Office Showcase: Reflections Dental Care

Reflections Dental Care (Oklahoma City)

By: Kaylee Speer, DDS

Reflections Dental Care was established by Dr. Lance Schmidt alongside his wife, Stephanie, in 2004. Dr. Schmidt bought a small and struggling existing practice after he completed his Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. The practice had humble beginnings with only four employees, including the two Schmidts. Today, Reflections has more than 23 employees and two offices in the Oklahoma City area. The original location is in Hefner Pointe in Northwest OKC and the newest location is at 16th and Classen near the Plaza District. The second location opened in June 2020, during the begining of the COVID-19 pandemic. Opening a new office during this time was no easy feat, but since its opening, the office has grown exponentially. The 16th and Classen location was transformed from the former Union Mutual Insurance building. This office has state-of-theart technology and sanitation stations from Dentsply Sirona. Although other offices in the state of Oklahoma have Dentsply Treatment Centers, this office was the first to invest in integrating the sterilization center and the treatment center that work together. This technology is comparable to European sterilization standards, which are more stringent than typical American standards. Each treatment room has glass doors completely separating the operatories, allowing patients more privacy and safety. The treatment chairs have integrated disinfection systems, which ensure safe, efficient, and continuous disinfection. All lines to the chairs can be purged and cleaned with the push of a button. All of the systems allow for a very clean environment and seamless workflow for the patient and the treatment team. The sterilization center has hands-free features, allowing for efficiency and reduces cross-contamination. Additionally, both locations utilize MERV 12 HEPA filters with Premier One high-intensity UVC lights in all of the HVAC systems, which clean the air to hospital-grade levels. One of the practice’s unique features is a team approach to comprehensive dentistry. The doctors meet weekly to review cases together, to ensure that the patient is receiving the best care possible. It is a time to develop and modify treatment plans together which benefits patients tremendously and levels up the perspective and knowledge of each doctor. The practice believes in collaboration, which allows the doctors to grow as providers. Each doctor has their own niche, which keeps most treatments in-house. This also ensures that the patient is in the best hands depending on what treatment is needed. The doctors complement each other with their own unique strengths. Marie Bockus, DDS (OU 2008 Graduate) joined the practice in 2016, Kaylee Speer, DDS (OU 2020 and OU AEGD 2021 Graduate) joined in 2021, and Joanne Thomas, DMD (Boston University 2019 Graduate) joined in 2022. The group is also looking for an additional dentist to join the team.

Dr. Lance Schmidt Dr. Marie Bockus Dr. Kaylee Speer Reflections strives to provide exceptional comprehensive care to our community in a trusting, safe environment through a team atmosphere. This is achieved through maintaining core values that are central to the practice. The core values, as voted on and defined by the entire team, are as follows:

Respect

• We respectfully communicate information and questions with each department. • We arrive to work on time, prepared, and ready to be fully- engaged in our work for the day. • We demonstrate respect for our patients by being fully-present and engaged, honoring their preferences, and calling ahead if we are running behind schedule. • We respect relationships with our teammates enough to have difficult conversations when necessary.

Trust

• We trust that everyone is looking out for the best interest of the patient and of our teammates. • We display integrity and follow through on what we say we will do. We believe that trust is created when we recognize that if you can't fulfill your role or task, that you will ask for help. We believe asking for help is a sign of strength, and we value humility in our teammates and in ourselves.

Balance

• We actively protect balance in our lives by scheduling time off when needed and taking vacations. • We pursue balance and seek to stay healthy in the most important areas of our lives, including family, friends, and work. • We create a balanced schedule by strategically spacing appointments out throughout the day and week, and by allotting times for breaks. • We intentionally meet together as a team and departments to foster cohesion, balance, open conversation, and problem solving.

Gratitude

• We show gratitude for our team by being eager and willing to help when a teammate needs help or has a full plate. • We show gratitude for our team and patients by providing them the best options, using the wisdom and experience of all of our team members. • We intentionally show appreciation to others when things go right and when our teammates help us.

Growth

• We have a positive mindset about growth. We do not stay stagnant in our practice as individuals or a team. • We recognize and encourage growth in our teammates. We are willing to help each other grow through constructive conversations, even if they are uncomfortable.

• We are open to change and to learning new things within our profession, and are constantly seeking to grow and improve our practice.

We are willing to step out of our comfort zones to learn and grow.

Communication

• We explain the "why" when communicating with others, knowing that it impacts our listener's understanding and application of what we say. • We are detailed and thorough in our communication, and err toward over-communicating rather than under-communicating. • We believe that our communication success is defined by the comprehension of the recipient.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kaylee Speer, DDS, was raised in Altus, Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science degree, and then from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2020. She then completed a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency in 2021. She has been an associate dentist at Reflections Dental Care since 2021. She is recently engaged and is looking forward to growing her family in OKC. She loves to spend time with her family and her dog, Miska, play tennis, and travel.