Dentaltown April 2020 - 60

Where did dentistry take you
after dental school, and when and
why did you both decide that you
wanted to go a different route and
open a practice together?
At Midwestern University College of
Dental Medicine, we were fortunate that the
curriculum emphasized providing students
with the tools required to be successful in
private practice. After graduation, we were
hired as associates in a new and innovative
dental chain in Austin, Texas. Although it was
a corporation with more than 20 practices,
the company allowed us the autonomy to
build the practice the way we wanted and
provide personalized care to patients in a
corporate setting.
The thought of corporate dentistry
is often clouded with skepticism, but we
saw which aspects of corporate dentistry
worked well while identifying what didn't
work and what's missing. For four years, we
were the only two doctors in the practice,
and we grew the practice into one of the
most productive ones under the corporate

60

umbrella. Our initial intent was to buy the
practice and turn it into our own private
practice, but things don't always work out as
planned. Having spent four years building
that specific practice, we knew what would
work in downtown Austin. We searched for
several months but couldn't find an existing
practice that worked for our vision, so we
decided to build one instead.

Toothbar won the ADA's 2019
Design Innovation Award for a
new building. Tell us about how
you came up with a concept that
earned this award.
"No offense, but I hate going to the
dentist." We would hear this from friends
and strangers when they asked what we
did for a living. As a result, we decided
that when we built our practice, we would
create an experience that would change the
stigma behind what going to the dentist
should feel like.
We've been downtown Austinites for
years, so it's not unusual for us to run into

our patients in a yoga class or a grocery
store. We wanted to get rid of the "white
coat syndrome" stereotype often associated
with medicine and create an office that
gave you the same enjoyment you'd have
relaxing in the lobby of an upscale hotel bar,
for example-which was how we came up
with the name "Toothbar." We wanted to
change the mentality and dread associating
with being at the dentist and instead make
it something you look forward to-a chance
to escape from day-to-day life while also
receiving the most expert care.
In today's society, trust in medical
practitioners has decreased with the advent
of upselling, so ensuring clarity and transparency with our patients was an important
component to building our dream practice.
Overall we wanted to create an experience
that patients would enjoy, and also convey
that they were receiving the best care that
dentistry has to offer in an environment
that transports them beyond the traditional
mindset of what a dentist office is supposed
to feel like.

APRIL 2020 // dentaltown.com

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3/19/20 12:56 PM
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Dentaltown April 2020

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