Dr. Matthew Chapman was on his way to becoming a painter. He had a full-ride scholarship for it. Then architecture. Then exercise physiology. Then, after a chance meeting with two retired dentists in California who seemed to golf all the time, he found his way into dental school.

Today he runs a Comfort Dental practice in Pueblo, Colorado, one of the only offices south of Colorado Springs that accepts walk-ins, including on Saturdays. Patients drive two and three hours to get there. Some sit in the waiting room for hours on a Saturday because they have no other option.

In this episode, Dr. Chapman talks about what it means to actually meet patients where they are, why he stopped chasing cosmetic cases to focus on people who just need basic care, and what happens inside an office that sees everyone from physicians to people in shackles in the same afternoon.

He also tells us about eagle feather.

Topics covered:

1. Why Dr. Chapman left a fine arts scholarship to become a dentist
2. His philosophy on treating patients without judgment or shame
3. What walk-in Saturday hours actually look like in Southern Colorado
4. His time doing volunteer dental work in rural West Virginia
5. Why he left corporate dentistry for the Comfort Dental model
6. What a well-rounded dentist looks like outside the office

Comfort Dental Pueblo: comfortdental.com