Community brings slice of support to Watermelon Dental’s Open House

August 13, 2026 · 0 Comments

By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On August 9 many members of the community came together to support the open house of Watermelon Dental, the new dental office located in the Royal Courtyards in Bolton.

The open house took place from 1 – 4 p.m., and was full of activities from bouquet making, ice cream trucks, a DJ, a chance to sit in fancy cars, and a raffle to win a Nintendo Switch 2.

Dr. Sanjukta Mohanta is the founder and owner of Watermelon Dental. After many years of working in public health and general dentistry, she decided in September 2025 that she would open her own dental practice.

Mohanta’s main goal for her practice was to create an office that made people excited and happy to come in to the dentist instead of nervous or scared.

The team at Watermelon Dental also want to make the practice as open and accessible as they can. With accessible entries and large doorways, the building is accessible for all members in the community.

Open house attendees got the chance to tour the facility and check out all the rooms and areas that the practice has to offer.

From warm friendly colours and pictures of watermelons on the wall, to the fun children’s play zone, to the warm lights and polar bear plushies scattered throughout the office, Watermelon Dental is a warm and inviting atmosphere that not only interest’s kids but adults as well.

In addition to the community support, the Watermelon Dental open house had many other visitors such as Dufferin-Caledon MPP – and Ontario Deputy Premier – Sylvia Jones, Councillor Mario Russo, and Councillor Christina Early, who came out to show their support for the organization.

On behalf of Mayor Annette Groves and Town Council, Russo and Early presented Mohanta and the rest of the team with a certificate of celebration and acknowledgement of the “wonderful” opening.

“It was so wonderful because our number one value is to connect with the community. Our leaders are very important parts of our community – our Councillors, and our MPPs, and MPs – because they help shape the policy,” says Mohanta. “They help bring people together. They listen to our needs and make changes to make the community better, so, it’s so great to see them and to have their support.”

Reflecting on the entire experience, Mohanta says she is thankful for all her friends and family members’ support as well as the communities; however, as she mentioned during her speech, she finds that she is the most grateful for her team who have been there with her for this journey.

“It takes the team to take care of the community, and I thought it was going to be challenging to find dental staff because there’s a shortage of dental staff. But, in fact, it’s been so wonderful that people are coming to me and asking to work with me,” says Mohanta. “It shows that this isn’t just a place where patients want to come, but it’s where people want to work as well. I wanted to create a fun place for everyone, a team, and the patients. My team are my number one asset.”

Looking to the future, Mohanta says she is looking forward to see the growth in Watermelon Dental, connecting with the community, and providing an accessible, open and welcoming practice for all.

“I’m so excited to connect with the community and our goal is to help everyone reach their 100th birthday with the healthy smiles. We want to get them healthy, and to get their mouths healthy as well,” says Mohanta. “We’re just looking forward to taking care of more people because we never want to have anyone with a dental emergency or have to get a tooth taken out. if they come regularly to see us, we can help them have that healthy body and healthy mouth as well”.