Creating Healthy Smiles, Close to Home

First Choice was founded as a combination of three existing dental practices (our West Madison, Downtown Madison, and East Madison clinics) that joined together to operate as one. First Choice grew steadily though the late ‘90s, adding the UW-Madison Campus and Fitchburg locations. In 2000, the original Downtown Madison clinic was demolished and re-built from scratch. This office would serve as the blueprint for the next phase of First Choice’s growth.

Beginning in 2000 with the rebuild of the Downtown Madison clinic, First Choice embarked on a period of steady growth fueled by de novo expansion. In 2002, we opened the Verona clinic, which contained centralized corporate offices to house the company’s growing clinical support team. The Middleton office opened in 2003, followed by the Sun Prairie office in 2007. In 2008, the ownership group hired a Chief Financial Officer, the Company’s first executive-level management team member, to oversee clinical support functions. Hiring a CFO would set the stage for the next phase of growth for First Choice.

Rather than operate as a network of loosely affiliated clinics, as many competitors do, First Choice’s stakeholders decided that centralization and standardization were necessary to ensure a consistent patient experience. Against the backdrop of the Great Recession, stakeholders worked to perfect the First Choice model, including the addition of in-house specialists, before continuing to grow. In 2013 we opened our Waunakee office, and in 2015 we relocated our clinical support function to a dedicated business office on Madison’s west side. 2017 was a big year for First Choice; we added two new clinics, Sun Prairie North (our second Sun Prairie clinic) and Stoughton, bringing our total clinic count to 11.

With 12 clinics in Dane County and industry-leading patient satisfaction, First Choice Dental’s stakeholders turned their attention inward, with the aim of creating the best employee experience in dentistry by focusing on employee engagement, diversity, inclusion, and pay equity. First Choice has many more initiatives planned for the near future. The goal is for First Choice Dental to be the #1 choice for doctors, hygienists, and administrative staff. It is the belief of First Choice Dental that great employee experiences help to create even better experiences for our patients.