Dentistry. It's a helping profession, and I like helping people. You get to use your hands and invent things, solutions, in real time for people that carry forward in their life. It kind of extends their reach. If we help them, their life is better, and in subtle ways people can maximize their potential. The most rewarding part about being a dentist is watching people smile and leave knowing that their future is more predictable than it otherwise would be. In that way, their life is better than it might have been, or at least certainly improved on.
I've been a dentist since 1983. I lived in Minnesota, was raised there, and had a practice there, and got cold, and decided it was time to head to the sun. So, that's how I got to Fort Collins. Prior to that, I had a liberal arts education in Minnesota, and then at the dental school at University of Minnesota, I was hired to teach before I graduated. I had finished my requirements. So, I was teaching prior to graduation and spent a number of years very interested in dentistry, the people side of it, the business side, the technical side, and dedicated myself to continuing education over a long period of time. I moved to Colorado, continued to study. I was part of service organizations, Lions, Rotary, Chamber.
Then as well as starting continuing education classes in orthodontics, also a study group around occlusion, the way people's teeth fit together. I also fell into that, to study that, related to jaw-joint-pain things, as well as the whole scope of general practice is very interesting. So, I have a wide range, from early dentitions, children, all the way through adult care. My practice in Minnesota was in a resort retirement area, so I primarily saw adult issues, what works, what doesn't. That helps design treatments or, going forward, care to keep people out of treatment much more effectively and efficiently. So, that brings me to Colorado at the present time.
I've engaged consultants from around the United States to help find the most efficient and effective ways to do that, to leverage the services, so that the time that people invest, that they're gonna maximize the outcome, because a patient that doesn't need me is a patient that I've done a good job for. But as well as that, you're treating the people as well, first and foremost. We appreciate that as much as we do the things that we do for people; we enjoy doing them with people, and that makes the whole experience much better for everybody involved. It's a reward in and of itself.
Dr. Mark Kollar grew up in Blaine, MN, in the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. He received a BA degree with honors from Concordia College in the Fargo Moorhead area. He then attended the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, where he received his DDS degree and earned a BS concurrently. While there, he was chosen by the faculty to receive the GV Black Gold Foil Achievement Award given to the outstanding operative dentist in the class. He also received an award in prosthodontics (dentures, partials, crowns) from the faculty.
Because he finished dental school graduation requirements well before the end of his senior year, the faculty invited Dr. Mark to be appointed a clinical instructor before graduation. He held this part-time position for about 10 years, achieving the position of assistant professor.
After serving as an associate dentist at a practice in the Minneapolis suburbs, Dr. Mark bought a practice in the resort retirement area of Pequot Lakes, MN. Despite Pequot’s small population of 800, Dr. Mark treated 3,500 patients and worked with three doctors and nine staff members at this practice.
Dr. Mark later moved to Fort Collins, CO. During this time, he achieved a fellowship award in the Academy of General Dentistry and became the founder of the Midwest Orthodontic Study Club.
Dr. Mark has always been an early adopter of innovative dental technologies and techniques that can improve the patient experience. When the dental implants we know today came to the U.S. in the 1980s, the Brånemark System did not allow general dentists to be trained in surgical dental implant placement. Only specialists in different disciplines and university faculty were allowed to receive surgical dental implant training. Since he was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Dr. Mark was one of the first general dentists in the U.S. to receive surgical training from the Swedish manufacturer. This was the gold standard of dental implant systems; now sold by Nobel Biocare, it is still popular today.
Before the practice became popular, Dr. Mark began using pressurized baking soda–like particles to polish teeth at regular visits. The particles get into the grooves and ridges of teeth in a less abrasive way, cleaning them thoroughly while causing no damage to the enamel.
He was also one of the first dentists in Colorado to use laser cavity detection units. He appeared in a feature on CNN about the technology. Dr Mark has successfully consulted with the top hygiene consultants in the field of non-surgical soft tissue management. This has made him aware of the best gum disease treatment techniques to use to avoid surgery.
Dr. Mark has seen approximately 9,000 new patients and performed over 45,000 procedures. If training, experience, comprehensive care, and five-star service are important to you, Dr. Mark would enjoy working with you.
Dr. Mark also believes in community service. He was a founding member of the Pequot Lakes/Breezy Point Lions Club. He was also a member of the Pequot Rotary Club, a Paul Harris Fellow, a Blandin Paper Company Community Scholarship recipient, and a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Mark and his wife, Kary, have seven children: a dentist, an Air Force pilot, a brewmaster, an interior designer, a medical student, and two others in college.