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Office Visit: Giving Back Marie Leland, Assistant Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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by Marie Leland, Assistant Editor, Orthotown Magazine
Welcome to the newest installment of Office Visit, where we visit an orthodontist’s office and profile his or her equipment, office 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 Dr. Randy Kunik at his practice in Austin, Texas. Dr. Kunik talks about his practice philosophy regarding aesthetic appliances, the variety of ways his office markets itself and the many rewarding events he puts together in the community each year.
Name: Randy Kunik, DDS, PA
Graduate From: Univ. of TX Health Science Center
at Houston-Dental Branch
Years Graduated: 1987 & 1991
Practice Name: Randy Kunik, DDS
Practice Location: Austin, Texas
Year when office opened: 1991
Practice Size: 13 (nine full-time, four part-time)
Web site: www.drkunik.com

Office Highlights
Bonding Agents
  • 3M Transbond Self Etching Primer
Brackets
  • 3M Unitek Clarity Brackets
  • 3M Unitek Mini Uni-Twin Brackets
Cements
  • Reliance Orthodontics Band-Lok
Class II Correction Appliances
  • 3M Unitek Forsus, Headgear, Orthognathics

Click Here To View Dr. Kunik’s Top 3 Products		 Class III Correction Appliances
  • Protraction Face Mask, Orthognathics
Hygiene
  • Our anti-soft drink and anti-sports drink campaign against white-stain lesions
Patient Financing
  • In-House
Technology
  • Dolphin 3D Imaging
  • IMS Paperless Office
  • Zap Laser
How and why did you get into orthodontics?
My father was an endodonist and that influenced my career decision. After attending many dental meetings with my father, the orthodontists seemed to be the happiest people.

What is your practice philosophy? How do you cultivate this philosophy in your practice?
Our philosophy is patient-centered treatment planning with the most aesthetic appliances and working closely with referring colleagues with a team approach. We cultivate this by educating the patient about their options including cosmetic dentistry, aesthetic crown lengthening, and the benefits of orthognathic surgery.

What is the competition like in your area in orthodontics right now?
There are five orthodontic offices within a few miles of our office and there are many great orthodontists in the Austin area. The orthodontists close to our office have mutual respect for each other and an overall friendly relationship.

So what do you do to set your practice apart from other practices?
Our customer service to the patient and the experience they receive generates a buzz in the community.

How do you market to new patients?
We balance our energy between dental referrals, internal marketing to our patients, community involvement and constantly updating our internet presence. Invisalign has done a lot of marketing for us as it is the aesthetic product (or tool) most patients request and prefer.

How has using social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) benefited your practice?
The trend of social media has outweighed the actual benefit for the practice in general. We have a Facebook page, Twitter and YouTube videos all linked on our Web site mainly as a vehicle for patient information and news about the practice and promoting treatment philosophy (YouTube videos).

Tell us more about your work in the community and the events you put on such as the Hygienists Appreciation Dinner and JamFest.
Staying involved in the dental community and giving back to the community and students is rewarding and fun. Recognizing the hygienists in the community has always been a pleasure for their contribution to dentistry. The Hygiene Appreciation Dinner started in 2003 with about 80 hygienists and has grown this year to almost 200 hygienists. One of my periodontal colleagues and I give a dental presentation or invite a speaker in for an evening of dinner and continuing education credits for Austin-area hygienists.

JamFest was started in 2007, not only as a charity fundraiser, but as a way to show appreciation for my young patients that were up and coming musicians. "Kunikpalooza," as it was originally named, featured several bands and was at the leading edge of a trend to recognize and mentor youth interested in playing music.

Once a year, teenage bands tryout to perform at the JamFest which has transitioned and is organized in coordination with local high school "Teen Teachers" to help give back to their school district by raising money for the school district's education foundation. I mentor the student group with fundraising efforts and promotion for the music event at a downtown venue.

I also sponsor two local middle school carnivals in addition to visiting more than a dozen elementary schools and talking to third and fourth graders about dental hygiene since I started practicing orthodontics in 1991. I entertain the students while I relate the evils of sodas and poor diet choices.

What piece of technology has the biggest wow factor for your patients?
Invisalign Clincheck – we present it to the patient and they feel involved and more engaged in the treatment plan.

What do you think is the most rewarding experience that you have ever had as an orthodontist?
One patient was influenced by my comments about soft drinks and sports drinks to prevent white stain lesions and how it adds empty calories to the diet. His mother, who was already on a weight-loss program, said it triggered her son to stop drinking sodas and eating healthier and he ended up losing more than 100 pounds. This patient and his mother were featured on the Today Show and in People Magazine earlier this year.

What do you think is the biggest problem orthodontics faces today?
The information available through mass marketing and the Internet to the public is increasingly making necessary reeducation to the patient the difference between the treatment plan and products or tools and their claims. The patients needs to know that when they go to see an orthodontist they will get an accurate assessment and treatment plan and we are not just vendors for the companies promoting their products.

How has Orthotown benefited you and the way
you practice?
I enjoy reading how other orthodontic offices incorporate new products or how they continue to use older products and integrate them with newer techniques into their treatment planning and practice management. The forum discussions are interesting and helpful and let's me see how people in different geographies and economies relate to similar orthodontic issues. What advice would you give someone that is thinking about entering orthodontics? First, decide exactly how you want to practice and then find the best fit (location) for that style of practice. Secondly, I suggest finding a mentor that you can show and review your cases.

What advice would you give someone that is thinking about entering orthodontics?
First, decide exactly how you want to practice and then find the best fit (location) for that style of practice. Secondly, I suggest finding a mentor that you can show and review your cases.
Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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