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.”
