The Woodlands’ first orthodontist, Dr. Mardaga, knows experience matters

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — From the moment a patient enters Dr. William J. Mardaga’s orthodontic office, they get a sense that something is special about it. Dr. Mardaga says it’s the staff.

“I learned a long time ago it’s about the staff — not the doctor,” Dr. Mardaga said. “The practice has just developed into a real family, and people sense that. You can’t talk about the practice unless you mention the staff.”

Contributing to the family-feel of the practice is the long-term employment of their staff members for the last 20 years. They are the ones who see patients every one or two months over several years, and the last thing clients want to see is constant turnover of the staff, Dr. Mardaga said.

After finishing his residency at the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston in 1979, he and his wife Peggy moved to The Woodlands, which then had a population of 8,000. His first office was on Sawdust Rd. next to Knox and Wilkerson elementary schools, and the patients would simply walk to his office during school hours and then return to school. He said that would never happen today.

“Being the first orthodontist in The Woodlands was great,” Dr. Mardaga said. “I still remember my first patients. It took a while to get the engine going. Now there’s quite a few more orthodontists out here, so it’s a little more competitive than it used to be.”

As The Woodlands expanded, so did practice. In 1992, Dr. Mardaga moved his office to its current location in Panther Creek and hired a full-time associate. Since then he has added two other locations—the far west end of The Woodlands on FM 2978 and his Rayford Rd. location next to Imperial Oaks and Legends Ranch.

“I just have a great associate working with us. I’ve been so fortunate,” Dr. Mardaga said. “Dr. David Mouritsen joined the practice a year ago from the Austin area. He and his wife Lauren have four children, and he’s just a fabulous orthodontist. We are very happy to have him on board.”

The Woodlands Orthodontic Group prides themselves in what they call conservative orthodontics. Over 30 years of experience lends to their knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. Dr. Mardaga said that for several years, there was a trend for people to get braces twice. Patients would be treated at a very young age—from seven to nine years old—and walk out the door with straight teeth, but a few years down the road, they would need braces again.

“What sets us apart is our experience, and because of our experience it makes us more conservative, and patients and parents really like that,” Dr. Mardaga said. “Nobody wants braces twice.”

In addition to experienced practice, the office places a big focus on treatment speed. One of the services they offer to cut the time a patient wears braces or Invisalign is Propel, a benign procedure that speeds up the patient’s tooth movement by 50 percent.

“We make small dimples to the bone around the teeth that we want to move quickly, and it stimulates the bone cells by aggravating them. I call it kicking the ant bed,” Dr. Mardaga said. “We all have these cells crawling around us cleaning up the bone, and if you break a bone, they’ll run over and patch it. Those are the same bone cells that move teeth. We can kick that ant bed and make them work twice as fast.”

Outside of wanting to offer the community an array of services, including corrective jaw surgery and snoring therapy, Dr. Mardaga said he and the employees just enjoy seeing the changes made in their patients.

“Orthodontics is a really fun profession! It seems like everybody sees and appreciates the transformations that occur, whether it be kids or adults,” Dr. Mardaga said. “It’s very rewarding in the sense that you get to watch these kids grow up, gain confidence and blossom.”

For more information about The Woodlands Orthodontic Group, visit their website at woodlandsbraces.com.