For Van Buren, what we add.

Van Buren Is Not Short on Dentists

Crawford County has a real dental market. If you're happy with your dentist in Van Buren, stay — a good relationship with a nearby office is worth more than anything on this page.

So here's the useful version instead: the three things patients cross the river for. If none of them apply to you, you don't need us. If one of them does, it's probably worth the trip.

What Usually Brings Van Buren Patients Across the River

1. A crown finished in one appointment. Most offices take an impression, seat a temporary, and bring you back in two or three weeks. We use a digital scanner and mill crowns in our own office, so for many teeth the permanent crown is designed, milled and cemented in the same visit. If your work schedule makes a second appointment genuinely hard, that difference is the whole point. Some teeth still require a lab crown, and we'll say which before we start.

2. Implants planned and placed with 3D guidance. We use Image Guided Implantology — a CBCT scan, a digitally planned position, and a printed surgical guide. It typically brings placement down from around 50 minutes to 10 to 15, and it means the plan is made on a screen before anything happens in your mouth. Single implants, bridges and All-on-4 full-arch cases are all done here, and the same practice restores what it places.

3. A sleep and airway program that actually exists. Most general offices will hand you a referral if you mention snoring. We screen for it: airway evaluation, 3D CBCT airway imaging, custom EMA and ProSomnus oral appliances, and myofunctional therapy with Laura Williams, RDH, who has practiced myofunctional therapy for more than ten years. Our Foundations program runs $3,995 and the Transformation program $7,995, with monthly options. Screening is educational, not a diagnosis, and candidacy is determined after a consultation.

Where We Are From Van Buren

Van Buren sits on the north side of the Arkansas River, with its Main Street district, the old courthouse and the depot on one end of town and the interstate corridor on the other. Our office is on the far side of the river and to the south, at 5901 Riley Park Dr., Suite A, in the Rye Hill area.

That's a genuine drive and we won't pretend otherwise. What you're trading it for is fewer appointments overall — one visit for a crown instead of two, one practice for the implant instead of two.

Who's in the Building

Dr. Beau Sparkman, DDS (orthodontics and sleep apnea, University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, 2011), Dr. Joseph Farmer, DDS (general and restorative, Fort Smith native), and Dr. Blain VanNice, DDS (Colorado Anschutz, with an engineering degree behind it) all practice at the Fort Smith office. Cindy Saulsberry, RDH handles hygiene here, and Laura Williams, RDH works both locations.

We're in network with Delta Dental Premier, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, MetLife, Guardian, United Concordia, Healthchoice, Sun Life, Principal, Assurant and America's. Without insurance, Smile Savers starts at $36.67 a month. For larger treatment, CareCredit, Cherry and Proceed Finance are all available, and we take HSA and FSA funds.

When You Should Stay in Van Buren

If you need a cleaning, a filling, a night guard or a checkup for the kids, a nearby office you already trust is the better answer, and driving across the river for it is a waste of your afternoon. We'd rather tell you that than sell you a trip.

The case for coming here is narrower and more specific: fewer total appointments for the same result, and a program for snoring and airway problems that most general practices refer out. If that's not your situation this year, keep this page bookmarked for the year it is.