Dr. David M. Dugan is an oral surgeon on a mission to get more people to go to the dentist.
Dugan started his business at 39 Country Club Road 24 years ago. He named it Catskill Oral, Implant & Maxillofacial Surgery.
There are several reasons people do not go to the dentist. “When it comes to anxiety, people have told me they would rather have open heart surgery a second time or have a baby than go to a dentist,” Dugan said.
“We try to focus on making people as comfortable as possible,” he said. “We see a lot of patients one time only. We have to make it a good experience.”
Dugan said he uses a lot of humor and sarcasm to put patients at ease. “Sarcasm is very thick in my office,” he said. Dugan treats several thousand patients each year.
There is a shortage of dentists in rural areas. Dugan said there are only 250 oral surgery programs in the United States. Only 500 oral surgeons graduate every year. It took Dugan 14 years of school to become a board certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
Maxillofacial refers to the anatomy of the jaws and face. He treats the mouth, jaws, cheeks, and neck.
Dugan is from Dutchess County. He studied biology at the University at Buffalo and was not sure what he would do with his degree. His mother was a dental hygienist and suggested that he pursue dentistry.
During college, he had an internship with oral surgery residents in Buffalo and got to see a man in surgery who attempted suicide by shooting himself under his chin, he said. The man survived, but needed a full mouth reconstruction.
There are two paths to becoming an oral surgeon. After four years of undergraduate study, there are another four years of dental school. A student has the choice of continuing on to medical school for four more years of study and doing a two-year residency or doing a six-year program.
Dugan chose to go to dental school and medical school. “Dental school is a tough curriculum,” he said. “I think dental school was harder than medical school.”
Near the end of all that schooling, young oral surgeons usually have a job lined up, Dugan said. Most surgeons to do not choose rural areas.
Dugan chose Oneonta because it was halfway between his family in Duchess County and his wife’s family in Western New York. His father grew up in Roxbury and his uncle, Gary Hinkley, now deceased, owned a construction business in the area.
“I love the area. We love the rural life,” he said. Dugan and his wife raised four children in the area. “My son plays for the Oneonta Outlaws,” he said. Dugan is sponsoring a night at the baseball park to raise awareness of the importance of going to the dentist.
“I would like to get more people to see the dentist,” he said. “I see a lot of stuff that could have been fixed ten years ago that now requires surgery.” For example, he treated an 80-year-old man who had not been to the dentist in 30 years.
Dentistry has changed over the years. For example, there are four levels of anesthesia available according to Dugan’s website: local anesthesia; oral sedation, consisting of oral medication and nitrous oxide; intravenous sedation; and general anesthesia in a hospital setting.
Dugan has privileges at both Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital and A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital.
Most of Dugan’s patients are by referral from family dentists. Tooth extractions and implants are two examples of services Dugan offers that a dentist without a medical degree cannot perform. Dugan recently treated a girl who was kicked in the face by a horse, he said.
Dugan’s office on Country Club Road is easily accessible from Route 205 and Interstate 88 and provides free parking. “It’s been a fantastic location,” Dugan said.
Dugan has operated his private practice there for 24 years. He has patients who travel from Albany, Binghamton, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and elsewhere to reach him.
Catskill Oral, Implant & Maxillofacial Surgery also serves Otsego, Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie counties.
Payment is required at the time of the appointment. Cost is another reason patients put off going to the dentist. Dugan said inflammation in the mouth can lead to strokes and other medical issues. Infections in the mouth can make diabetes worse, he said. “Chemotherapy and radiation also affect the mouth,” Dugan said. These treatments can inhibit the ability of the body to fight infections.
Dugan has four full-time employees and hires students to do office work over the summer.
Despite the shortage of oral surgeons, Dugan said he wants to find an oral surgeon to take over his business when he is ready to retire. He hopes to find a person from the area who wants to return to the area after dental and medical school.
For more information, visit www.duganoralsurgery.com/home.html.