BUSINESS PROFILE
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Dr. Joseph Kim, DDS
Using Technology to Benefit Patients
r. Joseph Kim was born in Seoul, Korea, the oldest of three children. His father was a professor at a medical school and his mother was a middle school teacher before they immigrated to Seattle in 1996. When Dr. Kim graduated from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2002 with a bachelor of science in computer engineering, dentistry was not a career path he had in mind. After a few years of running his own startup in Seattle, Dr. Kim came to visit his cousin in San Francisco who had recently begun his own oral surgery center on Mission Street. “When I saw my cousin perform surgeries, I knew that I wanted to become a dentist,” Dr. Kim said. Following the footsteps of his two cousins, Dr. Kim earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine in 2008. Columbia University is distinguished by its rigorous curriculum requiring all its first-year dental students to study alongside the medical students. They are expected to build foundational knowledge in anatomy, pathology, pharmacology, and so on to become a dentist who can respond to and
resolve dental issues in the context of the patient’s overall health. Equipped with this knowledge and strenuous training, Dr. Kim excelled during his residency at the New York Methodist Hospital, where he was trained not only in dentistry but also in other medical fields. Upon completing his residency, his cousin, Dr. Frank Chung, DDS, invited Kim to work at his Dental Implant & Oral Surgery Center in San Francisco. Chung generously downloaded all his know-how as an oral surgeon onto his cousin, which helped Kim ramp up his learning curve faster than other newly minted dentists can. Dr. Kim is a general dentist but his skill level in implant surgery does not pale compared to that of oral surgeons thanks to Chung’s mentorship and Kim’s relentless efforts. Influenced by another cousin, then a professor at UC San Francisco School of Dentistry, Kim served as the clinical instructor at UCSF for a few years until he became too busy treating his patients as an associate dentist in multiple locations across the Bay Area. At one point, he was splitting his time among different dental offices and surgery centers in San Francisco, Fremont, Oakland,
Dr. Joseph Kim and his family 24 / January 2025 / Capitola Soquel Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
and Merced to gain as much experience as possible. Merced, for example, was a pediatric surgery center where he treated dozens of children each week, many with serious dental issues. His passion for dentistry drove him to rack up hundreds of thousands of miles over the years. With a growing family, Kim wanted to settle down so he can spend more time with his family. In June 2017, Kim and his wife visited the office of a retiring dentist who was looking for someone to take over his practice in the Seabright neighborhood of Santa Cruz. The charming cottage was lined by fragrant roses along the walls, with the Buttery Bakery down the block and the Childish Toy Shop across the street. Kim was thrilled to open his own dental office in this location and has grown attached to the neighborhood and the patients. Kim was proud to boast, “We have the most kind and warmhearted patients who have been with us for many years, including the Sisters at St. Clare’s Retreat who bless us with handwritten cards and gifts every Christmas time.” He is also proud to say that Dr. Joseph Kim DDS is one of the first dental offices in the Bay Area to adopt digital dentistry. Because Kim is still an engineer at heart, he naturally gravitates to new technology be it software-driven dental lab, 3D cone beam CT, tissue laser, or intraoral scanner. He proactively seeks out new ways to improve patient experience and clinical outcome and is proficient at applying them. Savings in costs and time savings gained by advanced technologies are shared with his clients in the form of cheaper costs, faster turnaround time, shorter chair-time and overall, a more satisfactory result. Because he can use his time more productively, he can treat more patients in a given time, which in turn, makes him an even more experienced dentist. With the depth and the width of his experience, he can give informed advice to his patients on a variety of dental issues and is well prepared to deal with unusual situations during or after the treatment. He was awarded the Fellow title by the International Congress of Oral Implantology
acknowledging his expertise in implant surgery. He is awaiting recognition in February 2025 as a Diplomate, which is the highest title awarded to select dentists who have passed rigorous written and oral exams and have presented hundreds of clinical cases. When asked what he would like to do if he earned enough money to retire early, Kim answered without hesitation, “I want to continue to see patients,” unlike most people who would say they want to travel the world. But it is not to say that Kim does not love to travel. His way to wind down after a busy week is to go camping with his wife and two young kids to the wilderness. His most recent trip was to Death Valley where he enjoyed camping out under the stars and driving offroad in the desert. n ••• Find Dr. Kim at his office on 1016 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Phone: (831) 443-2447 https://www.bestdentalbydrkim.com/