Dr. Michael Brown: putting the “family” in family dentistry since 1979

Spending time with family is something that most people look forward to doing. Spending time at the dentist’s office, however, is not. Yet Dr. Michael Brown, DDS, is in the practice of not just building better smiles, but building better relationships that make patients feel more at home.

“We’re like a family, and we try to present that to the patients,” he said of his staff; the youngest employee has been with Dr. Brown for about 16 years, and several have worked there for over 30 years. The invitation to become part of that family is extended to every one of Dr. Brown’s patients, as well.

“We could always use more patients, but…I’ve got patients who’ve been with me for over 30 years. And you see new generations, which has made it really kind of neat,” said Dr. Brown. “We just try to treat the patients like family.”

Dr. Brown graduated from dental school in 1977 and moved to O’Fallon from Kansas City two years later. After some scouting around the area, he settled in O’Fallon because of its “potential for a lot of growth,” he said, a hunch that proved to be true.

“Well when I set up, I had the best location in town because there was only one grocery store, which at that time was a Kroger. So I had a lot of visibility being in a shopping center like that,” said Dr. Brown of his practice’s home in O’Fallon Square. “Highway K was like a two-lane road. There was nothing on it but farms. I’ve been here for 32 years, so yeah it has really changed…I was one of four dentists in the area; now there’s probably 40 or 50, I don’t know. It’s grown a lot.”

While O’Fallon residents may have more choices when picking a general dentist, Dr. Brown’s reputation is often what draws in new patients. He has been named one of St. Louis’s top dentists for the third year in a row by St. Louis Magazine. Based on the polling of other professionals in the field, Dr. Brown says that it is truly an honor to be selected for this award. He has also been recognized by the Missouri Dental Association for his work in the Donated Dental Services program, “a humanitarian service for disabled elderly, and medically-compromised people,” for the past seven years.

Awards and recognition are certainly worth smiling about, but Dr. Brown says that the best way to get to know his practice is to see it for yourself.

“Patients get to know us just by coming here and talking to us. I’ve got 5 children and they’ve seen the kids grow...I’m very proud of the family, I have pictures hanging up. So we keep track of families, weddings, stuff like that,” said Dr. Brown. “So we’re like a family, and the patients are like our family too. We just try to keep up, just visiting, just like family reunions basically. It’s just nice, it really is.”