Crown Fits for Fayetteville Dentist Kenton Ross

Nestled in the heart of downtown Fayetteville on leafy Locust Avenue, the dental office of Kenton Ross is unassuming.

It’s an ordinary building tucked alongside old homes between Dickson Street and the square, and if you’re going there for the first time, you just might drive by it.

But don’t be fooled. There’s a lot going on inside that little building, and Ross, one of the deans of the Fayetteville dental scene, is at its center. A healthy alternative to corporate dentistry, Ross, a native of Wynne, is an updated version of the archetypal hometown doctor — friendly, accessible, trustworthy and rooted in the community.

And nearly 20 years into his solo private practice, he’s somewhat of an institution. The kids whose teeth he’s worked on over the years are graduating high school, even college, and are starting careers and families of their own. One patient, at 99 years of age, just had an implant on an incisor and loves it.

“I have patients that I saw on the first day of my practice that are still my patients,” he said.

But even though he’s a throwback, he’s by no means stuck in yesteryear. To the contrary, Ross is an advocate of CEREC, an advanced technology that makes it possible to measure and construct a crown during one office visit.

He’s one of a handful of dentists in Northwest Arkansas who uses the technology, and for patients who are on the go, CEREC is just what the doctor ordered.

“That’s the coolest thing I do,” Ross said. “It’s a joy to see the technology advance and build the practice around it.”

Ross, 46, went to undergraduate at the University of Arkansas, earned his doctor of dental medicine from the University of Louisville, and his general dentistry certificate from the University of Tennessee. He returned to Fayetteville in 1996. In 1999 he was given the New Dentist Award by the Arkansas State Dental Association and, that same year, was a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Forty Under 40.

While he keeps a busy schedule at his office, Ross also earns his keep on the volunteer front. He serves as dental director for the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center, where he develops management plans for underserved patients, and also conducts screenings for the Fayetteville Youth Dental Program.

The reward for volunteering is that Ross gets to make a difference in the lives of those who might not otherwise have the resources to visit a dentist.

“It’s the gratitude of the patient,” he said. “You see it in their eyes.” 

A key practical change in dentistry, Ross said, is the emergence of CEREC and implant procedures and how they have altered the traditional way of doing business. These days, patients have more options than simply having a tooth pulled and hoping for the best.

“People are keeping their teeth longer,” he said. “The old paradigm was that older people had dentures. That’s changing.”

Ross and wife Jennifer, the director of programs at the Walton Arts Center, have been married for 16 years. Together they have a son, 14-year-old Robert, who is a Life Scout, a saxophonist and a black belt in Taekwondo. After high school, he plans on attending the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Ross’ in-laws moved here from Batesville a while back, and around the time they arrived, Ross’ parents, Bill and Georgia, migrated from Wynne. They soon plugged themselves into the community through volunteer efforts at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks and at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

“They came up here to be with family and it’s been great,” Ross said.

He also has a brother here who works for Tyson Foods Inc.

Ross is an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville and is also active in raising funds for what he describes as a “vibrant, healthy” congregation.

With a thriving and meaningful practice, a united family and a burgeoning superstar of a son, Ross said he is content.

“This is home,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”