Dr. Ron has been a dentist for more than 40 years. During that time, there’s one thing he’s seen over and over again: the dental industry tends to prioritize profits over patients.
But Dr. Ron has never done that. And neither has Vivent Health. And that’s why working here is such a good fit for Dr. Ron.
“I’ve worked at places where it was all profits, profits, profits, and the organization didn’t necessarily care what the patient wanted. They would try to push patients into treatments they didn’t need just to make money.” he says.
“Being at Vivent Health is so different. It’s so refreshing because I get to work for the patients,” Dr. Ron says.
That means Dr. Ron’s approach to care is super collaborative. He’ll assess a patient’s teeth so he can make recommendations about treatment. But he also wants to know what his patients’ goals are—reduce pain? Fix a broken tooth? Improve the appearance of their smile?—so he can work with each person to come up with a plan together.
“I just want them to feel like they’re being cared for and that I’m being honest with them,” Dr. Ron says.
Dr. Ron also loves the connections he’s able to form with patients, particularly in an environment where everyone is encouraged to be wholeheartedly themselves—which isn’t something Ron has always had at work.
“Being a person in the LGBTQIA+ community and working in the corporate world, I often felt I had to be a little more closeted. Here, I can just be myself. And I think that makes patients feel more comfortable being themselves too,” he says. “It’s really unbelievable.”
Dr. Ron earned a Bachelor of Science from UCLA and a Doctor of Dental Medicine from Washington University School of Dental Medicine. He served in the National Health Service Corps in Rockford, Illinois. He then went into private practice before coming to Vivent Health. He has been a dentist for over 40 years.