Dr. Harry Sugg established Wheatland Dental Care in 1972. After “pouring his life” into satisfying countless patients for five decades, Dr. Sugg passed in 2022. The decision by his family to carry on his legacy was not a difficult one; they wanted to continue serving the myriad patients who had been loyal to the practice for most of their lives and had become like family, as had the long-time staff.
The Sugg family partnered with one of the full-time dentists to continue owning Wheatland Dental Care. Daughter Jaclyn Sugg now puts her degree in finance and management to valuable use as the practice’s office manager.
Jaclyn and her sister were literally “born into dentistry,” given that their dad had already been a successful practice owner for more than 20 years, and their mom was a hygienist. As soon as the girls were old enough to help, they were asked to do so in any way they could. Jaclyn recalled, “My earliest memory of helping at the office is when I was eight years old over Christmas break. Tons of charts needed to be alphabetized. It didn’t matter that I was struggling with reading, I knew my alphabet! Eventually we learned to clean hygiene rooms, package gauze, and help with anything and everything we could.”
Jaclyn’s sister eventually became a dental assistant, whereas Jaclyn was not a big fan of the sciences. She had no plans to become a dentist herself, and instead opted to study finance in college. After graduation, she worked six years for a non-profit organization.
Eventually, Jaclyn’s calling was to return to the family business. She now serves in a management position and handles the finance aspects of the practice. She views this as the best of both worlds –”I really enjoy it. And, I’m in a role where I get to use my strengths of finance and management, and yet in an industry where we get to help people with their health, which is also something I’m passionate about.”
Differentiation Through Excellence Across the Board
“My dad’s vision for our practice was to be the Ritz-Carlton of dentistry.” – Jaclyn Sugg
Ritz-Carton Hotels are known for the exceptional training behind their exceptional service. As part of the training program at Wheatland Dental, the entire team would be treated to breakfast at the renowned hotel so they could personally witness and experience the service, the quality, the communication – all factors which have made the hotel chain’s training so well-known. The team would then be given training on how to implement those concepts into the Wheatland Dental patient experience.
“So when it comes to differentiating ourselves, we expect excellence across the board,” Jaclyn explained. “From the way our yard looks; to the way patients are greeted by name; excellent clinical care of course; and something we do that our patients love is that every patient, every appointment, leaves with a rose and a sincere thank you for choosing Wheatland Dental!”
To help trim expenses in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, they stopped dispensing roses. But then so many patients began asking, “When are you going to bring back the roses? When am I going to get my rose?” that they had no choice but to reinstate what has now become a near-20-year tradition. Jaclyn even has patients stop her when she’s out and about in the community and comment, “Hey, I was in the office the other day and got my rose!”
“Giving out roses is an added way for us to show our appreciation to patients for entrusting us with their health… their money… their time…, every single time they come in.” – Jaclyn Sugg
A Top Practice Puts Patients First
When asked what a Top Practice in dentistry looks like, Jaclyn reiterated – “Being excellent across the board; it’s not just about doing a great root canal. My dad would say, ‘When a patient comes in, they don’t know if they got good dental care or not, but they know if they’re in pain, and they know how they’re treated.’”
The Wheatland Dental team works hard to always be available to their patients – by being open two evenings a week, as well as on Saturdays, and by setting aside time in the schedule to treat emergencies. They also go above and beyond to help patients be comfortable and manage pain. As one example, the post-op area for patients who have just undergone oral surgery is furnished with massage chairs in which they relax for at least 30 minutes, and also a TENS unit to reduce pain and swelling.
“We do anything extra we can so patients are never in pain, and so we’re always available for them.” – Jaclyn Sugg
eAssist Filled the Need… and Helps Fill the Void
As is the case for businesses of all kinds, change often occurs due to some level of new or anticipated crisis of a sort. In Wheatland Dental’s case, change was forced due to the impending departure of the long-time office manager who had been handling all of the dental insurance billing and collections. Jaclyn described eAssist as “such a great solution for us.”
Moreover, Jaclyn reflected on how difficult the past 18 months have been – “I came back to work at the office just shortly before he passed. I still have a big learning curve, but I don’t have him here to answer my questions. eAssist has been so very helpful, and by staying on top of things. Sometimes our biller will send me an email, but I don’t get back to them; they’re so faithful about following up.”
“I’ve worked with about 10 people from eAssist and have had a really great experience across the board.” – Jaclyn Sugg
Jaclyn describes members of their eAssist team as consistently going above and beyond – “They’ll take care of things that I know are not their job. They’ll say, ‘Hey Jaclyn, I know this will help you; can I go ahead and take care of this for you?’ whether it’s insurance contracts, or setting up EFTs, or helping with our PMS. It seems like a great part of the eAssist work culture.”
She went on to acknowledge that “Everyone at eAssist has been really understanding of our situation, and just so patient. There have been times when I scheduled a meeting and forgot; no one’s been upset, they’re so graciousness, and so persistent in helping me.”
Advice to Learn From
When asked what her advice would be to new dental school graduates, Jaclyn offered without hesitation, “My day would say, ‘You don’t know anything.’”
Dr. Sugg’s career success was undoubtedly due in part to his own humble recognition that he felt like he didn’t know anything coming out of school. Consequently, he took a full-time job working for the Veterans Administration in Memphis, where he had attended school. There he had the opportunity to work under an excellent dentist from whom he could learn, and who was willing to mentor him.
In addition, during Dr. Sugg’s first year of dental school he worked evenings at a dental clinic that provided services to low-income patients. They had no Xray machine, and all Dr. Sugg did for four to five hours every evening was perform extractions. Income was of lesser importance at that time; he just wanted to become “a really good dentist” and knew practice would make perfect.
Whenever dentists new to Wheatland Dental would ask Dr. Sugg how he became so skilled at extractions, he explained his early experience. He would also require any new hire – whether fresh out of dental school or with years of experience – to perform 100 extractions of all kinds. Regardless of prior experience, any dentist not willing to “perfect through practice” would not be hired onto the Wheatland Dental team.
Jaclyn remembers her dad talking about a dental course he was attending when he was 67 years of age, having already been a dentist for 40 years. He remarked, “In another couple of years I’m going to be a good dentist.’ – He always had this perspective that there’s so much to learn; there’s so much to get better at; it’s just never-ending, whether you’re a new graduate or you’ve been practicing for 30 or 40 years.”
“I think people say they want to be a great dentist, but you really have to put in the work for it.” – Jaclyn Sugg
