Why this practice is built backwards

The longer I practiced dentistry, the more certain I became of something they do not put on the brochures: less dentistry is better. Nothing I can put in your mouth, no filling and no crown, will ever match the healthy, natural tooth you were born with. The finest dentistry in the world is still a repair. Keeping you from needing the repair is the better job, and it is the job I want.

Most of dental care is not set up that way. The system, insurance plans, production targets, the whole machinery, rewards treatment. Prevention is inexpensive and quiet; procedures are billable. Nobody has to be a villain for that arrangement to bend care in the wrong direction: it simply pays better when you get worse. I did not want to practice inside that incentive, so in 2007 I built a practice pointed the other way.

Here, the work starts with education. Your mouth is unlike anyone else’s, and before we talk about doing anything, you should understand what is actually happening in yours and why. Then we make a plan together for keeping it healthy. When something does need attention, I will tell you plainly what I found, what your options are, what each one costs you in tooth structure, and what happens if you wait.

Then you decide. Not me, and not an insurance table. You have the right to make your own choices about your care in an environment with no judgment and no pressure, and you will not find either one here. My role is to be your advocate: the person who hears your concerns, gives you the honest picture, and delivers the care you choose.

That is the whole story. It is not a complicated philosophy; it is just rarer than it should be. If it sounds like the kind of dentistry you have been looking for, call the office. I would be glad to meet you.

Chris Jaghab, DDS