The history of Carus Dental is an epic journey. Established in 1983, with a single location down on the “Drag” in Austin adjacent to the University of Texas, we were first called “Longhorn Dental.” We grew to 6 practices and 10 Dentists by the mid-90s. In those early years we were driven to grow by our relationships with 3rd party payment companies. We were a profitable group of doctors practicing in the same place, but with no common goals, processes, structure, nor real purpose. Taking care of patients was up to the individual dentist. We were a bunch of dentists that practiced together, but we were surely not a Dental Group. Then an interesting thing happened in the mid-90s, on Fri 13 Dec 1996 to be exact (our lucky day)! Our story takes a huge turn, we affiliated with ADPI. Dramatic, profound change would begin to occur. We began to seek our purpose. We sought an identity. We rallied around the thought that we would be all about taking care of patients. As our culture continued to merge with ADPI we found that our values and beliefs did as well. However, there was one key ingredient that was missing, something that would bring us together as a doctor group, truly a group practice. Something that would give us structure, process, and insure quality of care outcomes. We sought to become accredited in 1997. It would be three years of preparation, it was not easy, but we achieved our initial 3 years AAAHC accreditation in 2000. This achievement validated who we had become and what we had aspired to be. It was a very proud moment, but soon thereafter we found that the Quality journey never ends, it is a quest that you never really achieve because we will always be striving to do it better.
In 2003 we merged w the other Texas affiliate, TSC Dental in the Houston market, a great addition. We were now in three major markets in Texas and poised for growth. Since 2003 we have grown to become a multi-specialty group with 25 locations in some of the fastest growing communities in the country. We established a new identity in 2008. “Carus” which means an abundance of caring and better depicts who we are.
As we look ahead to the future and what it may hold, it’s great to take a look back at where we have been and hope the next 30 years will bring the same opportunities to embrace change, growth and continue to strive to take care of patients and each other everyday. We are Carus!