Teeth in a day leeds, al

What if you loved what you do?  It’s not work to Dr. Scott Koplon, it’s his life!  Dr. Koplon loves his job.  He loves to go to work.  It’s never been work to him.  He has the coolest office, and get this, his dental practice is a huge part of Leeds history and I would like to share their story with you.

Dr. Koplon joined Dr. Harold Fendley’s dental practice in 1990 located in downtown Leeds at the old original Leeds hospital on Parkway Drive.  Dr. Fendley bought the building from Dr. Clayton around 1950 and built a very successful practice.  He had a very kind heart and always treated Dr. Koplon like his own son.

Dr. Koplon worked in Dr. Fendley’s practice for 10 years and then purchased the practice in 2000.  Shortly after the purchase, a fire broke out which caused major damage to the historic building so the two dentists moved across the street for a couple of years while the restoration process took place. 

Dr. Fendley kept the same structure and historic value of the old hospital building and sold it to Dr. Koplon in 2002 after renovation.  Dr. Fendley continued to practice dentistry with Dr. Koplon up until about a year before he passed away.

Dr. Koplon has very fond memories of working with Dr. Fendley during those years together and learned a lot from him.  Dr. Fendley was a dentist way ahead of his time as a very surgically oriented dentist with performing implants way back in the 1950’s and 60’s.  Dr. Fendley would perform surgery while Dr. Koplon was assigned to tooth extractions.  Little did Dr. Koplon know was that he was in training for surgery and pulling teeth set him up to acquire a love for surgery.  Dr. Koplon inherited that passion from him and learned surgery by extracting teeth.  From there, he converted to implants.

Having always worked with another dentist, Dr. Koplon was excited to have his son, Dr. Adam Koplon, join his practice three months ago.  Dr. Adam attended the University of Alabama, then dental school at UAB.  In talking to him, it was very evident that he is living his dream of following in his father’s footsteps.  He expressed his fond memories of watching his dad at work and seeing how he took care of his patients.  Dr. Adam always knew that he wanted to work with his dad.

Dr. Adam shared his admiration for his father, his exceptional ability to build relationships with his patients and unbelievable bedside manner.  One of the coolest things he talked about was Dr. Koplon’s ability to remember his patients out in public and call them by name.   Dr. Koplon loves practicing in Leeds and feels that he is more than a dentist, he’s a friend.

Dr. Koplon expressed to me that he is the luckiest person in the world to love his work and be able to share his experience with his son.  He feels that they are a good blend.  Dr. Koplon is very clinically oriented with over 25 years experience in surgical and cosmetic dentistry while Dr. Adam is more business oriented bringing technology, youthful enthusiasm and newest, latest techniques and materials.

In addition to the relational side of Koplon Implant & Family Dentistry, it doesn’t have a sterile dental feel, but more the feeling of being in a home.  Another major differentiator is the fact that this practice offers all-in-one dentistry.  The Koplons provide all dental services, not just basic dentistry.  A patient can schedule a cleaning, X-ray and crown all in one day without having to have multiple appointments AND without having to see a variety of specialists.  

As well as just starting his dental career with his father, Dr. Adam brought Savannah, a friend from the University of Alabama, to Leeds for a root canal with Dr. Koplon.  They ended up dating and just recently married.

Patients come from all over St. Clair County and beyond.  Many patients still come to this practice that may be a great granddaughter of a Dr. Fendley patient or have a story to tell about having their appendix out at the old Leeds hospital or that they were actually born there.  It’s all about relationships and sharing relationships to Dr. Koplon.  He feels that he is able to share another family with his son in a small town and that’s exciting.

Dr. Koplon loves being a small town dentist in Leeds.  He’s always on call, in a good way.  When a patient tells him that they didn’t call him at night or on a weekend with a need because they didn’t want to offend him, Dr. Koplon tells them that he is only offended if they don’t call him because he wants to get them out of their pain.

Over the years, the almost 100 year old building has gone through updates and renovations.  The original hospital OR is now a lab with all of the high tech equipment to make crowns.  Today the practice has four operatories and soon will have a fifth. The original baby nursery is now the 3D X-Ray room.  Most patient rooms have been updated with new appliances, equipment, TV’s and chairs.

One of the most exciting pieces of equipment is the new CEREC which is a crown making machine.  With this new process, no molds or traditional impressions are needed.  A digital image is created that generates the crown all in one sitting.  Only one visit is now required for the entire process, no temporary crown is needed and the patient goes home with a brand new crown.

Another state of the art piece of the equipment is the new cone beam x-ray machine which creates a 3D rendering rather than panoramic.  It virtually places implants on a digital image and knows the size, angulation of where to place implants.  The Koplons now perform virtual surgery, design the crown and design where to place the implant all before the actual surgery begins – a total all-inclusive service.

Some of the dental services provided in this surgically oriented practice include Implants, Same Day Crowns, Lumineers, Root Canals, Permanent Dentures, Crowns & Bridges, Surgical Extractions, Gum Grafts, Teeth Cleanings, Pediatric Dentistry, Oral Cancer Screenings, 3D X-Ray and more.

An important component in their dental care is the ability to provide the best treatment plan available for each and every patient and the Koplons want to fix ideally rather than a less than ideal dental option due to finances.

For example, a patient might walk in asking for a bridge because of a missing tooth.  This option not only includes providing the missing tooth, but affects the tooth on each side of the missing tooth.  This is one option, but for about the same investment the optimal choice of treatment would be a one tooth implant.  This option does not affect any teeth on either side of the missing tooth and provide a more permanent solution to their dental concern.  An implant lasts for life, provides confidence as the best restoration option.  

The process of getting an implant involves extraction of the existing tooth, a bone graft and crown.  Dental insurance usually pays at least a portion of the cost and many times over 50 percent.  

Trends continue to change in dentistry.  For many years, Dr. Koplon performed veneers.  Implants are now his biggest niche.  He loves his work because he gets to change lives.  To see the joy and happiness when a patient sees his or her smile for the first time makes it all worth it.

Dr. Adam now follows his father’s example of continual education and training to stay on the cutting edge of technology and skill to bring the best of care to their patients.  After creating a new five year plan with the two joining forces, Dr. Adam has already completing most of the training planned over the next five years in only two years.  Their philosophy is that if you don’t change, you’ll die.  Continue to evolve, keep growing, keep changing and stay on the cutting edge is their motto.

Koplon Implant & Family Dentistry is currently accepting new patients and their office is located at 8125 Parkway Drive, Leeds.  For more information about any of their dental services, please visit their website at koplondmd.com or call their office at (205) 699-2551.

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