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Office Visit: Pursuit of Excellence Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine
Welcome to the newest installment of Office Visit, where we visit a Townie’s office and profile his or her equipment, design or unique practice philosophy. If you would like to participate or nominate a colleague, please e-mail ben@farranmedia.com.

This month we paid a visit to Dr. David Paquette and his practices in Charlotte and Mooresville, North Carolina. We discussed his reasons for entering orthodontics, the ongoing fine-tuning of his services, his brand new office, and we even learned that changing someone’s life in orthodontics might have nothing to do with your treatment plan.
Name: David Paquette, DDS, MS, MSD
Graduate from: University of North Carolina, UNC, St. Louis University
Year graduated: 1979, 1982, 1989
Practice Name: Paquette Orthodontics
Practice Locations: Charlotte & Mooresville, North Carolina
Year when this office opened: 2009

Paquette Orthodontics New Office Contributors
Interior Designer: Paige Buttril, Tigerlily Design
Builder: Sam McNinch Construction
Technology: Broadplex and Converge Technology
Dental equipment: Patterson Dental and Boyd Industries
Architect: Roger Layman Architects
Water feature: Bluworld USA

Office Highlights
Bonding Agents
  • Ormco Blugloo
  • Ormco Grengloo
  • Ormco Ortho Solo
Brackets/Wires
  • Damon Q, cniti, TMA, SS
Cements
  • 3M ESPE Ketac Glass Ionomer
Class II Correction Appliances
  • AOA Archwire Herbst
  • ClassOne Orthodontics’ Carrière Distalizer
Class III Correction Appliances
  • Damon System with elastics
Hygiene
  • Crest Hygiene Program
Impression Material
  • Panasil

Click Here To View Dr. Paquette’s Top 3 Products		 Patient Financing
  • CareCredit
  • In-office Financing
  • Orthobanc
Technology
  • Check scanner for bank deposits
  • Dual monitors at every chair
  • Fingerprint scanners for patient check-in
  • Flat screen monitors in every room for patient education and entertainment
  • i-CAT by Imaging Sciences
  • IBM BladeCenter
  • Metal halide lights over treatment chairs
  • Nitrogen lines to each chair to dry teeth and reduce bond failures
  • Ormco Vector TAS miniscrews
  • Ortho II ViewPoint
  • PANO Logic thin clients
  • Samsung VOIP phone system
  • Sharp document center
  • Web-cams for staff training
  • ZAP StylaOrtho diode MicroLaser
Dr. Paquette, to begin, why did you choose orthodontics as your career path?
Paquette: When I was in dental school I was greatly influenced by Dr. Henry Fields. He was a junior faculty who was dual trained in pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. It seemed to me that he had more knowledge about all facets of dentistry than anyone else I encountered in my dental education. I learned a great deal from him in my pediatric dentistry residency and I realized then that I too wanted to pursue training in orthodontics. Once I neared completion of my orthodontic residency at St. Louis University I realized that I enjoyed orthodontics more than anything and decided to practice orthodontics exclusively.

What is your practice philosophy?
Paquette: My practice is a customer service business that happens to provide great orthodontic care. My primary focus is facial and smile aesthetics.

How do you cultivate this philosophy in your practice?
Paquette: First off, I strive to provide the finest orthodontic treatment available, and without extractions or jaw surgery whenever possible. Unfortunately that is not enough, so we are constantly reviewing customer service issues. On a daily basis we measure the things that tend to be interpreted as bad service by patients such as: the number of repair appointments, the number of patients over treatment time, the number of patients who were seated late for their appointments or whose appointments took longer than expected. We also have a patient advisory board where once a year we invite patients to breakfast and give them a forum for feedback on our customer service and the practice in general.

What is the orthodontic competition like in your area?
Paquette: It is quite competitive. Most patients have seen another orthodontist for at least one other opinion and many new patient exams we see have had as many as four or five opinions.

So, what sets your practice apart from the other orthodontic practices in your area?
Paquette: I practice using the Damon and Invisalign systems, and was the first using both systems in our area. I have used both systems exclusively for more than 10 years. Patients come in asking for a smile like their friend’s or their neighbor’s. I do very little jaw surgery and many people in the community recognize that. I was also the first in the area to adopt many new technologies such as a diode laser, placing miniscrews and 3D CBCT in the office.

Tell me about your new office. What sort of impact has it had on your patients so far?
Paquette: Patients love it. They are thrilled with the “feel“ and they are constantly telling us it doesn’t feel like an orthodontic office at all. I asked the designer to make it feel like walking into a really nice hotel in the islands. We do not have a “front desk“ but rather a concierge desk. All telephones are answered in the business office, which is the physical and nerve center of the office with four doors for access, one to the reception area, one to each consultation room and one to the clinic. In addition, there is a window to the clinic where the financial coordinator can receive payments for new retainers, etc. We have used technology for both patient education, practice management and marketing. We have a patient education booth where patients watch YouTube videos we have made that explain oral hygiene procedures and how to handle minor orthodontic irritations.

What piece of technology has the biggest “wow“ factor for your patients?
Paquette: The i-CAT along with the 42 computer monitors and 24 flat screens throughout our office.

How do you market to new patients?
Paquette: We have a multifaceted marketing plan, coordinated through VisionTrust Communications. We use the Internet extensively (Office Web site, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube), lunch and learns with dental offices, Dental Ed nights in our office, classic donut runs, local athletic team sponsorships, school fundraisers and many more. We take great care to insure that all of our external marketing consistently presents our brand identity both graphically and in terms of actual content.

In your current practice situation, what is a typical day’s schedule?
Paquette: We have an unusual schedule. We see patients 19 hours a week, Monday afternoons, all day Tuesday, Wednesday afternoons and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with no lunch. We use Monday mornings for staff meetings and Wednesday mornings for marketing efforts. Thursday afternoons and Fridays are used for general administrative, cleaning, ordering supplies, etc.

What is the most unique treatment plan you’ve put together?
Paquette: Using miniscrews to correct a super Class III by retracting the entire lower arch under the upper.

What is the most rewarding experience you’ve had as an orthodontist?
Paquette: Around 10 years ago a teenage boy completely changed his personality over the course of six months and began wearing all black. He never talked and would not look me or the staff in the eye. He constantly looked at the ground and went from impeccable oral hygiene to abysmal hygiene. He was old enough to drive himself so I called his parents and explained my concerns. They intervened with professional help and once his braces were removed I never saw him again. Around five years later my receptionist told me there was someone waiting for me in the reception area and when I walked out there stood a marine sergeant waiting for me at parade rest. He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him. He then said, “Sir you probably don’t remember me, but you saved my life. When you called my parents I was ready to commit suicide that night and I hated you for calling them. I came here today because I just wanted to thank you because if you hadn’t cared enough to call I would not be alive.“

In your opinion, what is the biggest problem orthodontics faces today and what do you think should be done about it?
Paquette: I believe the biggest problem is that there is a lack of understanding by the general public about what contemporary orthodontics can achieve. It seems to me that in many communities and in the mind of many orthodontists our specialty has become a commodity. They fail to realize that a beautiful smile means more than straight teeth, and that a general dentist or an orthodontist who cuts their fees by purchasing cheap supplies is not the same as an orthodontist practicing state-of-the-art orthodontics. Believe it or not one of my nearby competitors tells patients that his “fees are lower because he buys cheaper braces – kind of like buying the house brand at Wal-Mart instead of the brand name. They work the same, they just cost less.“ I think it’s very important for orthodontists to be tireless in the pursuit of excellence, both in terms of technique and in terms of technological innovation. Continuing education is one key to achieving that goal and that’s one of the reasons I teach and lecture.
Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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