DELMAR — Nelson Dental Healthcare has been taking care of teeth for 42 years.
And for 42 years, the Nelsons have focused on service and treating each of their patients like people rather than a number on the way to a production goal.
“It comes down to communication and taking the time to reassure the patient and to walk them through the procedure as we are doing it,” said Dr. Rob Nelson, who purchased the business from his father Dr. Gary Nelson 18 months ago. “My dad really had a knack for it and I try to keep the same, calm demeanor, especially with children. Most children aren’t afraid of the dentist, they are afraid of the unknown so we try to take that fear out of it and explain to them what is going on.”
Father and son graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, one of the top dental schools in the country.
The family-focused, general practice is a full-service dental office that offers all the traditional services like orthodontics, extractions and implants and they try to keep everything in-house.
“Having teeth or a denture you can use to eat with is really a quality of life issue,” Rob Nelson said. “I have had older patients going back to eating steak, and it’s just fantastic to see.”
Like his father, Rob Nelson works hard to keep up with the latest technologies which, he said, helps the patients.
“Like any business, technology has come a long way in dentistry and if we can find efficiencies through technology, we will find them,” he said. “In the end, though, you can’t rush dentistry. It takes as long as it takes to do it right and to educate the patients, and explain the different choices they have but that is what informed consent is all about – the patients making their own decisions with confidence.”