At 51584 Indiana State Route 933, Tulip Tree Dental Care has built its identity around familiar faces, local ties and a therapy dog named Meatball.
The South Bend practice marks its 12th anniversary in September 2026. Meatball, a therapy Bernedoodle, greets nervous patients at the door. The anniversary account also says he visits local schools to help children feel calm, although those visits were not independently confirmed by schools or public agencies.
Founded in September 2014, the independently owned practice now serves families from northern South Bend into Niles, Michigan. EIN Presswire reports more than 750 Google reviews with an average rating of 4.9 stars. Those figures remain claims from that account rather than independently verified metrics.
The anniversary account was published on October 8, 2026, after the practice marked its 12th year in September 2026.
A local practice with a broad clinical offering
Dr. Nicole L. Hurcomb, DDS, known to patients as Dr. Nicci, founded Tulip Tree Dental Care after seven years at two South Bend locations. She grew up in northwest Indiana and has lived and practiced in Michiana for most of her career.
The practice provides general and restorative dentistry. It also offers clear aligner orthodontics and EMFACE, described in the anniversary material as a needle-free facial treatment. The stated service area covers South Bend, Niles and surrounding Michiana communities.
Her professional background is closely tied to dentistry. The anniversary account characterizes Dr. Hurcomb as a third-generation dentist who began working in her father's dental office at 13 before graduating from the Indiana University School of Dentistry.
The same material says she has completed several hundred hours of continuing education, including courses at the Bell Institute. It identifies memberships in the American Dental Association and the Indiana Dental Association, along with the Academy of General Dentistry. Independent confirmation of those biographical details, memberships and education hours was not identified in the reviewed material.
The reviewed anniversary material contains no official statements from regulators, court decisions, licensing-violation findings, financial figures or other independent evaluations of the clinic's performance.
Community care beyond the dental chair
Meatball's school visits extend the practice's patient-experience focus beyond its own premises. The account says he has visited the Montessori Academy at Edison Lakes and the Portage School of Leaders, where his role is to help children feel more at ease around dental care.
The approach is informal but concrete. A familiar animal creates a calmer point of contact before or around an appointment. The visits themselves were not separately verified by the named schools or other independent institutions.
The practice's community identity also has a distinctly domestic detail.
Dr. Hurcomb regularly bakes for staff and patients, shares her recipes and is known around the office for what colleagues jokingly describe as her second job as a baker.
Independent dentistry also shapes how practices handle the patient experience. A separate account of practice change shows how equipment can influence a clinician's work. Tulip Tree Dental Care's account instead centers on continuity, personal accountability and community presence.
The anniversary account reports a 4.9-star average across more than 750 reviews, alongside family dentistry and described school outreach. The review figures and outreach claims have not been independently audited.
