Orthotown January/February 2020 - 27

office visit

school in Sacramento and another was a
college friend from Denver. The faculty
on the tour noticed how well I "fit in," and
said that did play a factor in my acceptance.
After I got into dental school, I put my
head down and worked, worked, worked in
classes as I'd never worked before. I wanted
to specialize, I was sure, but didn't decide
on orthodontics until I got into the clinic.
I came across this quote recently by
President Calvin Coolidge:
Nothing in this world will take the
place of persistence. Talent will not. ...
Genius will not. ... Education will not. ...
Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has
solved and always will solve the problems
of the human race.
I sincerely believe in this principle of
simply working your tail off to victory.

You bought your practice in 2015,
shortly after graduating. What led
you to make that decision and what
obstacles did you face? How has your
practice grown since then?
Ownership was always something that
attracted me to dentistry. Of course, the
reality is that startups take a while to get off
life support and finding a practice to purchase
can be very difficult. Of the practices
available, many seem like risky investments,
with either collection numbers that are too
low or burdensome overhead costs.
I was wildly fortunate to connect with
a Columbia alumnus, Dr. Cecil E. Alumbaugh, who was looking to sell his practice
before I started my last year of residency.
You sometimes hear horror stories about
transitions after buying a practice, but we
honestly had an incredibly smooth transition.
He was gracious and respectful to me, and
I was blown away by the connection he had
with his patients and the quality of his work.
His patients truly loved him!
For the first three months, we worked
on the same days while he continued to

see all the recall patients and I focused
on meeting current patients, consults and
new starts. After three months, we split the
patients into those who were finishing and
everyone else. For the next six months, we
practiced together on different days before
he rode off into the sunset. We still go out
to lunch a few times per year, and I count
him as a dear friend and mentor.
Fortunately, the office has grown over
the past four years and I can maintain
everything on this location alone. The
growth has come through reaching out
to new referral sources, moving to a more
visible and better location, and increasing
the convenience of the practice.

When you first started out, in addition
to working at your own practice, you
worked at four other practices. Why did
you decide to do this, and what led you

OFFICE HIGHLIGHTS
Name:
L. Matthew Schofield, DDS, MS
Graduated from:
Columbia University College
of Dental Medicine, 2015
Practice name:
Irving Orthodontics,
Irving, Texas
irvingorthodontics.com
Practice size:
3,000 square feet
Staff:
8
http://www.irvingorthodontics.com
Orthotown January/February 2020

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