Dr. Krista Wortman of Summit Family Dental Began Practicing Dentistry as a Child and Still Loves it Decades Later!
While growing up in a small town in Michigan, a young Krista Wortman dreamed of becoming a dentist. The area did not have fluoridated water at the time, so she had many cavities as a child, and consequently many pediatric dentist appointments. They were all positive experiences, inspiring the future Dr. Wortman to play dentist for her friends. She would use her dad’s recliner as a dental chair, place a paper towel on “the patient’s” chest, use a little toothpaste, and even write out a receipt for services rendered!
As Dr. Wortman progressed in school, she found she really enjoyed the sciences and fell in love with dentistry, commenting, “Every patient is different, every day is different. You’re doing a craft; when you do a nice filling and see how it turns out, the instant gratification is very rewarding. More than 25 years later I still love it!”
Differentiation Through Extended Hours and Community Involvement
Dr. Wortman and her future husband met while in dental school. They each went on to practice separately, but later coincidentally both joined Summit Family Dental, and “fell into” becoming partners in the business eventually. They differentiated themselves from a lot of other practices by offering extended hours for their patients – including early morning, evening and Saturday appointments. Simultaneously, they managed their young family in a very satisfying way by swapping off workdays so each could share time with their young children.
“We worked long days, but it was really great being there for our kids and being so involved, especially for my husband to have had that experience as a dad.” – Dr. Krista Wortman
In addition to such extended hours, Summit Family Dental differentiates itself through involvement in numerous community programs:
- Dentistry from the Heart – free program for underserved members of the community
- Smiles for Freedom – free program for community Veterans
- Donated Dental Services – she and her husband each perform a free smile makeover each year
- College Scholarships – awarded to deserving local high school students bound for dentistry, or other healthcare fields, and in need of financial support
Top Practices Deliver a Top Experience
According to Dr. Wortman, “You know you’re a Top Practice when patients WANT to come to your office. For us, that means delivering the best experience possible – from the time they make that first call on the phone, to when they come in, to when they leave, to the follow-up afterward.” The entire team at Summit Family Dental clearly knows how to deliver that Top Practice experience, considering they’ve “been doing this for over 25 years and we’ve been growing every year since, with no end in sight!”
Growth of the practice is what originally brought Dr. Wortman to eAssist. A member of a dental Facebook group recommended eAssist, and then another chimed in. Dr. Wortman did her due diligence and was impressed with what she learned about eAssist, including the high caliber of webinars offered, and that the company was created by a dentist:
“I feel like [another dentist] knows best what we’re going through as practice owners, and I really like that idea. I felt more trust to start with, and I haven’t regretted it since. eAssist has been awesome, and has been there to really help us with that growth.” – Dr. Wortman
She went on to explain, “There’s no way I could have the number of billers that I’d have to have in my office to help with all the insurance matters. And it just gets harder and harder every year dealing with dental insurance, and all the questions patients have. It’s so nice to hand that off to an outside source, which lets us focus on helping the patients in our office getting treatment that day. Having eAssist has been great!”
Recommendations to New Dental Graduates
Dr. Wortman acknowledged that coming out of dental school today is very different than when she graduated over 25 years ago, and that practice ownership has become much harder. She and her husband run their highly successful practice together, whereas she points out that “to start a practice on your own, especially coming right out of dental school, is a really big undertaking.”
She offered several recommendations:
- Find a dentist with whom you can work who will be a good mentor, who will be fair to you, and who will give you beneficial opportunities to learn at your own pace.
- Establish a healthy work-life balance for your team members AND yourself – “Dentistry can be really tough physically and mentally, yet new dentists don’t understand that. Make sure you, too, have time off outside of the office to keep from burning out.”
- Help new doctors in your practice succeed by being supportive – “As the business owners, we take care of a lot of things to make it easy for someone just coming out of school so they can just focus on dentistry – learning more procedures, getting up to par with their skills, and practicing case presentations. You learn a lot in dental school, but there’s so much you don’t know when you get out; it really helps to work in another practice and to have all that taken care of so you can really focus on honing your skills and getting better with patients.”
