What If Your Worst Dental Experiences Don’t Have to Define Your Future Ones?
Many people carry years of bad dental memories. A painful procedure, a judgmental comment, a bill that felt impossible to handle. Over time, those experiences add up into avoidance, and avoidance leads to bigger problems. Dr. Jeremy Liddiard of Comfort Dental Pueblo North has spent nearly a decade working with exactly these patients, and it’s become one of the most meaningful parts of his practice.
“It is unbelievably satisfying to be able to take somebody who has had really bad experiences their whole life at the dentist and completely change their perspective.” That’s not an abstract goal for Dr. Liddiard. It’s something he describes happening regularly, and he’s thought a lot about why Comfort Dental Pueblo North is the right environment for it.
What Makes This Office Different for Anxious Patients?
Part of the answer is practical. Comfort Dental Pueblo North is open six days a week, so a patient in pain doesn’t have to wait days to be seen. Dr. Liddiard says he often gets patients who were told by other offices to wait three months for an appointment. “For a toothache,” he says, “the tooth might be gone by then.” Same-day appointments for urgent needs are a regular part of how the office operates.
But accessibility is only part of it. Dr. Liddiard also talks about the financial side of anxiety. A lot of patients, he explains, have avoided the dentist partly because they assumed they couldn’t afford what they needed. Because Comfort Dental Pueblo North is one of the largest Medicaid providers in Colorado, that barrier is dramatically reduced. “I don’t worry about the cost,” Dr. Liddiard says. “I worry about helping that patient and doing the best that I can for that patient that day.”
When the conversation about what to do next isn’t tangled up with what the patient can pay, the entire dynamic of the appointment shifts.
What Does Patient-Centered Care Look Like in Practice?
Dr. Liddiard describes starting every patient relationship with the most urgent needs first. What’s causing pain? What needs attention right now? From there, the team builds a plan together with the patient, at a pace that makes sense.
He also talks about the culture he’s built on his team over his nine-plus years at the practice. When he joined, he raised the standard of what patients could expect, not just clinically but also in how the office looked and felt. “Just because we’re treating Medicaid patients doesn’t mean we have to be a hole in the wall,” he says. Patients began expecting high-quality dentistry, and the practice rose to meet that expectation.
Dr. Liddiard’s father joined the practice as well, bringing with him decades of experience in high-end private practice. The standard they hold each other to, Dr. Liddiard says, is exactly the same as it would be anywhere else. The only thing that changed was who they get to serve.
Can One Appointment Really Change How Someone Feels?
According to Dr. Liddiard, yes. He tells the story of a patient who came in with three cracked front teeth after a fall, still bleeding, already expecting the worst. After same-day root canals and a follow-up restoration, she came back and cried. She had been ready to lose those teeth and end up in dentures. Instead, she left with her smile intact.
Those are the moments Dr. Liddiard says stick with him. Not just the clinical outcome, but the shift in what the patient now believes is possible.
Your Next Appointment Could Be the One That Changes Things
If dental anxiety or past bad experiences have kept you away from the dentist, consider scheduling with Comfort Dental Pueblo North. Dr. Liddiard and his team are ready to meet you where you are, without judgment and without pressure. Call the Pueblo North office to request an appointment.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.