Practice History

Our practice was established by Dr. Wayne Simmons in 1978. Dr. Wayne Simmons received his BS degree from the University of Texas, his D.M.D. degree, and his Prosthodontic specialty degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. He began his career in San Antonio as a professor in crown and bridge at the UT Health Science Center School of Dentistry, San Antonio, in 1976.

Our practice has benefited from the strong foundation and understanding of dental implants that Dr. Wayne Simmons attained in the early part of his career. He was a pioneer in dental implants as one of the first doctors to take the original Branemark course in the U.S. back in 1982. That was a time when dental implants were not popular and, unfortunately, had a fairly low success rate. Up to that time, dental implants were mostly custom-made out of different alloys, had many different (custom) designs, and were often placed without a proper sterile technique. Dr. Branemark’s approach was significantly different as his implants were machined out of titanium, sterile and free from any particles, and placed under sterile technique. Dr. Simmons and Dr. David Leibold worked exclusively together for the following three to four years and were able to duplicate Dr. Branemark’s success rate of over 95%. This was a significant improvement over the sub-periosteal and blade implants of the past. It wasn’t until the mid to late 1990’s, however, that dental implants really began to be more widely accepted as a treatment option.

Dr. Wayne Simmons performed most of his own lab work throughout the 1980s in a small old bunk house behind our home. This is where his lab skills allowed him to begin using implants for quadrant and single tooth replacements. The Branemark course mostly only taught the use of implants for fixed full arch hybrid dentures. His ability to expand the use of dental implants for partially edentulous patients completely changed his career and the lives of his patients.

The early use of implants in his career also provided a wealth of historical knowledge that has continued to benefit our practice today.