Darling aims to 'steer own ship' with new dental practice

Sep. 30—Brian Darling gets to look at children's teeth for a living, but that's only half the fun.

"I get to tell stupid dad jokes," he chuckled over the phone Friday. "I get to talk about princesses and superheroes."

It appears he'll have a lot of time to do that after opening Darling Children's Dentistry in the All-Ages Pediatrics building in Ottumwa. The business has been open since Sept. 19, and the "soft" opening Darling envisioned didn't exactly work out that way. It was abrupt, and robust.

"We've just been slammed filling up our appointment books," Darling said. "It's just been crazy, but we're working our butts off. We're still trying to gain some efficiencies."

The practice is for children ages 0-18, but it also offers more advanced treatments for those with special needs. Darling, a former NCAA Division III football player at Luther College, wanted to find a place that was underserved by pediatric dentistry, but also wanted to be closer to home, which is in Tama, in central Iowa.

"I was looking to get back closer to home, but I wanted to go somewhere where I could be a real service to the community," he said. "I want to let the care I provide speak for itself. I like the small-town mindset, but there is also great access to Des Moines and Iowa City for emergency needs."

When the board-certified dentist left the College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics at University of Iowa, his plan was to own his own practice, but it wasn't a straight line. He spent time in Rhode Island, then St. Louis, having worked in health centers as a dentist.

"I was open to a lot of different things, and working in a health center was great," he said. "But I wanted to steer my own ship as well, because it's hard to do that when you don't hold all the control. I was looking to expand my skill set."

But he's been drawn to kids as well. He acknowledged he's in a position to help establish good habits for children to take care of their teeth, but pointed to one instance in his own life that led him into dentistry, specifically pediatric dentistry.

"I've always liked dentistry, but when I was little I went to a dentist and needed a root canal. It was a great experience and he made the experience pretty easy," he said. "That cemented it with me wanting to work with kids. It just kind of stuck with me.

"With kids' dentistry, they don't have a lot of things that have already happened with their teeth, the way it is with adults," Darling said. "It's more than just teeth. It's diet, it's home care. It's just growth and development. You can't win every battle, but you just try to put your best foot forward and make it happen."

Currently, Darling has two front-office staff and two dental assistants. He said that is likely to change soon as the business gets busier.

"I think we're going to grow pretty quickly, and be adding more people soon," he said. "But we're excited to be open here.

"I'm really just a pediatrician of the mouth. They'll be plenty of cavities to fix, but my job is to put myself out of business," he chuckled.

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury