March 20, 2017

Meet Blair Waldron of Waldron Dentistry in Marietta

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Blair Waldron.

Blair, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in east Cobb as the son of a dentist in private practice, and now I’m the dad who’s a dentist raising my kids in the same neighborhood! As a child, I watched my dad in his work and saw the positive impact he had on his patients – people who were often in pain or afraid – so when it was time to decide what to do as a career, it was easy to want to follow in his footsteps. (It wasn’t as easy to get through the coursework!) Thankfully, I did really well in school at the University of Georgia, and even had time to have fun. I was the president of my fraternity and was very involved on campus, and I loved life in Athens. Afterward, I went to dental school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, and was also very active on campus, holding positions in the American Student Dental Association. I loved the outdoor activities around Augusta as well, and spent the little free time we had as dental students mountain biking and camping. DMD in hand, I moved back to metro Atlanta and bought a practice from a retiring dentist in Marietta. My dad was still practicing in east Cobb, so I saw patients at my office three days a week and at my dad’s practice two days a week. My practice outgrew its space, so we combined our practices in 2007. Eventually, I bought my dad’s practice as well, and although he still sees patients three days a week, I am the managing doctor of our team of five dentists. I like to remind him I’m his boss now! 🙂 Our practice is continuing to grow, and I’m extremely proud that 85% of our new patients come from current patients’ referrals. It’s very important to me to offer outstanding dentistry in a warm and friendly environment at a fair cost, and our patients tell us we are doing a great job. I live less than a mile from our office with my wife and our three young children, so our community is incredibly important to us.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In many ways, the path has been smooth, because I’ve been able to watch my dad as a dentist and practice owner, so when it was my turn, I was ready. Of course, any small business owner would say there are struggles, but ours have been very mild and essentially a function of our growth, which is a good thing! We have an incredible staff and the best patients, which both go a long way toward making even the hard parts of our business manageable. In dentistry, the increase in large corporate-style practices is a challenge because patients come to us having received unpredictable care and with incorrect information about their dental health. I’d also say the insurance companies make it hard for patients to get the best care, because the plans they sell are often unnecessarily complicated and not generous to patients. That said, we know our small-town feel and attention to detail set us apart and help those patients get the care they need as affordably as possible.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Waldron Dentistry – what should we know?
We pride ourselves on really getting to know our patients, keeping them comfortable, and providing a high level of customer service. The majority of our patients have been with us for decades and there is often a complicated back story of how they originally found our office and all the people that they have referred since.

We also love technology and are always looking for ways to do things faster, better, and more affordably Popular treatments in our office these days are teeth-bleaching, one-visit crowns, and Botox for cosmetics as well as treating headaches and jaw pain.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We have been in our community for a long time and we will continue to be here for a long time, so we really care about our reputation and that patients feel that they have been treated with their best interests in mind. We think that our primary role is to thoroughly explain the pros and cons of any treatment options and help the patient decide which is the best fit for them. Dentistry is complicated because there are often several options for any given situation, so we want to partner with our patients and empower them to make an informed choice that will leave them comfortable and happy with the outcome.

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