Dr. John Batson, Little Rock oral surgeon, has practiced with a partner, been a part of a dental service organization and now, at Capitol Oral Surgery & Implant Center, is flying solo.
In today’s crazy world of health care, Batson finds that striking out on his own has afforded him the flexibility to adapt.
“The benefits of owning your own practice are multifaceted,” he said. “The autonomy you get as a private-practice owner is extremely satisfying. You make all the calls on what software you use, decide on the instruments and supplies you want, and are not subordinate to a corporate hierarchy or arrangements that have been made with vendors before you arrived.”
Batson prefers the flexibility afforded him by his solo practice. DSOs, for example, have extensive managerial teams with multiple layers that often make it difficult to get things done, he added.
“They are slow to change if the market suggests new trends and quick to point out that you are not, in fact, the owner,” Batson said. “These contracts are often incredibly long treatises of legal jargon that heavily favor them. From restrictive covenants to potential lengthy contractual obligations, they definitely put the corporate entity above the doctor.”
Batson said DSOs do have an upside in today’s environment, however.
“They allow young doctors fresh out of school an entry point into a practice so that they can begin to pay back their massive levels of debt incurred during their training,” he said. “This is more of an indictment against the insane cost of education than an endorsement of DSOs. If these young doctors were not so burdened with financial hardship, they would feel more empowered to take out a small-business loan to begin their own clinics.”
Batson said the use of digital-flow technology and advances in biological repair, “working in tandem with surgical skill,” represent the current trends in oral and maxillofacial surgery.
“Digital imagery, virtual surgical planning and artificial intelligence are allowing surgeons to optimize treatment for their patients faster and safer,” he said. “Also, the use of stem cell technology and hyperbaric oxygen therapy allow patients to heal at faster rates with less pain and downtime.”
Batson said advances in tech are leading more people to seek treatment, but he noted that oral surgeons are most accessible now.
“More people are seeking treatment as technology advances, but it’s not just from a surgical perspective,” he said. “Social media has dramatically extended the ability of surgeons to reach a larger patient base and provide more information with multiple treatment options. The materials are getting better every day, and patients are finding out about all these new things faster and faster.”
Batson’s practice offers extensive jaw reconstruction, such as upper and lower jaw advancements or setbacks; chin and cheek augmentation; bone grafting; wisdom-teeth removal; sinus lifts; ridge augmentation; full-mouth implants; snap-in implant dentures; single-tooth implant bridges and more.
A Little Rock native, Batson graduated from Central High School, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he played for a year on the Trojans baseball team, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Dentistry. The U.S. Army paid for dental school, and he received further training at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border, not to mention during two deployments to Iraq.
Batson said he never had a burning desire to go into dentistry or medicine. He was happy playing college baseball, but his priorities changed after he met his future wife, Rachel, on campus.
An injury shortened his baseball career, and Batson’s focus immediately shifted to providing for Rachel and the three children she told him she planned on having.
Ultimately, a conversation with his old family dentist convinced Batson to give dentistry a try.
“I talked to my family dentist, and he said he was super happy,” Batson said. “He said he’d recommend dentistry to anyone. It was just kind of fate intervening.”
At dental school, Batson’s performance on board exams opened many possibilities to him. Oral surgery appealed to him, he said, because of its earning potential.
At Fort Campbell, the oral surgery bug bit.
“That’s where I got the bug for oral surgery,” he said. “It was really cool. You’re putting people’s faces back together.”
Eventually, Batson had to choose between staying in the military or going out on his own. Batson and his wife were ready to settle down, and, in 2017, the family moved back to Arkansas after both John and Rachel’s fathers died.
Batson opened his solo practice in downtown Little Rock, where he hopes to contribute to a planned revitalization of the Capitol Avenue corridor before he opens a new clinic on the CHI St. Vincent campus.
The 20-hour days of medical residency at Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg in North Carolina helped him appreciate downtime with family. Back home, he had time to be a husband and father.
“Again, sometimes fate intervenes to make your decision,” he said. “I never had this burning desire to go into dentistry or medicine. If you asked me what I wanted to be in high school, I would have said a professional baseball player, but I love helping people and making a difference in their lives, and I’m able to do that.”
Photos provided.
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