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Office Visit: Movin’ Teeth in Texas by Chelsea Knorr, Associate Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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Movin' Teeth in Texas
by Chelsea Knorr, Associate Editor, Orthotown Magazine

They say everything's bigger in Texas, but Dr. Clark Colville and his team at Orthodontic Specialists of Seguin, P.A., in Seguin, Texas, have worked to create a small-town feel in the practice. Colville's staff, most of whom have worked there for many years, are familiar faces to returning patients and their parents. Herein, Orthotown Magazine talks shop with Dr. Colville about his practice, his team and his life outside the office.

Dr. Colville, at what point did you decide you wanted to be an orthodontist?
Dr. Clark Colville: I went to dental school and began working for an orthodontist who was starting a practice across the street from the dental school. I made appliances and trimmed models for four years and became acquainted with orthodontics from a different perspective. The patients were happy and enjoyed their time in the office. At the same time I got some great advice passed on to me from my brother. He offered the following insight: provide a service people want, instead of a service people need. The difference is that people will gladly pay for a service they want, and appreciate that service when you have done a good job.


Name: Clark D. Colville, DDS, MS
Dental School Graduate From: University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, 1989
Orthodontic School: University of Texas Dental Branch
in Houston, 1993
Practice Name: Orthodontic Specialists of Seguin, P.A.
Practice Location: Seguin, Texas
Year Practice Opened: 1993
Staff: Eight
Web site: www.drcolville4braces.com


What is your practice philosophy?
Colville: Very simply stated, we want to provide orthodontic treatment to the best of our ability, in a professional manner that is efficient for both the patient and our practice.

Tell us a little about your practice - how is it laid out?
Colville: Our office is designed to be very open. We want parents to participate in their children's orthodontic experience. Parents are welcomed in the treatment area where we have made space available for them to sit and watch. The positive benefit to our practice is that this gives our staff a chance to develop relationships with our patients and parents, and at the same time keep them informed of what, and more importantly why, we do what we do. For those parents who do not wish to be right alongside their children, they can easily see into the treatment area while they are sitting in the front area of the office. This open concept lets the parents feel comfortable the minute they step into our office.



What is the workflow like?
Colville: We schedule patients 3.5 days per week, usually with an average of 50 patients per day. We have eight full-time staff members. The front office consists of a scheduling coordinator, financial coordinator and a treatment coordinator. We have three full-time chairside technicians, a sterilization technician and finally a records/lab technician. We have an in-house lab, so we send out very few appliances to be made at a commercial laboratory. This makes the turnaround time for retainers fast.

Describe your most successful or rewarding experience.
Colville: My most rewarding experience has been developing a practice in a small community where patients and parents remark at how nice the office, the staff and their orthodontic experience have been. I take great pride in having a mature staff that families have come to know over the years. It is quite common for a mom to bring in a second or third child and remark at how comfortable she feels because the minute she walks in the door she sees the same familiar faces.

What makes your practice different than other orthodontic offices? What do you do to set yourself apart?
Colville: The biggest thing that sets us apart from other offices is that we focus on being efficient and being on time. Our patients are not accustomed to waiting to be seen in our practice. We don't have an "on deck" area, as we plan to see patients on time. On top of that, we finish our treatment on time. We carefully watch treatment progress to make sure we deliver the final results within the scheduled treatment time. This happens primarily due to a recall system that allows us to start patients at the appropriate time, not too soon so that we are waiting for teeth to erupt. We explain this concept at patients' first visit so they understand how this benefits them by making fewer office visits and finishing within the prescribed treatment time.

What is the competition like in your area of orthodontics right now?
Colville: The biggest competition we have is competing for the discretionary dollar. We have to be able to communicate effectively that there are long-term benefits of having orthodontic treatment. Parents are told of the psychological, health, and social benefits of providing a healthy, great smile for their children and themselves. As the economy has tightened, everyone carefully weighs the benefits before making a big purchase. Orthodontic treatment is certainly something people want, and our job is to communicate the value that it brings to them for the rest of their lives.

Who is your primary clientele?
Colville: About 80 percent of our patients come from the local community, but we serve a broad population within a 25-mile radius of our office. There are a number of small communities surrounding our town and many patients travel up to 30 minutes to come to us. This is why we place such an emphasis on running on time.

How has the economy affected your practice?
Colville: We have seen the number of initial exams remain flat in our office for the past three or four years. This challenges us to find new strategies to bring new patients into our office. Additionally, this makes it very important that we convert a high percentage of our exams into active patients.

How do you get the word out about services to patients?
Colville: We have tried about everything possible, from movie theater ads, to billboards, to online social media ads. With all this, the most effective thing we do is support the local schools extensively. I think we support almost every team, group or program in some way or another. One must give to receive, and the best way for us to give is to support the community and the schools.

We recognize that most of our new patients come from existing patients. As a result, we have implemented marketing plans that reach out to our patients' families and friends. This consists of using an integrated approach of social media, targeted e-mail and in-office materials to reach our target audience. In addition, we work hard to maintain our relationships with the general dentists and their staff. They continue to be vital to our practice.



What is your favorite procedure and piece of equipment?
Colville: My favorite procedure is recontouring and reshaping anterior teeth when the braces are removed. This last artistic touch really makes the difference between a nice finish and a great finish. As far as equipment, there is no question. I could not practice without my magnifying loops. It is very simple; I can't fix what I can't see.

What do you find in terms of technology that has the biggest "wow" factor for you patients?
Colville: Our patients get a big kick out of the iOC intraoral scanner we started using in January of this year. They are amazed to see their teeth appear on the screen, and they like not having to have PVS impressions made any longer for their Invisalign treatment. Our latest technology addition is the SorrisoOrtho app for our patients with smartphones. The app has some cool features that enhance the orthodontic experience for our patients. We use the app to communicate with our referring dentists and the patients are impressed with features like the Time Lapse Smile and the Treatment Countdown Timer. It's pretty cool when we give our patients an app for their phones.

Who are some of your mentors?
Colville: I have had many mentors in the profession. Dr. Fred Garrett and Dr. Bonham Magness are without a doubt two of the finest men I have ever known. They have taught me to respect the profession and to serve others by giving back to the profession. Dr. Ron Gallerano has been a guiding force in my clinical development from the first day I started my residency in Houston. He is an outstanding clinician and teacher and pushes me to continually strive to be the best I can be.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking of entering orthodontics?
Colville: I think the best advice I would give them is to be prepared to be a life-long student. The profession is changing in leaps and bounds and as a result it requires constant change in the way we approach our practices, our patients and our staff. I would also tell them to be prepared to be a leader, not only in their practices, but in their communities as well.

What do you think is the biggest problem orthodontics faces today?
Colville: Orthodontics' biggest challenge is to avoid falling under the control of insurance and government regulation. I would love to see orthodontic practices become less dependent upon insurance for reimbursement and encourage the use of tax incentive programs like flexible spending accounts. However, it appears we are moving in the opposite direction. Just look at medicine and you will see the exact opposite of how we want to be in the future.

Looking ahead, what would you like to see orthodontics do in terms of the way it operates as a profession in the next five to 10 years?
Colville: I would like to see orthodontists work more collaboratively with our dental colleagues to maintain the integrity of the orthodontic specialty. The fact that many in the dental profession see our job as easy, where we just line up the front teeth, tells me we have done a poor job of letting our dental colleagues know what we do. My gut feeling is that we will see a transformation in the way orthodontists practice as a result of the new graduates who are entering the profession with a tremendous debt load. I recently asked a group of graduating residents if any of the graduates in the past five years had started their own practices right out of school; and the answer was uniformly, "No." What this means is that the days of operating independent "bungalow"-type practices is not going to work in the future. I fully expect orthodontists will be practicing in different types of group practices, either corporate or private, in the future.

What do you like to do when you are not working?
Colville: I like to fish and hunt when time allows, which is not too often. I spend time with my wife of 22 years, Margie, and our three children. We like waterskiing and wakeboarding throughout the summer months.

Although it sounds like work, I enjoy teaching and lecturing. The time away from my office allows me to get away from the daily hustle. I enjoy meeting new people and talking with colleagues about their experiences and their practices.



Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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