Dr. Alexander Nguyen of Surprise (Arizona) Oral and Implant Surgery started his journey in the dental field at just 17 years of age. He admitted not really knowing what he wanted to do while in high school, and partly attributes his path into dentistry “to the luck of the draw.”
His own dentist suggested he take advantage of California’s unique Regional Occupational Program (ROP) to learn about dentistry as something he might enjoy. While attending classes at night and working as a dental assistant, Dr. Nguyen decided dentistry was indeed “fun, and it kept me out of trouble.” He earned a dental X-ray license, and continued to work as a dental assistant while in college. He then attended dental school at the University of Southern California.
While at USC, Dr. Nguyen “fell in love with oral surgery” and was accepted into a four-year national professional oral surgery residency at the Carl Foundation Hospital in Champaign, Illinois. Following this residency, he relocated from California to Arizona. For several years he practiced as an associate doctor at various offices before deciding he was ready to venture out on his own. Four and a half years ago Dr. Nguyen acquired a practice in Surprise, Arizona.
Surprise Oral and Implant Surgery is considered a full-scope oral National Facial Surgery practice. This means their services range from dentoalveolar surgery (e.g., wisdom teeth and complex extractions) to bone grafting, to implants of all kinds, to advanced impact treatments such as zygomatic and pterygoid implant surgery (for which Dr. Nguyen is an instructor). In addition, Dr. Nguyen has hospital privileges at multiple medical centers in the area. While he maintains his credentials with those organizations, he admits his own practice keeps him so busy that nowadays he spends most of his time at the office.
A Niche as The Foundation Guy
Dr. Nguyen prefers patients work with a general dentist of their choice for such above-the-tooth treatments as crowns and bridges, for example. He explained the role of Surprise Oral and Implant Surgery as “a specialty office. We deal with everything below the tooth; that’s all we do, and we do a lot of it. I like to call myself ‘The Foundation Guy’ because we give the patient a nice foundation for a nice tooth.”
He differentiates Surprise Oral and Implant Surgery not just by being a specialty office, but also by treating difficult cases. Dr. Nguyen handles many re-do cases, those with very little remaining bone, and previous failures. The practice also excels at treating patients with extreme anxiety. Thanks to his hospital residency and additional dental school training, Dr. Nguyen is able to treat many medically-compromised patients in the office by offering anesthesia options to address varying levels of patient anxiety or fear.
The Many Facets of a Top Dental Practice
Dr. Nguyen realizes being a top dental practice encompasses multiple aspects. No question, though, the number one priority for him is top-notch patient care.
“Doing really high-quality work with really good outcomes – that’s always going to be the priority.” – Dr. Alexander Nguyen
In addition, the team at Surprise Oral and Implant Surgery focuses on:
- Patient experience. “No one’s jumping for joy to come see an oral surgeon, so we try to maintain a really good environment, and a very nice office atmosphere.”
- The right team around you. Dr. Nguyen values the outstanding front and back office staff he has that “allows the patient to have a really good experience – coming in, along with good outcomes going out; that combination leads to a really good practice.”
- Effective, efficient utilization of both space and staff. “You have to be able to fully utilize the space you have, and make sure the staff is utilizing their time efficiently.”
eAssist Frees Up the Phones for Patient Care
Dr. Nguyen believes the goal of any practice “should be for us to be treating patients, not to be on the phone with insurance companies.” He first heard about eAssist Dental Solutions from a former classmate and colleague – a solo practitioner in San Diego where the need to utilize limited space and a small staff to deliver a high level of care is especially critical. By necessity, his colleague outsourced numerous services, including several through eAssist, whom he highly recommended to Dr. Nguyen.
“eAssist has been great! They’re really helpful because they save us a lot of phone time, and keep our busy phone lines open so we can concentrate on patients and on delivering patient care, vs. us being on the phone with insurance companies.” – Dr. Nguyen
As a specialty practice entailing complex medical coding, he said it took about a month for eAssist to fully implement how the office prefers to handle insurance verifications. Once they achieved an ideal flow, he said, “It’s been really good to free up my staff on the phone lines; you guys take care of [insurance verifications] remotely, and then we can concentrate on patient care.”
Advice to Learn By: Be a Sponge After Graduation
Dr. Nguyen acknowledges that different people have different preferences about what they like, and what they like to do. He offers several words of advice for new dental school graduates, with an overarching theme:
“Be a sponge – not just learning the clinical portion, but if you plan to own your own practice someday, learn the skills needed to own a business, run a practice, and manage people. Owning a business is very different than showing up to the office, clocking in and out, and just doing the work.” – Dr. Nguyen
- Especially as a general dentist, take advantage of continuing education and other opportunities to experience various aspects of specialties
- Gain as much experience as you can; learn as many procedures as possible that you are willing to do
- Establish a vision of how you want to practice
- Learn from working for others, at least for a while; observe and determine what you do and don’t like about how things are managed, so you can make your own decisions going forward
- Learn the critical skill of influencing patients. Dentists provide a service, so you must be able to relay the importance of treatment, recognizing that every patient is different in terms of how they receive and process information.
- Learn the critical skill of managing employees – “When you run a practice, you have to be able to see how other people work and function – how they tick – so you can work with them, and they can produce their best work for the practice.”
- And finally, Dr. Nguyen urges new doctors to not get discouraged; to “stick with it, because the money will come.” He acknowledges there’s a lot to learn when you first come out of school, and that the learning curve can be quite steep. He also knows first-hand the financial burden new doctors face. Having attended USC – the most expensive dental school in the country at the time – he knows well the importance of controlling spending. Dr. Nguyen strongly advises new graduates to prioritize spending what you can afford on learning, and on bettering your skills that can create a better niche. That said, he also advises doctors to be honest with themselves about their limitations, such as surgical talent, and instead, to build relationships with other specialists who can support your vision.
“You’ll see your investment in dental school come back sooner if you control your spending, and invest in yourself.” – Dr. Nguyen
