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This is not your father's dentist.
Austin-based Longhorn Dental Associates is a group dental practice with 31 dentists and 150 employees. Unlike more traditionally structured dental practices, Longhorn willingly turns over its management to American Dental Partners Inc.
Longhorn operates under this framework: Assemble a group of dentists who share a high standard for quality of patient care and delegate the nonmedical aspects of the practice to a partner like American Dental Partners.
"The business aspects can be what bring you down. It takes the fun out of dentistry," says Dr. Raymond Scott, president of Longhorn Dental Associates.
A growing minority of dentists appear to agree. 'Me number of dentists practicing in groups in the United States has grown from 4 percent in 1991 to 15 percent in 1999.
Longhorn, a multispecialty group dental practice founded in 1983, has four offices in Austin, and one each in Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos and Killeen. A ninth location in the North Austin Medical Center is expected to open in June.
Revenue last year was $20 million, the result of a minimum of 12 percent growth annually during the past five years.
Working in a group practice isn't for everyone, but it does hold certain advantages. For instance, each new dentist at Longhorn Dental is paired with a mentoring dentist.
"They have a one-to-one relationship, someone to take him or her under...