Dr. Matthew Collins, DMD: A Young Dentist's Transition to Practice Ownership, Reprinted from CCDS November/December 2025 Newsletter

Dr. Matthew Collins bought his new Springfield practice, Two Rivers Dental Group, in July of this year. Previously, he had worked at Smiles Dental and a couple of Aspen Dental Locations. Although taking on practice ownership involves a lot of hard work, this was made easier due to support from another local dentist. Dr. Terri Baarstad, who has her own full-time practice,  has helped Dr. Collins by providing mentorship regarding business practices, giving advice on navigating insurance issues, and sharing patient pools. 

Dr. Collins was born in Southern California, studied at California State University Channel Islands before going to dental School at the University of Nevada.  He graduated from dental school in 2019. Early on, Matthew had a strong interest in science and anatomy. Although he initially focused on becoming a surgeon, he soon discovered that working in a hospital setting was not a good fit for him. 

Matthew’s mom is a hygienist and invited her son to come watch the dentist at work to see if dentistry would be something he would like. “So I went in there, and then, I was just like, this is pretty cool. I just kind of clicked.” He also liked that as a dentist, he could continue to learn new skills and you get to be a business owner.

Dr. Collins decided to move to Oregon because it promised to be a good place to raise a family. In addition to the slower pace of the Pacific Northwest, Matthew said,” I love the seasons. I love the green and the rain, all the water and mountains.” 

Dr. Tyler Peterschmidt, DDS: Showcases His Art at PNW Dental, Reprinted from CCDS November/December 2025 Newsletter

One of the first things one notices when they walk into Pacific Northwest Dental is the beautiful wall-sized nature photography throughout the office space.  Dr. Tyler Peterschmidt has found that displaying his own artwork, which began as a personal hobby, has grown into a conversation starter with his patients. He started taking pictures about six years ago, teaching himself through YouTube. At first, he was a bit shy about sharing his art. He first hung up a picture and didn’t tell anyone it was his, and let it sit there and waited to see how people responded. Now he is proud of his work and has photos in all the operatories. Now, instead of shying away from sharing his personal interests, he uses his photos as a way to connect with his patients, and some even buy his prints.

Dr. Peterschmidt’s mother recognized his potential for dental work when he was given a kit of dirty old Roman coins to restore. Tyler enjoyed the fine detail work coin restoration took, and his mom associated his talent with the work that dentists do.  Since he has an aunt who is a dentist,  Tyler was able to shadow her and he also benefited from clinical volunteer opportunities and soon decided that dentistry is the career he wanted to pursue. In addition to enjoying dental work, he found being your own boss and the ability to build your own culture and work environment appealing. 

Dr. Peterschmidt partnered with Dr. Watkins when Dr. Joe Jensen retired. Their partnership is based on shared values and complementary skills. Dr. Peterschmidt has been drawn to oral surgery, participating in advanced training on implants, bone grafting, soft tissue surgery, and periodontics. Whereas Dr. Watkins has done training on sleep apnea devices. Dr. Peterschmidt said that they mesh well in terms of our business relationship and their easy-going personality style. They also have both embraced in house technology, such as doing their own scanning and 3D printing.