Our Dentist-Dr. Mark Sweeney
DR. MARK SWEENEY: I graduated from Dental School in 1979 with the confidence that a company’s gross ignorance, I moved back to Austin, the greatest city in the world, the center of the universe as far as I’m concerned, and started my own practice. I had no idea what I was getting into, what dentistry was all about, but I knew that I loved people and I loved Austin, and little by little, one year at a time, my practice grew and I discovered cosmetic dentistry and fell in love with being able to change people’s smiles. No one’s ever hugged me over a root canal, but you change somebody’s smile and make them look 10 years younger and they bring cookies and flowers and send us thank you notes. And it’s just been one of the most exciting things that’s come to dentistry.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have several of my cases each year recognized by the Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. It’s a meeting that happens every year in May that is what I call the pretty boys of the dentistry, all of us that do a lot of the cosmetic dental procedures and they have a competition called The Smile Gallery Competition where you can submit cases and they’re displayed during that week long meeting. Participants at the meeting get to vote and then they also have a committee of dental lab people and other cosmetic dentists that go around and evaluate these cases and grade them on a numerical scale. And the award Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. And I think to date, I’ve won three gold medals and about six silver medals over the last three years in the Smile Gallery Competition. So I’m very proud of that.