by Family group practice grows through fun culture, cutting-edge technology.
By Daniel Beaird
Dr. Jennifer Loveland co-founded Loveland Dental Group six years ago in North Carolina with her father, Dr. Robert Walker. He practiced dentistry in eastern Idaho for 35 years and she served as a dental hygienist for five years before going to dental school in Salt Lake City.
Soon after, they traveled south and opened Loveland Dental Group in the Tar Heel State, acquiring a practice in Cornelius, N.C., in September 2016. Today, there are seven practices in Concord, Cornelius, High Point, Mooresville and Winston-Salem, N.C., including six through acquisition and one de novo.
“With so many people moving to North Carolina, we’ve been able to expand some practices to multi-doctor,” said B.J. Stucki, managing partner of Loveland Dental Group. “Right now, we’re focusing on growing regionally within one hour of our current practices, but we’re hoping as our leadership team grows, we’ll serve a broader region and area.”
Loveland Dental Group leads a warm, welcoming staff dedicated to patient satisfaction and each practice uses the latest cutting-edge dental equipment and technology while upholding rigorous practice standards. It specializes in general dentistry and orthodontic treatment, and it also offers cosmetic dentistry options.
Fun culture, cutting-edge technology
“Our culture is unique,” Dr. Loveland said. “I like to be happy and laugh, and we’re family friendly. We treat all of our people as family. They work with us, not for us. I’m non-confrontational, but I’ve grown as a leader making the tough decisions leaders have to make.”
Stucki says it’s that culture that drives Loveland Dental Group’s growth. The organization is focused on their team members and patients through their version of love, which they describe as caring for, valuing and respecting everyone, and creating a synergy.
“Most of our doctors are two to five years out of school, and as a dentist, you’ll never know everything,” Dr. Loveland said. “But we help them through those things. They are equals and we offer mentoring in a non-judgmental environment. That helps our doctor retention.”
It’s a fun environment to work in and Dr. Loveland leads 100% by example. “If you’re going to be a jerk, then your staff is going to think that’s OK,” she said. “Our practice is a fun and happy place, and it’s a great experience for patients.”
And a large part of that experience for patients is being treated to high quality dentistry. Loveland Dental Group is proud of the quality of work it provides to patients and the cutting-edge technology that helps provide it.
For example, there are CBCTs in every office, along with CEREC systems for crowns. “The technology is fabulous for the patients, doctors and clinical staff,” Dr. Loveland said.
Dentistry is arts and crafts to Dr. Loveland. “It’s making people feel beautiful and feel good, and getting to work with my hands,” she said. It’s transforming lives by transforming smiles and making people more confident in themselves.
Growing through the pandemic
“People’s priorities changed after the pandemic,” she added. “We are more empathetic towards each other, and more people wanted more family time.” So, Loveland Dental Group reinforced and emphasized the patient experience and became more thoughtful about the patient journey from communication and scheduling all the way through to the clinical side.
Dr. Loveland says it was their biggest win during that extraordinary time. They approached the patient experience with the utmost care amid the pandemic and a compassion for serving their communities in need.
“I feel like we’ve made ourselves more available through the pandemic with expansions to serve a larger group of the population,” Stucki said. “We see expansions happening in each of our practices with additional operatories and clinicians. We’re also aiming to grow regionally outside of our current practices through acquisition and de novo.”
Loveland Dental Group has 12 doctors and 81 employees.
