We (my wife Janine and I) made the decision to do so almost two years ago and now we are finally opening up! So, how did we come to this decision? Well, I have had the pleasure (or displeasure?) of practicing in many different types of practices: Corporate, private equity backed practice, practices owned by orthodontists, practices owned by general dentists, a practice run by a lawyer and faculty practice in a dental school. As you can imagine, patient care varies wildly across these different practices. 

But, what I learned from all of them is that there is a need for better care, and I want to provide that to my patients. I was even once let go from a practice because I wasn’t willing to lower my standard of care! Their words, not mine. And I wear it as a badge of honor. I was not willing to sacrifice the quality of my work so that I could see more patients for the sake of the practice’s bottom line. If a patient starts treatment, they deserve the absolute best. They deserve my time and my expertise. 

What was also common in many of these practices was rapid turnover of the doctors treating the patients and sometimes the staff as well. Some patients I saw have seen four orthodontists! That is not a recipe for the highest level of success. Owning my own practice was the best way to improve on all of these aspects. We can make sure we maintain continuity of care to the highest standard using the most modern techniques. 

As the landscape of orthodontics changes, it is becoming less and less common to find a private orthodontic practice. We think that is to the detriment of the patient, and we want to bring the level of care you deserve back to you.

To reach our goal of owning our own practice, we had opportunities to purchase existing practices, which would have been much easier and less stressful than starting from scratch. But these were not our own, and they were not in our community. We wanted to create our own brand with our own vision. We believe our patients deserve the best of the best, and we wanted to develop and start a boutique, concierge practice in our community. If our patients are not happy, we are not happy.