Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Andre Jordan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dr. Jordan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a born and raised Houstonian. My mother is a retired educator and my father is an architect. In fact, he was in the integrating class of the University of Texas and he was one of the architects on the George R. Brown Convention Center. My older brother is a VP for a prominent financial trading company in Los Angeles. Growing up, I knew I wanted to become a Doctor or a pilot. I finished from DeBakey High School for Health Professions where I originally wanted to become an anesthesiologist. I ended up attending the Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans where I graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Minor in Chemistry. I decided that I wanted to become a dentist when I was in my last year of college. Like most college students, I was conflicted as to what I really wanted to be when I grow up. My family asked, “Have you thought about dentistry?”
At that point, I really hadn’t thought about it. I went and shadowed some friends of the family that were a dentist and decided to take it on. I worked for three years between college graduation and beginning dental school. I worked in a hardware store, drove a forklift, worked in corporate… all while taking classes at night to get my grades and scores needed for dental school. I finished from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, TN in 2011. I knew that I wanted to come back home to Houston to practice general dentistry. Dentistry is one of those professions that if you really don’t know if you like it until you have passed the ‘point of no return.’ I do know a dentist that hate it and are trapped in the professions.
Thank God… I love it. I worked in public health for Harris Health where currently I co-own the mobile dental unit for the Healthcare for the Homeless program. I worked for corporate dentistry for 3 and 1/2 years before forming Truth General Dentistry. I was moved to form Truth General Dentistry because I became disenchanted with the trends in the profession as it relates to the patient and the dentist. The dental landscape in Houston has become full of locust-like entities that underscore profits over the well-being of the patient; cannibalizing the integrity of the profession of dentistry in the process. The fact that the majority of these offending entities were not from the Houston area was a further insult. I felt we deserve better. Fast forward to now, we are preparing to begin operations out of our second location in Sugarland. It has been hard work; but a blessing. Especially since this practice has been self-funded without fiduciary assistance from any banking institutions as of yet.
Has it been a smooth road?
Has it been a smooth road? No. Originally when I graduated dental school I had the idea that I and three dental school friends would start a group practice fairly quickly after dental school. It was four of us that went so far as to incorporate a name and all. Ultimately… one moved to the country, another lost interest and ultimately decided to specialize, and another decided to go it alone in an unnameable manner. The next go that had me attempt to go it alone went all the way to draw up plans for a leased space that we were moments from signing paperwork on… when a corporate entity outbid me for the space. A private practice owner offered to me to sublease her practice in which she backed out of the deal at the last moment. After that first wave of failures; I just conceded to being a corporate dentist associate. Two years went by in the corporate arena until I began to investigate practice ownership opportunities. The first of which was a negotiation for a practice purchase in Beaumont – which was being offered to me by the practice owner. After communicated and working for a year towards the terms set forth by the owner doctor… contract sign day came and the terms were different than what had been discussed for the entire year preceding. I had to walk away from the deal. An almost identical scenario happened with a local practice in Houston… however, the lessons learned from the Beaumont negotiations would not allow me to spend much time on a deal skewed against me. This led me to the purchase creation of Truth General Dentistry.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Truth General Dentistry is a general dental office that offers cosmetic dentistry, braces, emergency dental services, kids dental, sedation dentistry, oral surgery as well as implants. We are known for our down to earth and relate-able personalities… our willingness to make dentistry affordable helps too. What I am the proudest of about this company is that we are self-funded. We also utilized all vendors from social media – in true community-based fashion. Utilizing local vendors versus the typical dental supply companies speaks to one of the main tenants that sets us apart from corporate dental in Houston – the fact that almost none are based in Houston.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I am a Houstonian… so my answer is biased… but YES! Houston is a wonderful city for this business. Larger dental companies recognize this which is why they have begun to ‘stripmine’ the region for its talent and patient base. This is also why I believe it was important for Houston to have representation to combat the negative aspects of this infiltration.
Contact Info:
- Address: Truth General Dentistry Westchase: 10260 Westheimer Rd. Suite 540, Houston, TX 77042
Truth General Dentistry Sugarland: 4724 Sweetwater Blvd. #105B. Sugar Land, TX 77479 - Website: www.truthgeneraldentistry.net
- Phone: 713-814-5986
- Email: truthdentistry@gmail.com
- Instagram: @tgdhoustontx
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