Mission Trails Dentistry is all smiles when it comes to celebrating a special aniversario this month.

To celebrate a quarter century of healthy smiles, Dr. Bradley Ross, Dr. Ian Murray, Dr. Leslie Phillips, and their staff will be hosting an open house on Thursday, Oct. 27, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mission Trails Dentistry is located at 6902 Navajo Road (at Jackson Drive).

Guests are invited to tour the office and meet the doctors and team. MTD will have refreshments, giveaways for adults and kids, and opportunities to win prizes. They look forward to welcoming many of their patients and community members.

RSVP’s to the Oct. 27 event are appreciated at: [email protected].

It’s been 25 years since Ross transformed the former Great Western Bank building on the corner of Navajo and Jackson in the San Carlos neighborhood. He turned the ATM lane into Cup ‘n Go drive-through coffee, the bank vault into a dental lab and the rest of the building into a beautiful, thriving dental office that has since served thousands of area residents.

According to Ross, he appreciates the opportunity he and the staff have had to provide dental care for thousands of members of el community.

“We’ve always tried to make sure our patients are treated like family, and I think we have achieved that goal,” Ross commented. “Kids I saw years ago are now bringing in their own children. Some highlights include seeing a patient terrified of dentistry and seeing them leave happy and relieved that they can feel safe and comfortable in the dental office. Another example is a young man in his twenties who came into our office with severely damaged teeth and was constantly covering his mouth with his hand. We were able to restore his smile so he could move forward in his life with confidence. I will never forget the evening I saw a local news story of a young woman who was struck by a car as she was crossing the street in a hit and run. She fractured many of her front teeth and was not in a position to help herself. I was able to reach her through the news station and we brought her in and restored her beautiful smile. Some of my patients have become friends. One became my co-writer on a musical we produced here in San Diego about my father, who owned Gold Star, a famous recording studio in Hollywood. Bringing in Dr. Ian Murray and Dr. Leslie Phillips has brought us even more loyal patients to our practice.”

For Ross, being in business this many years has led to witnessing changes in the dental industry over time.

“In the 36 years that I have been in practice, I have always embraced new technology,” Ross remarked. “Dentistry definitely has had notable and progressive changes. I was one of the first to use digital x-rays and received some notoriety offering Virtual Vision entertainment eyewear to patients to use during their dental visits. We have advanced our skills with local anesthesia, oral conscious sedation, and nitrous oxide to help improve the patient experience. We have seen the use of scanners and intra-oral cameras become the norm. The use of decay detecting solutions and lasers help us in diagnosing decay earlier and in providing more conservative restorations. On that note, the conservation of natural tooth structure is more evident in the work we do now. Instead of using metals, we use adhesive/bonded restorations like porcelain veneers, crowns, and bridges. Invisalign orthodontics has been a game-changer using clear aligners. Now many more adults are choosing to straighten their teeth.”

According to Ross, the most notable change all these years is the new standard of care in offering implants for replacing missing teeth.

“Once anchored in the bone, there are options on how we can attach a new tooth (restoration) to it,” Ross noted. “Using a cone beam CT and our 3D printer, we can use state of the art software to pre-plan the dental procedure.”

As much enjoyment as he gets out of practicing dentistry, Ross said it is the relationship he and his staff have with patients that means the most.

“I love the older patients for their commitment to the practice and their appreciation for having an office that listens and attends to their needs,” Ross pointed out. “I have had several staff members who have been with us for decades and the patients know them very well. One of our favorite patients we saw for 30+ years had a wonderful smile and quality of life till he passed away at 103.”

– Reach editor Dave Thomas at: [email protected].