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Office Visit Benjamin Lund, Editor, Dentaltown Magazine

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We get down and dirty with Dr. Mark Fleming to learn what his Florida practice is all about, and why he has so many darn online "friends."

by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Dentaltown Magazine

Welcome to the newest installment of Office Visit, where we visit a Townie's office and profile his or her equipment, design or unique practice philosophy. If you would like to participate or nominate a colleague, please send me an e-mail at tom@dentaltown.com.

This month, we visited Dr. Mark Fleming's practice in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Fleming is a prominent Townie on Dentaltown.com, and he shares his practice history, his affinity for CEREC technology, and how Dentaltown has changed his life.

Name: Mark J. Fleming, DDS
Graduate from: The Ohio State University College of Dentistry
Year graduated: 1978
Practice Name: Mark J. Fleming, DDS, Inc.
Practice Location: Sarasota, Florida
Year when this office opened: 1993 (Practiced in Ohio, 1978-1993)
Practice Size: 2,250 sq. ft., 4 ops
Staff: 5 (two front office, one chairside assistant, one
         full-time hygienist and one part-time hygienist)
Web site: www.markjflemingdds.com

Office Highlights
Bonding Agents
• Surpass, Interface and Anchor from Apex Dental Materials

Burs
• Neo diamonds from Micro Copy

Cements
• Anchor
• RelyX Luting Cement
• 3M veneer cement

Restoratives
• Apex Dental Materials Titan Flow
• TrioDent V-Ring
• Ultradent's Amelogen Plus
• Ultradent's Vit-l-escence

Click Here To View "Flem's" Top 5		 Impression Materials
• Exacta VPS Gel 90
• Kettenbach Dental Futar
• Ultradent's Chromaclone

Technology
• Air Techniques Vista Cam Intraoral Camera
• Biolase Waterlase MD
• Canon 10D Camera
• CEREC
• Digital Doc Icon Intraoral Cameras
• EagleSoft Practice Management
• Periolase
• ScanX digital radiography
• Sheervision Firefly Headlamp
• Sirona SIROLaser
• Vita Easyshade
• Vita Super Steamer
• Vita Vacumat 40 Oven
Why did you choose dentistry as your career path?
Originally, I chose dentistry because I could not get into medical school. Fellow Townie, Dennis Murphy got into OSU (The Ohio State University) while we were living together after graduating from college, and I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did. I believe I am much happier being in dentistry than I would have been in medicine.

Tell me about your practice. What do you do that sets you apart from other dentists in your area?
What sets us apart is how we treat people as people and how we treat people with technology. We bring in new patients (non emergencies) utilizing a facilitator who meets with them first before I see them. She finds out what is important to new patients and what it is they want from us and our office. It's a model I have been using for quite some time now. I learned it from Sandy Roth and her company, ProSynergy. Then we render their treatment utilizing the latest in technology, CEREC, Periolase, digital radiographs, etc.

Since you began your career as a dentist, what are the three biggest changes you've seen in the profession?
First is adhesive dentistry, which in turn led to cosmetic dentistry (second). Third are the continued advancements in technology that are used in our profession.

What is your biggest source of new patients? How do you market to new patients?
Our biggest source of new patients is internal referrals from existing patients. We send a new resident letter to surrounding zip codes inviting those who need a dentist to try our office. We also run an advertisement in our local paper touting our use of technology - specifically our use of CEREC and the Periolase laser.
In your current practice situation, what is a typical day's schedule? What kinds of cases are you doing routinely?
Quadrant dentistry, which involves CERECs and direct composites, and restorative procedures of crown and bridge and restoring implants. New patient exams, NTI appliance treatment and Periolase periodontal treatments fill the rest of the schedule out. I refer all endodontic, removable prosthodontic and orthodontic procedures to specialists.

What is your favorite procedure to perform?
CEREC restorations, no doubt. They allow me control and creativity in delivering treatment to my patients.
What is the most unique case you've worked on?
You know, after 30 years, I don't know if I have done something that is unique. When I started with CEREC in 2001, that was pretty unique. Now I consider it commonplace.

What kinds of new technologies has your practice embraced? How have they improved your practice?
Since the beginning of 2001, the office has become totally computerized. While we use some paper, I believe we are 95-98 percent paperless. We started with EagleSoft Practice Management system first. We added ScanX digital radiograph system in 2003. The management system allows us to be more efficient in how we deal with patients. I love the ability to enlarge radiographs to be better at diagnosing. As I said before, we began our CEREC journey in late 2001. The technology allowed me to create restorations in one visit, controlling the process to my satisfaction. It brought a lot of patients to the practice interested in one-visit indirect restorations. It also had an added benefit of lowering my overhead by the savings we were reaping from reduced lab fees. We added the Periolase laser more than two years ago allowing us to treat patients who we would have referred before.

Tell me about your involvement with CEREC. How has it changed the way you practice? How has it affected you professionally?
It has been a great addition to the practice. People love the ability to have these types of restorations done in one visit. I'm more comfortable in treatment planning these types of restorations because I control the whole process. Professionally, it has allowed me to meet some great people along the way at different meetings, including many Townies. From that, through my good friend Dr. Sameer Puri, I have realized a dream of mine of teaching either by speaking or teaching at a facility. Sameer "made" me speak at the third Townie Meeting on CEREC, which has led to many speaking engagements and the opportunity to teach with him, Armen Mirzayan and Darren Greenhalgh at The Scottsdale Center for Dentistry in their CEREC Programs.

Who are the people on your staff and in what capacity do they function?
Tracy Broering-Welpton has many roles. She is new patient facilitator, helps at the front desk, helps as a second assistant and is a back-up hygienist. Stacy Ribeiro's main responsibility is the front desk area. Susie Godfrey is our full-time hygienist. Anya Gau is our main chairside assistant. Kristi Gibson is our part time hygienist.
 
Not only does Dr. Fleming make his own restorations with CEREC technology, he performs his own dentistry too! HA!
Why did you decide to locate your practice in Florida?
I jokingly tell people that my wife, Lori, said she was moving to Florida and asked if I would like to come along. The weather in Ohio began to wear on both of us and we decided a change of scenery was in order. The move was not without its difficulties, including my opportunity to take the Florida boards twice and because of delays in selling my Cincinnati practice, and not being able to move until five months after my family had moved there. Once I got there, I wondered what took me so long to make the decision, which I have never regretted.

Tell me about your office's new design. What was the process like? What did you learn? What would you have done differently?
Fortunately for me, Lori has experience in interior design. She designed the non-clinical areas. Patterson Dental was a great help with the dental areas. Lori took care of the day-to-day things. I did not have the time or patience. She took care of picking all the colors, carpets, etc. Her help allowed me to do dentistry and not worry about how the building was coming along. I had planned to sell the practice when it was time to retire, therefore I built only four operatories. After recently working with Mercer Advisors and embracing their model of transitioning practice ownership, I would have planned for more operatories. We will have to see how this works out. Since I enjoy dentistry, I still plan to practice for a while yet.

Do you enjoy practicing alone?
For the most part, yes. Early on, it was tough for me to find someone with the same values and the same style of practicing. I tried several associates without success. That is what colored my decision making process when choosing how many operatories to put in the latest office. I subscribe to Howard Farran's theory that I will really never practice alone again because of belonging to Dentaltown.

How has Dentaltown changed your life?
First, I've met some of my best friends through Dentaltown. As related earlier, my teaching career has come about because of Dentaltown. Major practice decisions and purchases like the Periolase have come about because of Dentaltown. And did I mention the great friendships I'm part of because of Dentaltown?

There are few threads on Dentaltown.com where I haven't seen "Friend of Flem" posted somewhere. What's that all about?
There are threads where there are NO friends of Flem?! HA! The "friends" started as a goof by my friend Darren Greenhalgh. Rich Rosenblatt was also part of it. Some people picked up on it and the "legend" began to grow. Another friend, Todd Erhlich began making these Friend of Flem gifs and the rest is history. It has been interesting to watch the "movement" grow and hear how many people know about it, including dental manufacturers. Too funny!

What are your long-term goals?
To practice dentistry as long as my eyes and hands allow me. I really enjoy practicing dentistry. I would like to cut back a little so I can teach more. I'd also like to take some time off to reenergize from time to time.

Tell me something that people would be surprised to know about you.
I'm an introvert. I think that's what drew me to dentistry. It takes a lot of energy for me to interact with people. It does not come naturally for me.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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