After witnessing patients struggle to find practices that accept their insurance or doctors who will sit with them for more than 10 minutes, Dr. Deepti Gupta made it her mission to create a different and better practice at Essential Dental.
The private practice recently moved to Williston Park and was featured in a segment on “The Donna Drake Show,” where Gupta spoke about the common fear of dentists and the new scanner technology being used in dentistry.
At past practices, Gupta said she was made to feel like a factory worker, with endless patients cycling in and out.
“I felt like in other offices I was being forced to do treatments that I didn’t agree with for the sake of what insurance people had and how much money the practice wanted to make and they were making me see so many patients that the quality of the work suffered,” she said. “I wanted to provide the best quality care despite what insurance anybody had.”
Gupta does not let insurance stand in the way of treatment – her office accepts every form of insurance. While it may not always be easy, her office “fights” it out with insurance companies to provide patients with the treatment they need, she said.
The private practice, originally opened by Gupta in Little Neck in 2011, moved to a new Williston Park location in January. When the lease on the Little Neck building ended, Gupta said she knew she wanted to be closer to her home and 7-year-old daughter in New Hyde Park.
“I’ve actually been amazed at what an amazing community it is. It’s very tight-knit,” Gupta said. “The businesses all next to each other are so friendly. We promote each other.”
Gupta said she has already been working well with nearby business owners by swapping coupons to promote at their individual businesses.
In addition to the business community, Gupta said employees in the building department have been particularly helpful and her patients have been “understanding” and “generous.”
To celebrate the move to Williston Park, Essential Dental hosted a grand re-opening on June 15 with gourmet coffee, balloon animals and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Gupta said she hosted the event so residents could pop in to the practice throughout the day to ask questions and chat with practice employees.
The practice is small, employing two dental assistants, two receptionists, an office manager and Gupta as the only doctor. However, patients are able to receive hands-on, personalized care as a result, Gupta said.
On “The Donna Drake Show,” Gupta spoke about the office manager at Essential Dental: “Walter is basically the heart of our practice. When people come to our practice, [they say] ‘We only want to work with Walter.’ He takes care of the patients from the moment they come into the door.”
Gupta said owning her own practice allows her to maintain a high standard of quality control and create consistency. That consistency begins at the start of an appointment – with cleanings.
While many dental practices hire hygienists to perform cleanings, Gupta performs all of the cleanings herself.
“I find that when I do the cleanings, I find a lot of things that I may not find in an exam and I can see how the patient reacts to pain,” Gupta said. “It’s just building rapport.”
In addition to having close patient relationships, owning her own practice allows Gupta to perform every procedure in-house. While many other dentists send patients to specialists for surgeries, Gupta said she holds advanced degrees in most dental surgeries and never refers patients to other practices.