The Growth Mindset

Dr. Vittitow finds success by building relationships to achieve his goals. 

Dr. Chaz Vittitow owns The Local Dentist, a relatively new practice in Bellingham, WA, known for its Wellness-Based Dentistry. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Vittitow about his practice and its success. 

The practice has grown impressively, now employing fifteen staff members, up from just two when he started from scratch at the end of 2022. Dr. Vittitow attributes this rapid growth to having a clear goal and a vision for achieving it. 

 

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Vittitow is a veteran who served five years as a naval officer. His no-nonsense, levelheaded military demeanor is evident, as is his dedication to providing the best care for his patients. After his military service, he knew he wanted a career where he could use his skills to serve others, much like his dentist father. 

He started his office from scratch at the end of 2022. He chose this path to have the culture, layout, and equipment that he wanted and to be able to build into that instead of trying to make an existing one work. He explains that you have to have a growth mindset and give yourself permission to ask yourself what it is you really want for your practice. 

He believes people often hesitate to ask themselves what they genuinely want because they worry the answers might seem too ambitious or unrealistic. He imagines they might say something like, “I want to earn this much annually, take this amount of time off, perform these specific tasks, and feel excited about coming to work every day.” 

 

“Answering that question is really important. Once you answer that question, it’s just a matter of who I need to help me get there.” 

For him, building from scratch was the most predictable path to ownership, as he trusted he could build a brand, reputation, and clientele. 

What he values most, whether it’s with his dental supply company, his equipment manufacturer, or the staff he hires, is the relationship between them. If there is trust and the right tools, if he can “Ask who, not how,” he can trust in the outcome. 

His equipment and supply purchases, hiring, design, and patient mindset are all achieved with this end goal in mind. 

 

“So, I do a decent amount of airways like sleep apnea and TMJ treatment, and I just think that we are just working blind if you don’t have the right equipment, and I think it’s just like anything else — if you have something that breaks on your car or at your house, it’s really not that hard if you have the right tools.” 

He hired a coach to help test his idea for his practice and create a layout. He then brought that to Burkhart, who helped with equipment financing and supplies. He says he had a vision and dream, and Burkhart helped make it a reality. 

Before choosing Burkhart, Dr. Vittitow evaluated several companies. His first point of contact was Equipment Specialist Steve Stimson, who provided comfort and timely support. The trust and timeliness of his actions provided a lot of peace of mind, and then meeting Equipment Specialist Joe Martin and Account Manager Kevin Hersom confirmed all that. 

 

He worked with Joe Martin on his vision for digital and came away with a pleasant experience connecting with suppliers and the ability to give people a good and comfortable experience while being as accurate as possible. He really wanted three-dimensional images, a CBCT. 

“Digital scanning and printing and milling…that’s the future and I want to be on the cutting edge of that so I can give my patients the best.” 

It was important to him to hire well. He says he only hires the best, which is in line with that ‘ask who, not how’ philosophy. It’s easy to see why he would have a dedicated staff. 

 

“I don’t want to hire a dental assistant and say, hey, how good are you at ordering supplies? You know, how good are you at finding 5% cheaper Cavi-wipes? That’s what a lot of people go to because it feels like something you can control. That is such a minor measurement in the grand scheme of things that is affecting dental practices. I want a dental assistant who [will] realize that we need to order. But I’m going to give you a resource, Kevin from Burkhart, and he is going to be your advocate.” 

He wants his team to be focused strictly on providing awesome care and giving patients 10 out of 10 experiences because of how they interact with them, instead of being stressed about all these minutiae. As a result, his office doesn’t just care about when you last flossed; they will also remember what flavor of seltzer water you ordered from their comfort menu the last time you were in so that they can offer it to you when you return. He and his team are driven to serve patients and give them the best. 

 

Another unique aspect of Dr. Vittitow’s 7-operatory dental practice is that he practices total body health. This office offers services such as comprehensive exams and saliva/yeast testing. 

“As dentists, I think we are the gatekeepers of really optimizing health. I think optimal health starts in your mouth.” 

You can tell this is what drives Dr. Chaz — these concepts of whole-body wellness. He easily lists several illnesses or diseases off the top of his head that are linked to oral health.

 He is not just interested in treating dental issues; he wants to treat the body as a whole and the patient as a whole person. 

“The vast majority of what enters your body comes through your mouth with eating, drinking, and breathing, and they’ve now linked 57 different diseases to the stuff that starts in your mouth.”  

 

There are five ways mouth health links to body health, says Dr. Vittitow: 

• Gum health 
• Tooth decay — and how your restorations fit 
• Your saliva 
• TMJ and your occlusion — how your teeth
  fit together in relation to your joints
• Your airway — almost half the US has some sort of airway problem at some point in their life, and most of them go undiagnosed or untreated

The practice conducts a comprehensive exam that considers genetics, lifestyle, diet, stress management, nutrients, sleep health, airway, and medical connections. This allows them to give patients information to optimize their health and help them and their families be more informed. 

 

These exams have allowed for mutually beneficial relationships with the medical community. They’ve been fortunate to have really strong relationships with ear, nose, and throat doctors, sleep physicians, and primary care physicians. 

“Some of the healthcare factors that start in people’s mouths are not under control. If someone has atrial fibrillation and goes to the cardiologist to get it fixed, but they don’t have controlled airway and sleep issues, then they can do the best job ever, but it’s not going to work because it’s going to wreak havoc on their hearts.” 

 

Another of Dr. Chaz’s big mantras from the start was to be the best but to also serve the least. 

He explains that they ingrained a spirit of giving early on. This includes partnering with World Relief, a refugee organization. Not only do they donate proceeds to them, but they frequently field calls about families who may have recently arrived from Afghanistan or El Salvador, who don’t speak English, but have someone in a lot of pain due to overdue dental issues. They treat those patients as well as inmates from the local jail. This spirit of generosity means a lot to the team in offering something that benefits society. 

“It really goes a long way, and you can’t do that kind of stuff if you don’t have a healthy practice and a healthy culture and work environment. Serving together as a team has really done a lot for our morale, and I hope when people think of us, they think, yeah, you know what? They do a good job. That’s a good office.” 

Recently, he merged his practice with another retiring dentist. This was an opportunity for him to expand his practice and inherit quality patients. 

 

As his practice continues to grow, he says his goals are to dial in systems and processes, how they take care of themselves, and continue trying to be the best for their patients. 

Dr. Vittitow says that his practice, as well as all others, has many things they’re working through that aren’t perfect. He cautions that anything people read or may be impressed by the growth of in two years has not come without mistakes or learning experiences. 

“[Success] has not come because of any secret magic thing; we have done a good job of getting the right people on board in the right places and then letting them do what they do best. If you have the courage to do that, your life will be much better, and you’ll probably see tremendous growth. I would say Burkhart can be one of those for you.”  

 

 

To learn more about Dr. Chaz Vittitow, visit LocalDentistBellingham.com

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Written by Dawn Kahl

Published in Catalyst – Q1 2025.

Category: Practice Consulting

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