Why The Smile Place Family Dentistry’s Local Ownership Means Better Care, Stronger Relationships, and a Healthier Smile for You
The person looking into your mouth shouldn’t be answering to someone looking at a spreadsheet. Yet that’s exactly what happens when your dental care becomes another line item in a corporate portfolio. The difference between walking into a locally owned dental practice and a corporate chain isn’t just about who signs the paychecks—it fundamentally changes everything about your experience, your treatment, and ultimately, your oral health outcomes.
Think about the last time you visited your dentist. Did they remember your previous conversation about your daughter’s orthodontic consultation? Did they recall that you have anxiety about certain procedures? Did they know without checking your chart that you’re training for a marathon and are concerned about teeth grinding? These aren’t trivial details—they’re the foundation of genuine healthcare relationships that actually improve outcomes.
When you choose where to receive dental care, you’re not just picking a location or comparing prices on a cleaning. You’re deciding whether you want to be known or merely processed, whether your oral health journey will be guided by someone invested in your long-term wellbeing or by protocols designed to maximize efficiency and revenue for distant stakeholders.
The Relationship Difference: Why Continuity Actually Matters
Healthcare isn’t like buying a coffee or getting your oil changed. The quality of care you receive is directly connected to the depth of the relationship between you and your healthcare provider. This isn’t just a pleasant sentiment—it’s a practical reality that affects everything from diagnosis accuracy to treatment success.
When you see the same dental team consistently over months and years, they develop an intimate understanding of your unique oral health landscape. At The Smile Place Family Dentistry, this continuity is built into the practice philosophy. Your hygienist learns exactly where you tend to accumulate plaque and which areas need extra attention. Your dentist observes patterns in your dental health that might indicate developing issues long before they become emergencies. They know your medical history, your concerns, your preferences, and your goals without needing to frantically review notes while you sit in the chair.
Imagine walking into your dental appointment and having the hygienist greet you by name, ask about your recent vacation that you mentioned last visit, and immediately adjust their approach because they remember you have sensitive gums on the lower left side. This is the experience patients describe at The Smile Place, where, as one patient noted, “I switched to The Smile Place after leaving my dentist of over 18 years. I wish I had done it sooner. The dental hygienist, Nicole, was wonderful. She took her time and exhibited true pride in her work”.
Now contrast that with checking in at a corporate facility where the staff rotates constantly, where your hygienist is seeing you for the first time and working from generic protocols, where your dentist might be different from your last visit, and is double-booked with patients in multiple rooms to meet productivity quotas.
The difference isn’t subtle. One approach treats you like a human being with a unique story and specific needs. The other treats you like a set of teeth attached to an insurance policy. As The Smile Place emphasizes in their practice philosophy, “As a locally-owned private dental practice, we take the time to get to know you—because you’re more than just a chart number. At The Smile Place, you’ll see the same trusted faces at every visit, not a rotating staff or different dentist every time”.
Decision-Making Authority: Who’s Really In Charge Of Your Care
Here’s something most patients never think about: when your dentist doesn’t own the practice, they’re not the final authority on your treatment. In corporate dental chains, treatment decisions flow through layers of management, corporate policies, and profit-center metrics. Your dentist may want to recommend a conservative approach or take time to monitor a situation, but corporate protocols might push toward more aggressive treatment that generates higher revenue.
In a locally owned private practice like The Smile Place Family Dentistry, the dentist who examines you is the same person who makes every decision about your care. There’s no corporate office reviewing treatment plans based on revenue targets. There’s no pressure to recommend certain procedures because they’re featured in this quarter’s promotional campaign. The treatment you receive is based purely on what your dentist—who will see you again in six months and wants to maintain a long-term relationship—believes is best for your oral health.
This autonomy extends to every aspect of your experience. When your locally owned dentist wants to adjust appointment lengths to accommodate complex cases, they can. When they want to bring in specialized equipment for better diagnostics, they make that investment decision based on patient benefit, not corporate approval processes. When you need flexibility in scheduling or payment arrangements, you’re talking to someone who has the authority to work with you rather than someone who must defer to corporate policy.
At The Smile Place, this decision-making authority is evident in how they’ve structured their practice. With doctors like Dr. David Rothstein, who “joined as a partner with The Smile Place family in 2003″ and “maintains a commitment to excellence in oral health care and his patients’ cosmetic dental needs,” the practice demonstrates long-term investment in the community. Similarly, Dr. Jay D. Kim, who serves as an oral surgeon at the practice, brings extensive credentials and maintains teaching positions at prestigious institutions, and chooses to practice in a locally-owned setting where patient care drives decisions.
The Time Factor: Rushed Care Versus Relationship-Based Dentistry
Walk into most corporate dental chains, and you’ll immediately sense the pace. Patients are scheduled in tight blocks. Staff move quickly between rooms. The atmosphere feels more like an assembly line than a healthcare environment. This isn’t because the individual providers don’t care—it’s because the business model demands high patient volume to meet corporate profitability targets.
In this environment, thorough conversations become luxuries the system can’t afford. You might have questions about a treatment recommendation, concerns about costs, or anxiety about a procedure—but the schedule doesn’t allow for extended discussions. Your dentist is already behind and has patients waiting in other rooms. The system rewards speed and volume, not depth and relationship.
Contrast this with the atmosphere at The Smile Place Family Dentistry, where the practice explicitly offers “a relaxing atmosphere to care for all your dental needs”. Appointment blocks can be adjusted based on actual patient needs rather than corporate scheduling algorithms. If you need extra time to discuss treatment options, that conversation happens without the dentist anxiously watching the clock.
Patient testimonials consistently highlight this time-centered approach. One patient shared: “From the first call to my last visit, the staff was caring and accommodating. They were non-judgmental. I have not been to a dentist in many years, as I was fearful of dental work. From the minute I sat in the chair, all fears were gone. Dr. Rothstein is gentle and soft spoken, and put me at ease”.
This time difference doesn’t just affect your comfort—it directly impacts the quality of care you receive. Thorough examinations require time. Building trust with anxious patients requires time. Explaining treatment options and answering questions requires time. When that time isn’t available because corporate metrics demand maximum patient throughput, everyone loses except the shareholders.
At The Smile Place, the commitment to taking adequate time is reflected in their comprehensive approach to patient care. Their initial visit includes “a comprehensive oral evaluation,” and they emphasize that “the doctor will develop a comprehensive treatment plan to help you achieve the healthy smile you have always wanted”. This isn’t rushed processing—it’s thoughtful, relationship-based dentistry.
Community Investment: Your Neighbor Versus A National Corporation
When you visit The Smile Place Family Dentistry, you’re walking into a business owned by someone who lives in your community, shops at the same stores, sends their kids to local schools, and has a genuine stake in the area’s well-being. Their reputation isn’t managed by a corporate PR department—it’s built through years of personal interactions, community involvement, and word-of-mouth recommendations from neighbors who know them.
This community embeddedness creates natural accountability that no corporate policy manual can replicate. The dentists at The Smile Place aren’t just worried about online reviews or corporate quality metrics—they’re concerned about their standing in a community where they’ve built a life. They see patients at the grocery store, at school events, and at community gatherings. Every treatment decision, every patient interaction, every aspect of their practice reflects directly on them as individuals, not on a distant corporate entity.
This personal accountability manifests in countless ways. Dr. Rothstein, for example, “attends advanced continuing education courses to ensure he stays on top of his field in implantology, Cosmetic and General Dentistry, so that he can provide the highest level of care for his patients”. This isn’t about meeting corporate requirements—it’s about building a career legacy in the community.
Similarly, Dr. Kellie Schlosser “resides in Cornwall with her husband and children” and “has participated in numerous community outreach programs and spends time in area schools during dental health month”. This is someone invested in the community, not a rotating provider assigned by corporate headquarters.
Moreover, the money you spend at The Smile Place circulates back through your community. With two convenient locations in Cornwall and Middletown, NY, the practice employs local staff, uses local vendors when possible, and supports local families. Your healthcare dollars become an investment in your own community’s economic health.
As the practice emphasizes: “We’re not part of a big chain, we’re your neighbors, and we’ve been proudly serving Middletown for over 20 years… Being a private practice means we tailor every treatment to your unique needs, no cookie-cutter care here”.
The Treatment Philosophy: Patient Needs Versus Corporate Quotas
Perhaps the most critical difference between local ownership and corporate dentistry lies in the fundamental treatment philosophy that guides care decisions. At The Smile Place Family Dentistry, where the dentists own the business and depend on long-term patient relationships, the incentive structure naturally aligns with conservative, patient-centered care. Recommending unnecessary treatments damages the trust that took years to build and risks losing patients who are also neighbors and community members.
Corporate dental chains operate under very different incentive structures. Individual providers may be evaluated based on production numbers and treatment acceptance rates. Corporate ownership groups track revenue per patient and measure performance against profit targets. Marketing departments create promotional campaigns around specific procedures that need to be sold. This doesn’t mean every corporate dentist lacks integrity—but it means they’re working within a system where the incentives don’t always align with the most conservative patient care.
At The Smile Place, the treatment philosophy is evident in their comprehensive service offerings that prioritize patient needs. They provide everything from basic preventive care like cleanings and comprehensive evaluations to advanced procedures like dental implants, crowns, bridges, and oral surgery. This range allows them to recommend what’s truly needed rather than being limited by corporate-approved procedures or pushed toward high-margin treatments.
Dr. David Teitelbaum, who practices at The Smile Place, exemplifies this patient-centered philosophy: “He strives to make all his patients feel comfortable and at ease while under his care. Furthermore, he tries to thoroughly explain all care so patients understand the treatment they are receiving and how to improve their oral health”.
Picture this common scenario: You go in for a routine cleaning and examination. The dentist finds a small area of concern—perhaps early decay that could be monitored or a tooth that might eventually need attention. At The Smile Place, focused on long-term relationships, the dentist might recommend monitoring the situation and being proactive with preventive care. They know they’ll see you again in six months and want to avoid unnecessary treatment. They’re confident that building trust through conservative care will create a lifelong patient relationship.
Flexibility and Personalization: One-Size-Fits-All Versus Customized Care
Corporate entities thrive on standardization. Consistent protocols, uniform procedures, and predictable processes make it possible to manage multiple locations and deliver reliable shareholder returns. But human beings and their healthcare needs don’t fit neatly into standardized boxes.
Your oral health exists within the context of your unique life circumstances. Maybe you have dental anxiety stemming from childhood experiences. Perhaps you have complex medical conditions that affect your dental treatment options. You might have financial constraints that require creative payment solutions. Your work schedule might make standard appointment times challenging. Your family situation might mean you need multiple family members treated efficiently during the same visit.
The Smile Place Family Dentistry has the authority and flexibility to adapt its practice to accommodate these individual circumstances. As they state in their philosophy: “Being a private practice means we tailor every treatment to your unique needs, no cookie-cutter care here. We believe in quality over volume”.
This flexibility is evident in their approach to anxious patients. One patient testimonial captures this perfectly: “My entire experience at The SmilePlace was excellent… I’ve been to many dentists and have always been scared, but not anymore. I will never go anywhere else – this place is amazing. Everyone is super nice. Thank you for everything. P.S. I didn’t feel a thing with the 3 root canals”.
The practice can extend appointment times for anxious patients who need extra reassurance. They can adjust their clinical approach based on your specific medical history and risk factors. They work with patients on payment arrangements, accepting “many types of dental insurance” and offering “all major credit cards, CareCredit, checks, and cash”.
The Smile Place also demonstrates flexibility in their scheduling, with different hours at their two locations to accommodate various patient needs. Their Cornwall location operates Monday through Thursday, while their Middletown location offers extended hours, including Saturday appointments twice a month from September to March.
This flexibility difference extends beyond the clinical aspects of care. Local ownership means decisions about office hours, emergency availability, equipment investments, and service offerings are made based on patient needs rather than corporate strategy. The practice offers comprehensive services, including specialized care from Dr. Jay D. Kim, an oral surgeon with extensive training who maintains operating privileges at prestigious hospitals, yet practices in this community-focused setting.
The Trust Equation: Knowing Who Benefits From Your Care Decisions
Trust in dental care relationships depends partly on understanding the underlying incentives. When you know your dental care provider’s success comes from your long-term health and satisfaction rather than maximizing procedure volume or hitting corporate targets, you can engage with recommendations from a place of confidence rather than skepticism.
At The Smile Place Family Dentistry, the success equation is straightforward: the practice prospers by delivering excellent care that keeps patients healthy and satisfied enough to return for years and refer their friends and family. Cutting corners, recommending unnecessary treatment, or prioritizing short-term revenue over long-term relationships directly undermines their business model. Their financial success and professional reputation are intrinsically tied to your positive outcomes and satisfaction.
This trust is reflected consistently in patient testimonials. As one patient shared, “I think the best way to describe being a patient at The Smile Place is how accommodating everyone is to your needs. Whether it’s a 6-month cleaning by Liz as today’s appointment was, or a more involved procedure requiring patience and support, The Smile Place team always makes sure your time there is both a comfortable and positive experience”.
Another patient emphasized the trust built through the practice’s approach: “The SmilePlace is always caring, happy to see you, and makes you feel that they care. They have a willingness to make sure you are happy when you leave, and this keeps me coming back”.
The corporate dental model introduces more complex and sometimes conflicting incentives into this relationship. While the individual dentist treating you may be genuinely committed to your well-being, they operate within a system where corporate success metrics might not perfectly align with conservative patient care.
At The Smile Place, the doctors’ credentials and ongoing education demonstrate their commitment to excellence driven by patient benefit rather than corporate mandates. Dr. Rothstein is “a member of the American Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry” and “pursued advanced training in endodontics”. Dr. Kim holds positions as “an Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery” at prestigious institutions and “has been the recipient of many awards and honors”. These achievements reflect personal commitment to excellence, not corporate requirements.
Long-Term Partnership: Your Dental Health Journey With Someone Who Stays
Oral health isn’t a series of isolated transactions—it’s a lifelong journey that benefits enormously from continuity. The dentist who treats you today should ideally be the same person monitoring your oral health evolution over decades. They should remember your baseline, track changes over time, and understand your personal history in ways that inform current decisions.
The Smile Place Family Dentistry offers this continuity naturally. As they emphasize: “At The Smile Place you’ll see the same trusted faces at every visit, not a rotating staff or different dentist every time”. The dentists who practice there have built careers in the community. Dr. Rothstein “joined as a partner with The Smile Place family in 2003”, demonstrating over two decades of commitment to the practice and community.
This continuity is what patients value most. One long-term patient noted: “In the 10 years I’ve been a patient, I’ve had the opportunity to visit both the Middletown and Cornwall locations, and each one is top-notch”. Another shared: “I don’t think you can get better dental care anywhere”.
Corporate dental environments experience much higher provider turnover. Dentists may be relocated between facilities based on corporate needs. They might leave for other opportunities when corporate policies conflict with their clinical philosophy. Patients frequently discover their dentist has been replaced when they arrive for their appointment. This instability undermines the continuity that enables truly personalized care.
At The Smile Place, the team of doctors—including Dr. Rothstein, Dr. Kim, Dr. Schlosser, and Dr. Teitelbaum—each bring specialized expertise while maintaining the continuity that patients need. They see children grow up, treat multiple generations of the same family, and accumulate invaluable institutional knowledge about each patient’s unique oral health trajectory.
This continuity difference becomes especially important when dealing with complex dental issues that require ongoing monitoring and graduated intervention. Your dentist at The Smile Place can track subtle changes over the years, recognize patterns specific to your oral health, and time interventions optimally based on their accumulated knowledge of your unique situation.
The practice’s commitment to comprehensive care is evident in their detailed post-operative instructions for various procedures, demonstrating their investment in your long-term success and recovery, not just the procedure itself.
Making The Choice That Actually Serves Your Health
The decision about where to receive dental care might seem like a simple matter of convenience or cost, but it fundamentally shapes your entire oral health experience. When you choose The Smile Place Family Dentistry over a corporate dental chain, you’re not just selecting a service provider—you’re choosing to be known rather than processed, to receive care guided by your needs rather than corporate metrics, to build a long-term partnership rather than participate in transactional healthcare.
This choice matters because dentistry, perhaps more than any other healthcare specialty, depends on the relationship between provider and patient. Your comfort level affects whether you seek care promptly or avoid it until problems become severe. The trust you have in recommendations determines whether you follow through with preventive treatment or wait until emergency intervention becomes necessary. The continuity of your care relationship directly impacts how well your providers understand your unique needs and can tailor treatment accordingly.
As The Smile Place emphasizes: “As a private practice, we focus on your comfort, health, and long-term smile goals. As a privately owned dental practice, we’re proud to offer personalized care in a warm, welcoming environment where your smile and comfort come first”.
Every time you sit in that dental chair, someone is making decisions that affect your health, your comfort, and your financial well-being. The question isn’t whether those decisions will be influenced by business considerations—of course they will be—but rather whose interests those business considerations serve. At The Smile Place, the business thrives by keeping you healthy and satisfied. In a corporate model, the business answers to shareholders and corporate metrics that may or may not align with conservative patient care.
Your oral health deserves more than efficient processing and standardized protocols. It deserves the attention of professionals who know your name, remember your story, have the authority to personalize your care, and possess a genuine long-term investment in your well-being. It deserves treatment decisions made by someone who will see you again, who lives in your community, and whose professional reputation depends on your positive outcome.
One patient summed up the difference perfectly: “Unlike corporate dental chains, they’re a locally owned private practice, and that means more time, more attention, and care that’s truly centered around you!”
The next time you need to choose a dental provider, look beyond the promotional offers and convenient locations. Ask yourself who will be making decisions about your care, what incentives guide those decisions, and whether you’ll be building a relationship with someone invested in your community or simply entering the system of a corporate entity. Your smile, your oral health, and your overall well-being deserve care from someone who truly knows you—and local ownership makes that possible in ways corporate dentistry simply cannot match.
Ready to experience dental care built on relationships rather than corporate metrics? Discover what it means to be treated at The Smile Place Family Dentistry, where your dentist is your neighbor, where continuity of care isn’t just possible but guaranteed, and where every treatment decision is made with your long-term health as the only priority. With convenient locations in Cornwall (845-534-2030) and Middletown (845-342-2125), NY, and specialized oral surgery services available through Dr. Jay D. Kim (845-704-4300), schedule a consultation today and experience the difference that local ownership makes in your dental health journey.
