We’re a Plainfield Practice
Posted Aug 03, 2015Dentistry has gotten so varied and complicated that many practices tend to fall into a niche of some sort. For instance, some dentists cater just to people that are in pain. Their practice is almost like an emergency room for dental problems. No appointments needed. Also no cleanings either. Some cater to patients that need a lot of teeth removed and dentures made. No saving teeth- they are all coming out. Some cater to smile makeovers and transforming your smile into that of a movie star. Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago comes to mind. Every practice seems to fall into a category of some sort.
What do we focus on here in Plainfield? Mom! Let’s talk about Plainfield for a moment. Plainfield is suburbia. It’s “soccer moms” with kids. I’m married to one. It’s also home of the soccer mom’s parents and grandparents. It’s not a place you pull your teeth when you’re 18 (trust me, there are areas of Illinois where this is exactly what happens). Plainfield is a place where people value their teeth and don’t want to go missing a front tooth. Again, there are some areas of Illinois where this is totally fine. Here, people want their teeth and they value good dentistry. And they want it to look good but they also don’t want Michigan Avenue fees. Our average patient is someone we see twice a year for a cleaning and check up. Usually, they need a few fillings and perhaps a crown every so often. Some may need a root canal or a tooth removed and an implant placed. That’s probably 80% of what we see. Do we do cosmetic cases? Yes. Actually, we treat every filling and crown like a cosmetic case but we are family dentistry first.
Therefore, we cater to mom. That is our demographic. We see families. We have a large hygiene and preventative program. Mom and son and daughter get seen at the same time usually. Prevention is the name of the game for us. We do cleanings, fluoride treatments and fillings all day, every day. Believe it or not, some doctors are “above” doing fillings. They want to venture into complex dental surgeries, full mouth rehabilitations, orthodontics, etc. That’s great but that’s not us! We like doing routine fillings, crowns, restoring implants. It’s those things we see on a daily basis. Making a tooth look like a tooth again is always a challenge and we like that. One good front filling can transform a smile. Of course, we have the ability to treat more complex issues but we usually get other experts involved that cater to those needs.
The fact that we stick to what we do really well means we can usually offer those services at a lower fee. In dentistry, this basically means we are in-network for popular insurance plans. Or if you have no insurance, the fees are simply lower. Good dentistry but minus the Michigan Avenue fee.