Council wants you. The group’s March 18 meeting tackles litter and blight, and how to prevent these problems. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Montclair Elementary School auditorium. For details, see http://www.montclairsic.org.

E-mail bag

Liz T. writes: “What happened to the Montclair Pet Shop?” She says you could buy everything from dog food to chicken feed and goat grub at that store, which just recently went out of business. Word has it that business just wasn’t the same for Montclair Pet Shop after their block was redone to accommodate the big new Luckys Store (now Albertsons). Having Pet Food Express at the other end of town didn’t help either.

Punny plate

Spotted on a black sports car in Oakland, the vanity plates “2 SWHEAT.” Reader K. Jordan says the plate’s frame had an added message for bumper lovers that read: “I know I’m cute but get off my a–.”