October 28, 2020

Congratulations to our CEO, Merritt Dake, for being named one of Arkansas Business 250 most influential leaders for the second year in a row! We can’t think of anyone more deserving! Click here to read more: https://digital.abpg.com/arkansas250-2020/page/44-45 

September 12, 2019

Over 50 Conway Patients Served In

Central Dental’s Free Extraction Day

Central Dental and Kidz Choice Dental of Conway hosted their first annual Free Extraction Day on September 5, 2019. With the help of their amazing clinic staff, Dr. Ethan Ake, Dr. Wesley Buchman, and Dr. Alyssa Lambert served over 50 patients and extracted almost 80 teeth. 

Free Extraction Day was held for patients with dental needs who may not have insurance or are unable to afford routine dental care. Patients received x-rays, a consultation, and extractions at absolutely no charge.

Men and women of all ages from across the state that have experienced oral pain formed a line around the building to see one of the dentists. The first patient arrived at 4:00 a.m., four hours before the doors opened, to ensure she would receive an appointment.

The atmosphere in the clinic was electric. At 8:00 a.m. the doors opened and each team member was at their assigned station. There was someone to welcome patients, hand out paperwork, perform x-rays, and seat patients for an exam by the dentist. The team did a wonderful job tending to nervous patients and celebrating with them after their extractions. Tears of pain turned to tears of joy as many patients experienced relief from their previous oral pain for the first time in months. Many hugs and high-fives were exchanged. 

 “Giving back is very important to me. I’ve helped other clinics with free extraction events and I often serve with Arkansas Mission of Mercy, but I was so excited to host this Free Extraction Day in Conway to serve my community. Everyone deserves access to excellent care.” – Dr. Ethan Ake

 “I loved being part of Free Extraction Day. My team and I felt so honored to provide care for patients in need.” – Dr. Welsey Buchman

Free Extraction Day was a huge success! We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve these patients. A big thank you to Dr. Ethan Ake, Dr. Welsey Buchman, Dr. Alyssa Lambert, and their teams for their service to the community of Conway. Lives were changed in your chairs at Free Extraction Day.

Central Dental & Kidz Choice are part of Rock Dental Brands. Rock Dental Brands is a group of doctors, founded by specialists, who provide multidisciplinary care in Pediatric Dentistry, Orthodontics, General Dentistry, and Oral Surgery. Rock Dental Brands is dedicated to supporting doctors so they can strive to set the highest standard of care possible throughout the lifetime of their patients. These doctors are able to focus solely on providing high-quality, patient-centric care through collaboration, quality assurance programs, continued research and educational development, and exceptional performance.

September 11, 2019

Rock Dental Brands very own Ashley Sims was named by Arkansas Business as one of this year’s “20 In Their 20s.” This program was derived from the annual “40 Under 40” publication that recognizes outstanding young business leaders. Arkansas Business recognized a need to create a new publication to showcase “new influentials” who have achieved success in the early stages of their careers.   

These young leaders are hand-selected internally by Arkansas Business after reviewing nominations. Nominees are selected based on their accomplishments in their industry and their service in their community. 

Ashley is 28 years old and serves the Rock Dental Brands team as the Vice President of Financial Planning. She is a great asset to the company and we look forward to the many great things she will continue to accomplish!

For more information and to read the full article, visit www.ArkansasBusiness.com/20-In-Their-20s/2019

June 1, 2018

Rock Dental Brands and Apex Dental, both of Little Rock, announced Thursday that they would be combining operations. Apex Dental’s six multi-specialty dental clinics and corporate support staff, led by Dr. Todd Stewart, will join the Rock Dental Brands team.

“My team and I are very excited to be joining Rock Dental Brands. We share a common vision of practicing patient-first dentistry. I’m personally very excited to begin working with the well-established network of dentists and specialists they have put together,” said Stewart.

The combination, effective immediately, will raise Rock Dental Brands’ managed clinic count to 74 and employees to nearly 600 across its managed clinics in Arkansas, Missouri, and West Virginia, as well as its dental management headquarters in downtown Little Rock.

Stewart, who will maintain principal ownership in his practices, will be joining the Rock Dental Brands management team as Chief Dental Officer. Current Chief Dental Officer and co-founder of Rock Dental Brands, Dr. Mark Dake, will transition to the role of Chief Clinical Officer and Orthodontic Director, spending more time on clinical quality assurance and further reinforcing Rock Dental Brands’ commitment to supporting its dental providers with clinical leadership.

“Rock Dental Brands has grown to a level where now general dentistry and pediatric dentistry make up nearly half of our business. Todd’s leadership in our dental clinics is going to ensure that our doctors and clinical staff are providing the highest quality of care to each and every patient,” said Dr. Mark Dake, a specialist in orthodontics. “His addition to our team will allow me to put my focus fully into the clinical outcomes of our doctors and the oversight of our 41 orthodontic practices.”

Scott Crews, long-time consultant to Apex Dental and current managing partner of Coastal Empire Dental Management of Liverpool, Ohio, will be joining Rock Dental Brands as president.

“Rock Dental Brands is one of the most exciting names in the dental industry right now, and I am delighted to join this team,” said Crews. “They have quickly grown to one of the largest dental support organizations in the country, and more importantly have done it the right way with a focus on patient care. I think the brightest days are still to come.”

“The addition of Dr. Stewart, Scott, and the Apex Dental team are a great thing for us,” said Rock Dental Brands CEO Merritt Dake, “the wealth of knowledge and expertise in the general dental space is going to add tremendous value to our company. The clinics that Dr. Stewart has built fit perfectly into our model and help fill out our growth footprint in the state of Arkansas.”

Founded in 2015, Rock Dental Brands was formed by Dr. Bryan Hiller, Dr. Mark Dake and Merritt Dake to create a network of multi-specialty dental providers who could collaborate to provide the highest quality of patient care. Rock Dental Brands manages clinics under the names Rock Family Dental, Leap Kids Dental, Westrock Orthodontics, and Impact Oral Surgery.

Apex Dental was formed as a multi-specialty group dental practice in 2011 by Dr. Todd Stewart. Apex Dental manages general dental clinics under the name, Central Dental, in Little Rock and Conway, Lakewood Dental Care in North Little Rock, Helena Family Dental in West Helena, as well as Kidz Choice Dental in Fort Smith and Conway.

June 15, 2017

Little Rock, AR – Rock Dental Brands announced today that it will acquire Arkansas Dentistry & Braces (ARDB). This acquisition will allow Rock Dental Brands to offer quality dental care to the entire state of Arkansas, thus expanding service availability to new and existing patients.

The departure of previous owners, Dr. Benjamin Burris and Dr. Justin Bethel, is bittersweet but they feel the right decision is being made for the future of ARDB, “We are very excited for ARDB to join Rock Dental Brands as we know this is best course of action for our patients, our team members and our community. Delivering access to quality dental care is a huge undertaking and Rock Dental Brands has far greater logistical resources and experience in delivering care at this scale. Dr. Bethel and I are proud of what we have accomplished for our fellow Arkansans and, although it’s difficult to leave, we’re glad to know that what we have built will grow and thrive for many years to come,” said Burris.

Drew Ramey, Chief Strategy Officer for Rock Dental Brands and former Assistant Director of the Arkansas State Dental Association notes the benefits of this acquisition for the state of Arkansas, “With the acquisition of Arkansas Dentistry & Braces, we are excited that more Arkansans are in close proximity to the Rock Dental Brands experience which includes access to all of our specialists.”

Arkansas Dentistry & Braces currently provides dental and orthodontic services in 19 locations across Arkansas: Benton, Bentonville, Blytheville, Brinkley, Fayetteville, Forrest City, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Paragould, Russellville, Searcy, Sheridan, Siloam Springs, Springdale, Van Buren and West Memphis. Patients will not see any changes in each location’s talented doctors and staff, or diagnostic and treatment regimen.

June 19, 2016

AXPM CEO Merritt Dake has been sharing an office with the company’s president, its chief marketing officer and its head of business development. Taking a phone call in private has required Dake, and others at the consulting and software company for dental practices, to duck into a storage room.

Taking a phone call in private has required Dake, and others at the consulting and software company for dental practices, to duck into a storage room. Cellphone service is rarely ideal there. Dake has generally chosen to look at those cramped conditions as a sign of progress, rather than a source of complaint. AXPM has grown more rapidly than Dake envisioned. It will soon move from

Dake has generally chosen to look at those cramped conditions as a sign of progress, rather than a source of complaint. AXPM has grown more rapidly than Dake envisioned. It will soon move from site of the Clinton Presidential Center gift shop.

The company offers software that primarily helps with office-management tasks such as scheduling, processing of insurance payments and accounting.

AXPM had 10 employees when it started in 2012. Its new location will accommodate 55 initially, with room to grow.

“We thought we had plenty of room,” Dake said. “It’s changed a little bit. We can’t complain about it, really. We’ve seen a lot of growth.” AXPM’s rapid growth has come in conjunction with that Westrock Orthodontics, Leap Kids Pediatric Dental and Impact Oral Surgery. Currently the company has 31 locations in Arkansas and Missouri.

Dr. Mark Dake, an orthodontist in Mountain Home and Merritt’s father, is co-founder and CEO of Rock Dental Brands. Although AXPM and Rock Dental Brands have the same founders, they are managed separately.

Combined the companies have averaged 90.58 percent revenue growth between 2012 and 2015. Employment at the sister companies has grown from 35 to 226, spread out across the AXPM offices in Little Rock and dental practices in the two states.

Initially, Merritt Dake, a former certified public accountant, and orthodontist Bryan Hiller managed three orthodontics practices. From there they realized the need for developing software that could make managing dental practices easier.

Dr. AnnaKate Tatum joined Rock Dental Brands in Harrison in November. Through Rock Dental and AXPM, Tatum said she has been able to be less hands-on with the business side of the practice and devote more time to patient care and continuing education.

Tatum began her practice with one other employee. She said she and her husband cleaned the offices at night. Now she oversees 17 employees and her practice includes offices in Harrison, Berryville, Branson and Springfield, Mo.

“It’s amazing to wrap your head around the growth,” Tatum said. “Relinquishing control [of the business] was a little hard at first, but once we saw how smoothly things were going, it wasn’t hard after that… I’m focusing on what I want to focus on.”

Streamlining the scheduling and accounting processes through AXPM has been a significant help to growth, Tatum and other doctors in the practice said. Some offices were using as many as 15 different computer programs to run the back end of their offices.

Merritt Dake noticed the need for a simplified process while building an accounting practice focused on the dental industry. Soon he shifted his focus to include more office needs like scheduling.

AXPM will continue building its platform and marketing it to dentists, including those outside the Rock Dental Brands operation. Dake said the software could work for any business “that requires scheduling and payment collection from multiple parties,” including places as varied as medical offices, nail salons and auto mechanics.

Rock Dental Brands also has plans for growth with additional dentists and locations. What its founders are trying to do is maintain a balance between making money and caring for patients.

“Our group came together as a group of individual doctors,” Mark Dake said. “If you want to call us corporate that’s great, but we’re coming at it from a different standpoint. We’re not a corporate office trying to run a practice. We’re not a business first.”

Rock Dental Brands doctors are subject to peer review, a practice that helps them stay current on treatment options and keeps them focused on quality of care. Doctors who are brought into the company are paid a base salary with bonuses, student loan payoffs and other benefits that can range from $222,000 to $347,000 annually.

To read the article from its source, please visit the Arkansas Online article published here.

June 13, 2016

Dr. Bryan Hiller followed in his father’s footsteps and became an orthodontist. After graduating from Temple University in Philadelphia, Hiller, 37, practiced with his dad in New Hampshire. But the relentless snow proved too much for Hiller, and he moved to Arkansas in 2010.

In 2012, he started buying dental practices in southern Missouri and central Arkansas with his business partner, Dr. Mark Dake, also an orthodontist. The practices’ names were changed in 2015 to Westrock Orthodontics.

“What we were setting out to do is focus on patient treatment and efficient processes in our office,” Hiller said. “And we started to see that we could replicate our model.”

Hiller and Dake began partnering with other orthodontists, pediatric dentists and oral surgeons.

Hiller and Dake founded Rock Dental Brands in 2015. It now has about eight owners and 20 doctors in the group, said Hiller, who is the president of company.

Rock Dental also has offices under the names Leap Kids Pediatric Dental and Impact Oral Surgery. Hiller has helped grow the group to more than 30 locations in Arkansas and Missouri.

Hiller also partners with the Smile for a Lifetime Foundation, which provides free braces to 11- to 18-year-olds.

Hiller said his guiding principle is to always do the right thing. “We really try to put the patient first,” he said.

To read the article from its source, please visit the Arkansas Business article published here.

April 1, 2016

If a pediatric dentist creates positive experiences in the beginning, amazing dental groundwork can be set both physically and mentally for the child. In a perfect world, a parent will begin taking their child to the pediatric dentist around age 1, and continue to schedule visits twice a year after, all the while enforcing healthy dental hygiene practices at home. When a child reaches age 7, the first adult molars and some of the lower incisors will begin coming in, and then a parent and pediatric dentist must make the vital decision on if an orthodontist is needed.

“The most common age for kids to begin navigating the need for braces is age 7,” said Dr. Bryan Hiller, orthodontic specialist at Westrock Orthodontics. “This is a great age because their adult molars are coming in. There are so many things that can be done when children are younger to help intervene and make sure corrections don’t get too dramatic later on in life.” When a skilled pediatric dentist can recognize early on when a child needs to see an orthodontist, the corrections can begin earlier and end up saving a lot of time.

“Parents will sometimes say that as young as 9, their children are aware of dental imperfections, sometimes due to other children pointing it out,” Hiller said. Making these corrections early can help boost a child’s self-esteem, especially if the issues can be addressed before they enter their teenage years.

While any kid or teen will groan at the idea of getting braces, there are many options available today to make orthodontic correction a breeze. “When choosing what correction to use, ceramic and metal brackets are still the overwhelming patient preference. They both treat the same type of mouth collusion, and the technology has gotten so much better,” Hiller said.

Invisalign, which hit the market in 2000, consists of clear aligner trays made of smooth, comfortable, BPA-free plastic that are worn over the teeth to subtly and gently move them. It is growing in popularity, and can be used when the severity of the correction is minimal.

“If you’ve got intervention early on, your ability to use Invisalign is much greater. However, the thing with Invisalign is it’s great that you can take it out, but it’s also terrible that you can take it out, and it must be worn 95 percent of the time,” Hiller said. He’s found that, surprisingly, teens will keep up with it better if being allowed to use Invisalign is viewed as a reward option. Adults seem to have trouble remembering to wear the device.

Correction doesn’t end when the braces come off. Post-braces care almost always involves either a permanent or removable retainer. Permanent retainers offer guaranteed placement and a no-loss factor, but they also provide a space for plaque to build. If your child opts for the permanent retainer, there will be a need to place extra focus on hygiene. “It would be nice if I could follow kids around all day long and tell them to wear their retainer, but we obviously can’t do that, and parents can’t either, so we advocate for permanent retainers,” Hiller said.

No matter what age, you want your kids to have a healthy smile to allow them to be a happier and healthier person, and you must start with a good pediatric dentist to achieve this. “The best part about my job is that it doesn’t feel like a job. Having the ability to make an impact in another’s life is a such a privilege.”

To read the article from its source, please visit the Savvy Magazine article published here.

March 28, 2016

Westrock Orthodontics moved its Springfield practice March 16 to 2800 S. Fremont Ave. from 1320 E. Kingsley St. after buying out the practice of Dr. Farhad Moshiri in January. Drs. AnnaKate Tatum and Mark Dake run the Springfield office, and Westrock comprises 21 offices in Missouri and Arkansas. Tatum said the Springfield clinic offers complimentary orthodontic exams, and specializes in temporomandibular joint disorder treatment. She said the company uses Damon-brand metal and ceramic braces and is a provider of Invisalign braces. Westrock spokeswoman Olivia Geels said the new 3,500 square foot building was designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects, the general contractor was Canyon Construction LLC, and Warren & Goodin Engineers-Architects PC was project engineer. The estimated construction cost was $850,000, according to a city building permit. Westrock employs 160 systemwide, with six full- and two part-time employees in Springfield.

To read the article from its source, please visit the Springfield Business Journal article published here.