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Office Visit: Upstate New York Orthodontist Hits a Home Run with Winning Smiles by Arselia Gales, Assistant Editor

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As an orthodontist, you spend most of your time at your practice. It's understandable that you might not get many opportunities to see what it's like in another doctor's office. That's why we bring you an "office visit." It's a chance for you to meet with your peers, see their practices and hear their stories.

This month we caught up with Dr. Bradley Kaufman of Kaufman Orthodontics, in Rochester, New York. Learn more about Dr. Kaufman and his sports-themed practice, sure to make any sports fan feel at home.



What was the path you took to becoming an orthodontist? What drove you into orthodontics?
I wanted to become an orthodontist at the age of 11. This was when I first visited my orthodontist. I admired what the orthodontist could do. I was amazed that you could take a bunch of crooked teeth and with some small braces and wires you could create a beautiful smile. The office was fun, the orthodontist was always happy, and the patients enjoyed going to him. I was hooked, and without even knowing how much school [was required] or how long it would take, I decided to become an orthodontist.

I went to undergraduate school in my hometown at the Rochester Institute of Technology ... only the second person to go on to dental school from RIT. I went on to the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine and then to Saint Louis University, where I finally finished my childhood ambition of becoming an orthodontist.

Regarding your practice, how is it laid out? What is the work-flow like?
When I set up my practice, the goal was to create an office that did not look, feel or smell like a traditional dental office. I wanted it to be fun and welcoming. I happen to be a huge sports fan, so ... when I met with my architect, I told her, "Here is my [sports] collection; build an orthodontic office around the memorabilia." In a few months she had developed an awesome look and layout for my office.

My office has an open floor plan and is one big circle. The patients enter the front door, go to the brushing area and then sit in the "on deck area," which has stadium seats from an actual college stadium. The assistant will then call the patient to the operatory, which has seven chairs.

Our sterilization area was set up by Jackie Dorst Safe Practices, and flows perfectly. She did a great job of having all dirty instruments come in one way and smoothly move down the line to finally end up at our center cabinet, so the clinician can grab a new tray and go.

The records are taken in our records room. We played off the name "records," [so it] is a … rock-and-roll room loaded with autographed guitars and memorabilia. It's perfect, since most everyone loves either sports or music. We do our iTero Scans and photos in this area, and then our X-rays and CBCTs are taken in our centrally located imaging area in the office.

Our new patients are greeted by our treatment coordinators right at the front desk and then given a tour of the office. Exams are then done in the TC rooms, which are decked out in our best sports memorabilia. The kids especially love the Shaq-autographed shoes.

The reception area is set up with two distinct sides. One side is our more interactive side. It includes a TV for viewing the latest movies, and a kids' area full of games and fun things for the little ones to do. The other side is more of a quiet side to relax in with coffee and beverages and an office computer desk area for our adults to catch up with some of their office work.

What is your practice philosophy?
My No. 1 philosophy is the KISS rule (keep it simple). I am a strong believer in systems and efficiency. The simpler we can keep things, the more efficient we can be. Everything we do is systemized, from treatment to scripting to stocking the chairs. I try not to make things more complex than they need to be. By keeping everything systemized, fewer errors are made, and therefore fewer appointments are necessary. This time savings is important not only to us, but to our patients as well.

What do you do to help set the office apart from others?
Most people would say what sets us apart is our autographed sports memorabilia. The office is loaded with over 2000 autographed items from all the top athletes. Numerous competing offices have tried copying us by putting autographed items in their offices, however without the same success (they say imitation is a form of flattery). The sports theme is our brand, and only helps set us apart from the competition.

What truly sets us apart is our customer service. From the very first call, all the way through the patient's last visit, we strive to make each appointment a positive one. My team is my greatest asset. I have been blessed with the most dedicated, skilled, hardworking and—most importantly—friendly, fun-loving team. Patients don't come here for the sports theme; they come because they know they are cared for and we are more involved with the patients than just [taking care of] their teeth. We really feel they are an extended part of our families, and we know they feel the same way about us.

Lastly, what really keeps people coming back are the consistent, beautiful, winning smiles we create. I constantly hear new patients saying they want a "Kaufman smile," just like their friend has.

What is your favorite marketing technique? How do you get the word out about your practice?
Everyone always says I am a master at marketing. In reality, I really don't market that much at all. We just had our 25-year anniversary, and my best marketing is word of mouth. I try to let my results speak for themselves. The better we treat people and the better the results, the more people will talk about us and refer friends and family members.

My favorite marketing technique is just staying in great contact with my referring doctors and staff members. I continually meet them for lunch and make sure I am giving them everything they ask for. If they have any special requests, we make every effort to accommodate them. About half of our new patients are referred by dentists and patients.

We are also very active in social media. I am a big believer that most people use reviews to check out everything, and that includes orthodontists. We have made a huge effort to get our patients to review us constantly and [make] every effort to ask for a review when they have a positive thing to say about us.

Our Web page (Toothmover.com) is another major marketing tool that we try to get patients to go to. We keep it fun and informative, and try to drive as much traffic to it as possible. We also are very active on Facebook, Twitter [and] Pinterest, and other sites, as well. We do a number of contests to get our patients to visit these sites.

What is the biggest problem orthodontists face today?
Competition, competition, competition. In my area it seems that there are two to three—if not more—orthodontists coming [in] and we are not seeing any retiring. It seems that the local orthodontic schools seem to accept numerous local students every year, saturating the area with orthodontists. Due to the increased competition, many of these new orthodontic offices are cutting their fees and offering things like free iPads to new patients. I feel these types of actions demean the importance and value of orthodontics.

There are also more shoppers than ever before, and patients are going for two and three orthodontic consultations, searching out the cheapest orthodontist instead of the best ones. Many general dentists are slowing down as well, and to fill the gaps they are taking more and more orthodontic courses like Invisalign and Six Month Smiles. We need the continued help of the AAO and our local societies to keep informing the public of the difference between orthodontists and non-orthodontists, and letting future patients know the value and quality they will get at a certified orthodontist.

What is your patient philosophy?
It's pretty simple. It's not to meet our patients' expectations, but to exceed our patients' expectations. It's a philosophy we live by at our office and it is truly our goal.

What is your technique philosophy?
Years ago, I was all in on the Damon bracket system. I loved the self-ligating brackets and how quickly I could unravel and align the teeth. However, I found that detailing with these brackets was almost impossible. After doing a little research and experimentation with different bracket systems, I finally settled on what I call a hybrid system. It encompasses using twin, straight wire brackets on the anterior teeth and using self-ligating brackets on the posterior teeth.

This technique has given me the best results I have ever had in the shortest amount of time. I still incorporate the Damon philosophy of broad Damon arches and smiles and early elastics, but now [I] have the ability to control my anterior teeth much better. Overall, I am a non-extraction orthodontist and most of my extraction cases are based on the patient profile more than on how much crowding they may have. I do not do nearly as much early treatment as I used to, but still correct cross bites, blocked-out teeth, growth issues and habit breaking when indicated.

What is the greatest advance you have seen during your tenure as an orthodontist?
I guess I would say there are two that have really impressed me. The first is the CBCT. This imaging system has been invaluable to me. We truly can see things on our 3D images that I was never able to see before, allowing me to treatment plan better. Impacted cuspid treatments and orthognathic surgical treatments are much easier to treatment plan, and looking for supernumerary teeth or pathology is much simpler than ever before.

The other advancement is the intraoral scanners. We purchased an iTero scanner about a year ago and we absolutely love it. We do indirect bonding cases with it, as well as scan for all appliances and retainers. We also have eliminated the impressions needed for Invisalign. The accuracy of this scanner is amazing. It has saved so much time that I am thinking about purchasing another in the near future.

What would you like to see orthodontics do in the way it operates as a profession in the next five to 10 years?
I am very concerned about the profession as a whole. I recently read an article about Super GPs. It basically was encouraging general dentists to do everything and anything inside their own office. I have always believed that it's your choice to do orthodontics—just make sure you do it well.

Presently it takes two to three years to become a certified orthodontic specialist. However, as a profession, we have not differentiated ourselves from the dentists who do orthodontics after only taking a couple of weekend courses. We need our orthodontic societies to help us educate the public as to why you should see an orthodontic specialist. And the key word is "specialist." We need the public to know that there is more to orthodontics than straightening the front teeth, and that facial growth and function is as [important as, if not] more important than, the alignment of the anterior teeth.

With more and more GPs doing some type of orthodontics or Invisalign, we will be challenged more and more in the future to thrive. It is [everyone's job] to do what we can to differentiate ourselves and let the public know the value of seeing a true orthodontist. I always ask my patients, if they had a heart problem, would they go to their internist or would they search out a cardiologist? Why do they look at orthodontics any differently?

Describe your most successful or rewarding experience in your professional life.
I have always felt my best reward is when I hear a success story that has come about by us creating a Kaufman smile for a patient. Whenever I hear a patient say [that he or she has] more confidence, and because of me [he or she] got a new job or met a new spouse, it still floors me. We count ourselves successful when we have a patient call and tell us [he or she] won best smile [at] school, or sends us senior pictures or wedding photos years later, thanking us for all that we have done. The other most rewarding event is when a patient tells me [he or she] had such a positive experience here that [he or she wants] to go on and be an orthodontist. That's about the highest compliment I can get.


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September 2025
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