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Office Visit: Born Into It 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 an orthodontist’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 visited Genecov Orthodontics where Dr. Jeffrey Genecov practices in Dallas and Plano, Texas. He explains his professional and familial roots in orthodontics, how he’s been able to set his practice apart from the local competition, his experiences in teaching and what he thinks are the biggest issues facing the profession.
Name: Jeffrey S. “Jeff” Genecov, DDS, MSD, FICD, FACD
Graduate from: University of Texas, undergrad; Baylor College of Dentistry, DDS; Baylor University, Masters in Orthodontics
Year graduated: 1981, 1985, 1987
Practice Name: Genecov Orthodontics
Practice Locations: Dallas & Plano, Texas
Year when this office opened: Joined father’s Dallas practice in 1987, opened satellite in Plano in 1991.

Office Highlights
Bonding Agents
  • Transcend – 3M Unitek
Brackets/Wires
  • American Radiance
  • American Roth & Alexander prescriptions
  • GAC In-Ovation C&R
Cements
  • Band Lock – Reliance
Class II Correction Appliances
  • Forsus
  • Headgear
  • Orthognathics
  • Pendex
  • T-Rex
Click Here To View Dr. Genecov’s Top 3 Products		 Class III Correction Appliances
  • Orthognathics
  • Protraction Face Mask
Hygiene
  • Sonicare – Philips
Patient Financing
  • In-house
Technology
  • IACT Case Presenter
  • OrthoLase Diode Laser – Zap Lasers
  • OrthoTrac Office
  • Quick Ceph
How and why did you get into orthodontics?
Genecov: I tell people I went into the family business like a lot of folks did but it took me longer to get there. It was something that I grew up around, it was something that intrigued me from the time I was eight or nine years old. I started trimming models, pouring models and spinning ligature wires in my dad’s office when I was about 12 or 13. I worked in the lab through high school and college.

At what point did you decide this is what I want to do?
Genecov: I made my final decision when I was in college. My dad really wanted me to go to medical school. We have a really unique practice in that about a third of it is cranio-facially related. My dad was one of the pioneers across the country in treatment of orthodontics for kids with cleft lip and palate and cranio-facial deformities. So he wanted me to go to medical school to learn how to be a surgeon to resolve those kinds of issues. At the time I had lots of friends whose dads were doctors; they weren’t always around and they were getting divorced. Our family life had always been solid. That was such an important factor for me. I made my decision in college to go to dental school instead, based on those factors.

What is the competition like in your area in orthodontics right now?
Genecov: In Plano, there’s an orthodontist on every street corner. It is a fairly affluent suburb. The competition there is very high. The other office in Dallas is not in a particular “neighborhood” per se. It is in a business area so I still think the competition is great – it is just a different kind of competition.

So what do you do to set your practice apart from other practices?
Genecov: The craniofacial work we do. Interestingly enough my younger brother ended up going to medical school and becoming a craniofacial surgeon. So my brother and I are taking on the things that my dad and the surgeon he used to work with did. Coincidentally my brother bought that surgeon’s practice, so we are taking that into the next generation for the next 15 or 20 years, until we retire. That niche separates me immediately. In the Dallas area if anyone knows there is a craniofacial issue and they don’t want to treat it, they know where to send it. Secondly, while we have a busy practice, we see an average of 60- 70 people a day; we do it in such a manner that it is still high touch and the patients aren’t just mouths to straighten. Treating people right and they way you want to be treated makes all the difference in the world. That is something they instilled in us at Baylor and its something my dad taught me. I feel very strongly about it.

I teach in the graduate ortho department at Baylor as well. For the longest time in Dallas proper we were the only practice that had two faculty members in the graduate orthodontic department in the practice. That set us apart. We send letters for start treatment/finish treatment, make a big deal when you get your braces on and make a big deal when you get your braces off – and all those personal touches everybody else does – but there is a feeling at our office that is just so genuine. It is not contrived, not organized; it is something we talk to the staff about on a regular basis but it reflects a genuine interest in what we do and in our patients.

How did you get into teaching at Baylor?
Genecov: There is a craniofacial team at Southwestern Medical School and I was on their faculty for a few years after I got into practice. After that, I didn’t teach for quite a while and then about four years ago I got back into it at Baylor as part of the graduate orthodontic department.

What do you like about teaching?
Genecov: I have learned an enormous amount about temporary anchorage devices (TADs) from the students and being on the faculty there. That is an excellent resource for those kinds of things. The students are always very innovative; they are very technologically up to date. They are always showing me new tricks and tips. And hopefully I am teaching them a few too.

You are noticing that they are placing more TADs, is that correct?
Genecov: Yes they do quite a few of those at Baylor and so did I before I started doing them in my practice. Same with the laser; I started using lasers in the school with the students before I ever began to do it in my practice.

How long have you been placing TADs?
Genecov: About three years.

Was there any hesitation on your part?
Genecov: Absolutely. Those of us that have been in practice about as long as I have – I have been in practice for almost 23 years – you get to a point where you do similar things on a regular basis and you haven’t used anything that requires local anesthesia for a long time and you are kind of hesitant to do it because it requires re-training your staff and yourself. That and the laser are the two things I have learned most recently that have been beneficial both for me and for my patients in terms of the quality treatment that we are able to provide and also the range of treatment that we are able to provide.

How do you reel in the new patients?
Genecov: We have a pretty loyal group of pediatric and general dentists that we have personal relationships with. One of my staff members loves to crochet and one of the coolest things we ever did for referring dentists was send a crocheted afghan for their birthdays. That is kind of one of the over-and-above things we tend to do. We are always working on improving patient referrals and trying to make sure when they leave our office, even if it was a tough appointment, they all have smiles on their faces. We do little things like send a card after a tough appointment; or if we happen to make a mistake in the office like mis-scheduling, we send them a Starbucks card or something like that. We have drawings for the kids in the office every month for guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar or who had the coolest vacation, or who sent us a postcard from the furthest place.

Tell me a little bit more about your practice. How is it laid out? What is the workflow like?
Genecov: Both of our treatment bays are open. My Plano office is an office in a condominium building, which I own and finished out. It is five years old and it is a little bit more hi-tech than my dad’s office. We have a computer station at every chair and we have five chairs in the treatment bay, a records room and a consult room and each of those can be used as treatment chairs too as needed. My Dallas office is not quite as hi-tech. Over there we have four chairs in an open treatment bay, a records room and a new patient exam room.

What piece of technology has the biggest wow factor for your patients?
Genecov: I think that the treatment planning software we use or the Quick Ceph imaging software that we use probably have the biggest impact. We have a big 20-inch screen and the kids and parents think that is very cool. They like to be able to see the teeth move and change. They like to see if we are going to do a VTO, how their face is going to change and what our ultimate goals are on the Quick Ceph.

What do you think is the most rewarding experience that you have ever had as an orthodontist?
Genecov: I have had a few patients who were in chronic pain, whose treatment plans I worked on with the TMJ specialist here in town. We have been able to get them out of pain, do the jaw surgery, create a bite, an occlusion and a quality of life they couldn’t even imagine. That is one part of it and the other part is treating the kids and the adults with the craniofacial deformities and helping them improve their quality of life and putting their best face forward. Almost every day there is a “wow” moment from the patients that keeps them coming back day after day. Seeing the changes, watching the kids grow, mature and succeed – and knowing we played a part – what could be more rewarding.

What do you think is the biggest problem orthodontics faces today?
Genecov: We have, as a profession, marketed ourselves to such a degree that people no longer see us as health-care providers. They see us as a commodity or a service provider like a plumber. I have had people walk into my office and ask me, “What are you going to give me?” or, “What kind of iPod am I going to get?” or, “What kind of tickets to a sporting event am I going to get if I bring my kid to you?” This is opposed to, “I am giving you the most precious thing in my life. How are you going to take care of him to the best of your ability? What benefit is my child going to have for a lifetime after we are finished?” I think because of competition and the need for volume in our practices in today’s world we have marketed ourselves to the least common denominator. That’s a problem.

The other problem I see – and it is not as much as a professional problem as it is a societal problem – is, from our standpoint, trying to keep an easy schedule. It is becoming difficult for people to leave work or to leave school to come to orthodontic appointments. When you are in a competitive area and you say, “I want to keep as many people as possible between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for certain appointments,” people are going to go someplace else that will jam them all in during the afternoon. The vast majority are looking for who is the closest to their kids’ soccer field or dance lesson so that it doesn’t interrupt their daily routine or have to take them out of school.

What advice would you give someone that is thinking about entering orthodontics?
Genecov: It is a wonderful profession. We make a big impact on people and not a day goes by that I don’t go to a restaurant, the mall or the movies when I don’t see patients I know or people who my dad treated. My dad passed away in August after practicing in Dallas for almost 50 years. In fact we are going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Genecov Orthodontics in 2010. Every day, people tell me what an impact we’ve had on their lives and the positive things that have come from the experience that they had in our office. I think it is an incredible opportunity to have a quality of life that few people in the United States can share or can achieve. The tough thing is you still have to live like a resident for five years after you get out of school to pay off your school debt. My suggestion would be to decide where you want to live, map out your plan, live like a resident for three to five years, put your money away and pay off your debt and then realize your dream.

How has Orthotown.com benefited you and the way you practice?
Genecov: I still haven’t met them face to face but there are guys I’ve met online who I have referred patients to, and guys that I have asked questions of and got treatment techniques or product recommendations from. It is a great place to go and say, “I’m thinking about buying this, what has your experience been?” It has been a great place to find out what is really happening and not the song and dance that you might get from sales reps. My dad used to say that you learn more sitting in the bar at a meeting talking orthodontics with a group of guys than you do in the lectures. In our busy world this has taken the place of that roundtable. Stuff goes back and forth so fast, and you can show pictures, and get an enormous amount of information in a very short time. You can figure out guys and their sense of humor, their philosophy and their outlook on life. It is really very interesting. I have had a great time doing it. I really have.
Orthotown Magazine
October 2025
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