We are on a quest to establish our dental department as a leader in affordable dental care. We know the journey will be filled with ups, downs, wins, losses, hair pulling and (hopefully) lots of celebrating our successes. Through Beyond Brushing, we’re hoping others can learn from our experiences as we embark on our journey.
So who are we?
We are Drs. Joe and LaJuan Mountain.
We are the dental directors of Family First Health, married dentists who co-lead our dental department in southcentral Pennsylvania. Our federally qualified health center is based in York, north of Baltimore, west of Philadelphia and east of Pittsburgh. We oversee dental services at three sites with a total of 20 operatories across two counties — and that doesn’t include our outreach programs, which include a mobile, four-operatory set-up.
Our journey began almost 20 years ago when we both entered college as pre-med majors. We graduated from Temple University’s school of dentistry in 2004 and did our general practice residency at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa. Over the past nine years at Family First Health, we’ve matured from staff dentists to dental directors. We find ourselves happy — and crazy busy.
At Family First Health, we lead a staff of seven dentists (including ourselves), three hygienists (one of whom is a public health hygienist), two expanded function dental assistants, 13 dental assistants and 10 front-desk staffers. But our driving force in all we do is our tremendously awesome patient population. They keep us on our toes!
Our vision for our dental operation is to be known as the best multi-site dental office in our region and as an industry leader in the delivery of quality, affordable dental care. We aim to accomplish this by maintaining a strong staff that is committed to meeting the needs of our patients in the community.
As we chronicle our progress, Beyond Brushing will provide a platform to talk about what we’re tackling on our to-do list. What our community needs— and what most communities need — is quality, affordable dental care. Our quest began with identifying where to start and what task to take on first.
Stay tuned for updates on our progress, and please leave a comment sharing your thoughts!