 On October 5th, 2005, this dental practice opened with one scheduled appointment and two patients. Two years later, we now have 730 active patients, and add to that number almost daily. Nearly half of those people were referred to us by caring patients like you. Thank you for keeping the dream alive. Dr. Le's thoughts....
Our two year anniversay finds us recovering from a very tough summer. Even though the odds have been against us, we've lived to fight another day. We've survived challenge after challenge. When we opened, there were about 14,000 people living in Foothill Ranch, served by 3 dentists. Now there are 14 dentists, and about 15,000 people. We survived lack of staffing: no assistant for almost three months, no front desk person for over a year.
We survived by saying "no" to many things: we said "no" to a large office space, keeping our overhead (and your fees) low. We said "no" to electric drills they weren't any quieter from your perspective. We said "no" to illegally claiming painless dentistry through lasers. We've said "no" to the dental HMOs which pretend to be affordable insurance, but fail to provide their members with competitive dental benefits, and fail to protect them from overtreatment by unscrupulous dental groups. We said "no" to the leading one hour whitening system, because their own marketing material shows that the gimicky light is only responsible for 20% of the (short lived) result.
The reason we survived, is because we said "yes" to better things. We said "yes" to home whitening. And after four or five different brands,
we finally found one that really does the trick--in only 15 minutes a day. We said "yes" to most major PPOs, so that people could have lower out-of-pocket expense. We said "yes" to flexible hours, so that busy people could come in on Saturdays and evenings. We said "yes" to CareCredit, so that folks in a bind could afford to pay things off monthly and responsibly. We said "yes" to phasing treatment appointments paycheck by paycheck, so that families could keep their other bills paid. We said "yes" to integrity and conservative diagnosis. Over dozens of second opinion visits, we've only once had a more expensive treatment plan than the previous dentist.
We've survived because of our amazing staff. I've worked with dozens of dental assistants over the years, and Maggie is flat out one of the best. People can't stop praising our office manager, Debora. We've had some great interns, too: Andrew, Sarah, Andy. Our office works like a family, because, well, it is one.
But the biggest reason we've survived is because of the steadfast loyalty of our family of patients. As long as people like you keep spreading the word, there will always be theSimpleTooth. We'll keep fighting the good fight, for you, our family, and our purpose.
 Thank you,
Vu Le, DDS
Reader MM asks:
I wanted to know why you are claiming lasers are NOT painless...I have had all my treatment completed by a laswer dentist and it was absolutely painless...in fact my whole family loved it.
Dr. Le's response:
Dear MM,
I'm happy to know that you and your family had a pleasant experience at your dentist. I believe you are referring to this statement above: "We said "no" to illegally claiming painless dentistry through lasers." This has more to do with the Law of California than erbium laser technology, popularized by local Irvine company Biolase and others. The fact of the matter is that it is illegal to claim anything dental to be painless, even if it actually is painless for the great majority of people. Section 1680 in the California Dental Practice act that specifically prohibits promising *any* dental treatment will be free of pain.
(l) The advertising to guarantee any dental service, or to perform any dental operation painlessly. This subdivision shall not rohibit advertising permitted by Section 651.
I can't legally claim that anything I do will be painless, even though it is. A lot of other dentists play fast and loose with this rule, because the
dental board doesn't really enforce its own advertising laws. What I am saying "no" to are the rampant, flagrant, and illegal claims that laser dentistry is painless.
The many dental lasers are relatively painless for many procedures for many patients, as they were for your family. But they aren't absolutely painless for everyone, as any responsible laser manufacturer would point out. I would argue that if you were treated "absolutely" painlessly with a laser, your cavity was probably superficial enough to have been done "absolutely" painlessly with a traditional handpiece (drill). I have a staff member who worked for a laser dentist, and she can tell you firsthand from the uncomfortable looks on people's faces that it wasn't always painless. I have colleagues who own a Waterlase (the most popular hard tissue laser sold to dentists), and they've privately told me the same thing...it works painlessly very often, but not all the time. I already enjoy using laser technology in my office, (for diagnostic purposes) and I plan to implement it more and more extensively. But I also plan to market it in a responsible, legal manner.
Excellent oral hygiene, good nutrititional habits, and regular visits to your dentist for cleanings will ensure the only truly painless treatment: no fillings at all.
Sincerely,
Vu Le, DDS
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