A homeless veteran drove from Fort Collins to Denver for one reason: to tell his dentist he had a girlfriend and a job. That dentist is Dr. James Parfitt, and this is his story.

Dr. Parfitt grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. Before college he worked in a car dealership garage. A friend from the neighborhood started dental school the same year he started undergrad, and for four years they rode the bus to campus together, one studying dental anatomy and the other studying biology. It was his sister who finally said it out loud: maybe you should be a dentist. Nobody in his family was one. He applied anyway, landed at Temple University in Philadelphia, and finished a general practice residency at Denver Health.

He needed a little money to take his wife on a Saturday date. A Comfort Dental dentist offered him $100 a day to come in on weekends and learn how the office ran. That was 24 years ago.

In 2013 he opened Comfort Dental Mile High at 8th and Federal, close to the Broncos stadium, in a part of Denver where, in his words, no one was practicing. Some colleagues thought he was crazy to leave a busy office for it. He has been there ever since.

His patients come from group homes, from off the street, and from hard times they did not see coming. Dr. Parfitt does charity dentistry as part of a normal week and works with a veterans organization to treat veterans for free. He says the patients in 80204 remind him of the communities he serves on mission trips, and that is why he feels most at home there.

He also explains something every patient wonders about. His office does not need to pad a treatment plan to cover the bills. If you need a filling or a cleaning and nothing else, that is all you get.

Shawn and Dr. Parfitt also talk about a recent mission trip to Guatemala, where a mobile clinic saw close to 100 kids and moms a day and his son came along as a pre-dental student. They talk about what a new dentist should expect in year one, and the advice he would give his younger self: don't be afraid, and say yes.

What you'll hear in this episode:

- Why a Canadian mechanic ended up a Denver dentist

- The $100 Saturday job that started a 24-year career

- Why he opened Comfort Dental Mile High in the 80204 zip code

- How his office does charity dentistry every week

- The veteran from Fort Collins who came back to say thank you

- Why his office never invents treatment to pay the bills

- A dental mission trip to Guatemala with his son

- His advice for dentists thinking about a change

Chapters

00:00 Coming up

00:32 Meet Dr. James Parfitt

01:06 From Edmonton to dental school

03:23 The $100 Saturday job

06:22 Why he chose the Comfort Dental model

09:02 The hardest part of the first five years

10:51 The first paycheck that confirmed the decision

15:20 Choosing a different path

16:38 Paying off dental school debt

20:16 When dentistry doesn't match the dream

24:38 Treating the patient, not the overhead

26:47 A mission trip to Guatemala

31:19 Generosity nobody talks about

32:43 Autonomy inside Comfort Dental

37:07 What great partners look like

40:08 What a new Comfort Dental dentist should expect

42:25 Who is a good fit

44:53 Opening Comfort Dental Mile High in 80204

46:33 Charity dentistry and Medicaid patients

49:38 The veteran from Fort Collins

51:10 How his team would describe him

51:42 Life outside the practice

53:07 Advice for dentists who feel trapped

53:48 Don't be afraid. Say yes.

Comfort Dental Mile High, 8th and Federal, Denver, CO 80204