Company keeps military, elderly teeth clean and healthy

Dental Health Management Solutions was born, as are many entrepreneurial endeavors, when a businessman had a problem he didn't see a solution for yet in the marketplace. D. Shane Stevens was working in assisted living centers that catered to residents with memory loss and Alzheimer's disease. He wanted to find a dentist who did house calls, but he couldn't find anyone who would provide dental services outside of their own office. So, with the help of his dental hygienist mother and the support of his wife, Jennifer, they started DHMS in 2003.

"We started it literally on a credit card in my garage," Stevens said.

The operation started out small, but it didn't stay that way for long because the military took notice of the service he was providing. Today, DHMS dispatches up to 1,000 contractors a month to military deployment events, health care facilities, private practices and correctional facilities to provide general and geriatric dental services in the field. The company has two dental specialty vehicles—retrofitted RVs called the Jenny 1 and the Jenny 2, which provide mobile dentistry services—that travel all over the United States, complete with high-tech imaging technology and everything else a patient would have access to in a traditional dentist's office.

"My wife's name is Jennifer, and then you've seen Forrest Gump, where he said, 'I've never owned a shrimp boat before, but if I ever did I'd name it Jenny, the most beautiful name in the world,'" Stevens said. "So, there's this big presentation that we were doing for a $50,000 deal, and the closing part of it was, 'I've never bought a dental specialty vehicle before, but if I did, I would name it Jenny.'"

Stevens business has expanded to include a new division, a capital dental equipment reseller. The division purchases used panoramic X-ray equipment from dentists, and expert technicians refurbish them and resell the equipment. DHMS is the only reseller that Kodak has authorized to sell its refurbished equipment with a manufacture's warranty.

"It makes the technology much more accessible to the average dentist," said Robbie Amende, DHMS' business development manager.

Stevens said he has about 38 employees in Cedar Park and dispatches 46 contractors across the nation.

"Dental Health is one of those companies here who has really started to grow and mature, and they have great potential to be a major employer here in the community some time in the future," said Phil Brewer, Cedar Park economic development director.

Dental Health Management Services, 989-6990, www.usdentalsolutions.com