Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Higginbotham, DDS.
Hi Todd, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small town, Monette, AR farming my whole life. From this, I knew I was good with my hands and so while attending college at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas I decided to pursue a career as a dentist made sense for me. After college, I attended the University of Tennessee School of Dentistry in Memphis, TN so I could be close to home. After graduating I moved to Jonesboro, AR, and started out as an associate dentist with a very well-established dental practice. I was able to hone my craft and gain skills and knowledge in the four years there to better serve my patients and decided to open my own practice in 2006. The first one was in Blytheville, AR, a small town just about 20 miles from my hometown.
After a few years, I was ready to open my second practice back in Jonesboro, AR with the patient base I had already built from my time as an associate. I started to put together a team of employees that understood that I wanted to create a different kind of dental experience for my patients. I want our patients to have a great dental experience, both with customer service and great dentistry as the focus. Once my team members became experienced and more knowledgeable I was able to promote them and create a management team to help lead and guide other employees in the dental offices. This allowed us to expand into what is now 9 and soon to be 10 locations in Northeast Arkansas, Southeast Missouri, and around Memphis Tennessee. Our most recent growth has been in Memphis with plans for more offices in the area. We focus on what patients’ needs are at the time.
They are constantly changing so we change with them. We started having after 5 pm appointments, Friday and Saturday hours to work with our patient’s schedules. We started a discount dental plan membership for our uninsured patients, our own payment plan option to make dental treatment more affordable so they could start dental treatment right away, and booking online on our website in real-time and digital paperwork for patients’ convenience. We are always updating technology and equipment to make sure patient receives the best care and dental experience we can provide. In 2010 we also created a nonprofit foundation called Smile Salvation Foundation that has various projects like free sealants for kids and free extractions and dental treatments for cancer patients before radiation or chemotherapy.
We love to provide a great dental experience but we also love that we can give back to the communities we serve through the Foundation. I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish growing a business from 5 employees to over 130 employees, but I am even prouder knowing that patients will get the same great dental experience and conveniences no matter which one of our locations they choose.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not always been easy. We have purchased some practices and we have sold some practices in our growth process. Dealing with employee turnover has been challenging as well as COVID most recently. However, through each challenge we face, we learn something new to help us in our future growth.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Higginbotham Family Dental?
We are a dental office for the entire family. Once you become a patient, you become a part of our family. We want patients to trust Higginbotham Family Dental to be their dentist and to provide the best dental care for the whole family.
We provide in-house payment plan options for affordable dentistry that does not affect their credit scores, many insurances are accepted and we verify benefits and file them for them, provide same-day appointments for emergencies, provide an affordable dental membership for patients that do not have insurance to get preventative care throughout the year as well as benefit from dental discounts, a compassionate team that is well trained, continual updates and state-of-the-art technology in all locations, communicate via text during and after work hours with our staff for dental questions, and online booking and live chats on our website.
We want to make the entire dental experience from making an appointment, to getting estimates and filing insurance, to checking out at the end of the dental visit the best possible with the most convenience for our patients. Each moment matters to help make the experience five stars. Our purpose as a company is to provide the best dental experience for all of our patients to relieve them of any dental anxiety and fear so they make their oral healthcare a priority to enhance their overall quality of life.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
The Bible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.higginbothamfamilydental.com
- Instagram: @higginbothamfamilydental
- Facebook: HigginbothamFamilyDental
- Twitter: @Higginbotham_fd
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/ToddHigginbotham
