Dentist celebrates new ownership, name of RR practice

RIO RANCHO — A local dentist has taken over a dentistry and renamed it to reflect the local community.

Chris Christensen, of Rio Rancho, has purchased the dentistry on Broadmoor Boulevard and Stapleton Avenue and renamed it as Sandia View Family Dental.

“So Kirk and Joanne started Wondra Dental Care here in the area, practicing dentistry for almost 30 years. They’re kind of nearing time to retire, and so they listed their practice for sale,” he said.

Christensen has been a dentist in the metro area for nine years after graduating in 2016. He previously worked with Comfort Dental. Part of the reason he wanted his own practice was he felt the fast-paced corporate setting he was used to didn’t allow him to really enjoy his work.

“You don’t have a lot of time to spend time with your patients. You’re just kind of go, go, go,” he said.

He added that his passion is for helping people replace missing teeth and just talking with patients in general.

“I decided it was time for me to kind of slow down, leave the corporate and go more towards a private practice. I learned that the Wondras were selling their practice last year, around January, and started the process of buying their practice. We signed papers on May 3 of last year. My first day in the office was May 6,” he said.

A year later and to the day, Christensen celebrated his practice’s presence in the community with a ribbon cutting.

Christensen reassured that the Wondras would not be completely gone from dental society, however. “Kirk just wanted to slow down. He’s not done working, but he’s done kind of being a chair-side dentist or providing the dental work. He’s actually going to be working with one of the dental schools here in town as a teacher,” he said.

The past year, Christensen has been focused on getting the word out about the dentistry. The challenge is people generally don’t get their teeth cleaned regularly anymore, according to Christensen.

“That’s kind of a dying thing in dentistry is still having hygienists clean your teeth. A doctor does it now, or the assistants do a lot of the stuff,” he said.

He added that the family dentistry is a place people can slow down.

“So that’s unique about our private practice field. We’re not rushed crazy busy, like some of the corporate offices,” he said.

Slowing down hasn’t been the easiest transition for Christensen.

“It’s a lot of hard work, working and running your own business. A lot of dentists nowadays, they like to go work for someone else because the headaches of owning a business, managing staff,” he said.

He explained that dentistry is already difficult as a profession, but adding all of the business management side of things can add to the pressure.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself, about leadership, about managing my time in this transition,” he said. “And just really slowing down and spending more time with patients, because for eight years I was in a busy office where it’s all about seeing more and more and more patients.”

Sandia View has also invested in technology that people might not get in the corporate world. Christensen gave the example of crowning.

“So if you need a crown, the workflow right now is if somebody doesn’t have this technology is you get kind of the preparation part done and then they send it to the lab and you’re in a temporary for about two weeks, and you’re praying that doesn’t break or that falls off or the tooth gets sensitive. We have the same technology that the labs use, but we’re able to make the crown the same day,” he explained.

He said they also have the capability to get 3-D imaging of bone structure where usually X-rays are used and don’t get as many details.

Christensen expressed pride for the fact that Sandia View works with implants as well and tends to move away from using dentures.

He wanted to reassure the community that Sandia View will still remain faithful to what the Wondras created.

“The Wondras built an amazing practice, amazing community. They’ve serviced and helped a lot of the teachers in Rio Rancho. A lot of the people who work and live in Rio Rancho know the building. It’s a very prominent building,” he said. “The Wondras were very selective on who they wanted to bring in, and although they’re not in the day-to-day operations anymore, they really cared about who was going to be stepping in and taking care of their people. What they built was amazing.”

For more information, visit sandiaviewdental.com.