Family an important theme at her core
For Dr. Cleopatra Thompson, dentistry is about much more than just cleaning or correcting teeth.
“This is something I’m extremely passionate about,” Thompson said. “Dentistry impacted my life when I was 11 years old, and this was my dream since I was 15. For me, there are a lot of different levels to this profession.”
Thompson moved her practice, Crescent City Dentistry (CCD), to St. Rose in late 2011 and opened full time in July of 2012. She aims to offer a family-oriented and comfortable environment to all of her clients, something she said carries special importance to her because of her own experiences at the dentist’s office as a youth.
“I had a few issues with my smile,” she recalled. “I had spacing between my teeth, and one of my front teeth, when it grew in, it had a big yellow stain on it. So I was teased, I covered my mouth when I smiled, and I just didn’t have the confidence.”
She said once her mother scheduled an appointment to see her dentist, she first had a bonding procedure done to address that front tooth — later down the line, she was fitted for braces. Those were steps toward what became a life-changing improvement and also inspiration.
“One day sitting in the orthodontist’s office, and by that point, I’d already seen my smile change,” she said. “The orthodontist spent 10-15 minutes with me, and I just made the connection … it’s something I can make a good living with and a way to positively impact a child’s life. I got in the car and told my mom, ‘I think I want to be a dentist.’ It all started with dentistry boosting my confidence. I always keep that with me at my core”
It’s also why she believes the theme of family is so important to her as part of her practice. Her office works with both children and adults, and as the lone doctor at the office, when patients schedule appointments with Thompson, they are going to see Thompson herself.
“You have a lot of big dental groups coming into New Orleans and surrounding areas and you have a lot of different doctors working at those facilities,” Thompson said.
“Patients are missing that one-on-one because they see one doctor one visit and then they see someone else the next time. I take pride in the fact that I can develop a one-on-one rapport with my patients and add that personal touch.
“I’ve seen a lot of patients regularly over the last 15 years. They’ve seen me go from a single, unmarried doctor to now married with two kids. And I’ve seen things change and develop in their lives. It’s a special connection and we really pride ourselves on developing long term commitments with our patients. We want them to feel at home and feel comfortable.”
She also puts a big emphasis on comprehensive care, looking at the entire mouth and how conditions of the mouth can affect other areas of the body and educating patients on those correlations, such as how gum disease can be linked to heart disease. Preventative care is another focus, as she notes maintaining appointments every six months and scheduling regular cleanings can keep many major dental issues at bay.
She also says she understands the importance of working with each client and the individual obstacles that can arise to prevent good dental health. That could mean difficulties finding time away from work to come in for a visit — to that end, CCD offers Saturday appointments and also attempts to get all necessary work done in one visit, if at all possible.
Other obstacles are financial. CCD offers specials for cleaning, whitening, children and emergency exams, and also works with a number of different insurance programs. There is also a limited in-house plan.
CCD is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday’s by appointment only.
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