AD&I SNAPSHOTS: Daniel Driskill, DDS, FAGD Durham, NC Dentist & Practice Owner
AD&I SNAPSHOTS:
Daniel Driskill, DDS, FAGD
Dentist & Practice Owner
Treating The Whole Patient .
Patients don’t dream of a perfect tooth. They seek the entire package.
A functional, healthy beautiful bite.
Dr. Driskill couldn’t agree more. Keep the full smile in mind.
That’s the stance that he takes. That’s the way he works. That’s why he’s here.
As a young general dentist, one of Dr. Daniel Driskill’s first takeaways was the significance of the dentist-patient relationship. Building a positive rapport based on intentional listening and empathy. He recalls, and vehemently holds onto this, almost a decade later, for this value has allowed him to not only understand the patient’s wants and needs, but also their struggles.
The “one tooth at a time” treatment plan. A struggle indeed, yet simply how it goes in the field of general dentistry. How it goes with insurance. Perhaps more accurately, the limitations that insurance can have on what a patient wants and what a dentist can provide. “Private practice is very insurance driven...Patients come in and are treated for only what their insurance is going to cover. Oftentimes, that’s not very much,” Dr. Driskill says.
One tooth at a time. It never set right with him, for he witnessed how it created failures, how it induced pain and frustration for his patients, and, in turn, frustration for himself. Frustrations all around.
Instead of treating one tooth at a time, Dr. Driskill believed in “treating the whole patient,” but in order to do this he had to call in reinforcements. When necessary, Dr. Driskill would recommend dentures or implants to his patients. Interestingly enough, he would refer them to a place right down the road from his office; an Affordable Dentures affiliated practice in Durham, NC. Little did he know the full circle that would come to be. One tooth at a time. It never set right with him, for he witnessed how it created failures, how it induced pain and frustration for his patients, and, in turn, frustration for himself. Frustrations all around.
Instead of treating one tooth at a time, Dr. Driskill believed in “treating the whole patient,” but in order to do this he had to call in reinforcements. When necessary, Dr. Driskill would recommend dentures or implants to his patients. Interestingly enough, he would refer them to a place right down the road from his office; an Affordable Dentures affiliated practice in Durham, NC. Little did he know the full circle that would come to be.
Prescribing dentures and implants for his patients was all in an effort to decrease those failures and frustrations. “Dentures and implants,” Dr. Driskill says, “minimize a patient’s neglect and future failures.” Though a general dentist, he was quite familiar with these prostheses. Upon graduating from University of Maryland’s School of Dentistry, he began his residency at York Hospital in York, PA, where he commenced a decade of extensive training in implant dentistry. “I believe implants are the standard of care for tooth replacement,” he continues, “To this day, we haven't come up with anything better.”
Both unfulfilled and unhappy as a general dentist, an opportunity with Affordable Dentures and Implants (ADI) arose and Dr. Driskill jumped. “I went through the process and found out that it was exactly what I was looking for,” he recalls, “I got to focus on the clinical procedures, surgeries, my favorite parts of dentistry. It varies so much from general dentistry, which is an ongoing maintenance, a very patch it up and see how long we can get by type of work. Instead, this offers a permanent solution.”
In July 2019, Dr. Daniel Driskill joined ADI as the new practice owner of the affiliated Durham location. Yes, that same practice, right down the road, where he referred his patients to long ago.
It wasn’t just what the opportunity at ADI promised Dr. Driskill, but what ADI promised patients, that sealed and sweetened the deal. “The pricing is transparent. It’s listed on our website. It’s set in stone and there is no deviating from it,” he says, which means a great deal to him, as he firmly believes that patients deserve definitive and upfront information.
The ADI way has given Dr. Driskill the freedom and simplicity that he was missing as a general dentist. For starters, he offers three services and three services only: extractions, dentures and implants. Additionally, the ADI Support Center is, in essence, his right hand man. They oversee anything and everything non-clinical, from managing payroll to staying up to date on industry regulations, cultivating vendor relationships to sourcing the best talent. “I got to leave all of the non-dental related things behind and just focus on the craft,” he says.
Time has granted him the opportunity to serve more patients, to perform more surgeries, and to continue his training. Just this year, upon completing over 500 hours of continuing education he earned the status of Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry, an accomplishment that only six percent of general dentists hold.
Dr. Driskill is no longer confined to treating one tooth at a time. He’s been free of that, on the contrary bringing his full-fledged belief in treating the whole patient to his practice. That mindset has seeped into the foundation. It is in everything he does, every patient he treats. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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