Over the last few years we have seen several of the more mature dental practices in town pass out of the hands of some really great doctors. Drs. Lamar Meadows, Gary Finch, Beverly Thetford, and Lloyd Hartman are a few recent retirees that come to mind.
Dr. Lamar Meadows was one of the first dentists I met when I came to Richmond in 1994. My practice was located at 406 Eleventh St. in what I still describe as the “ugliest building in town”. It had been a dental practice since sometime in the 1960s, and had not been updated since that time! Dr. Meadows pulled his car into the circular driveway, got out, and very cordially welcomed me to town. Over the years we met on occasion at dental continuing education events in Houston and visited. He had a wonderful, high quality, patient oriented practice.
I don’t recall exactly how I met Dr. Gary Finch, but I remember being impressed that he had his Mastership in the Academy of General Dentistry and had done a two year General Practice Residency in the Air Force. Over the years, Dr. Gary Finch and I exchanged taking emergency call for each other when going out of town to make sure that our patients were well cared for while we were gone. He and I also commuted into Greater Houston Dental Meetings together. We compared notes, talking over how each of us did things in our practices. From the right age to take a first panoramic x-ray, to how we used air abrasion for treatment.
Individually owned private practices seem to be diminishing in numbers. Many new dental offices coming to our area are part of much larger organizations with headquarters far away. Happily, there are still several practices here that maintain the philosophy of relationship building. Our practice strives to follow and build on that model. We work with our patients to individualize their treatment for their dental and personal needs. We believe that good oral health leads to good overall health. We will be here to help our patients achieve that goal for many years to come.