I always wanted to do something in the medical field, and in college, we had an area where you could do a little bit of dentistry and a little bit of medicine. And when I got working in either one of those areas, dentistry just popped out at me. It’s like, that was the one to do. I’ve always worked with my hands and I liked instruments and this felt like the right match for me.
I went to a junior college for a couple of years. Then I ended up and went to the University of Florida and graduated there and got into dental school there also. And so we did, you know, four years of dental school, and then I came back and worked in pediatrics for two or three years with Dr. Berman. And after that, he kind of inspired me to go into pediatrics and I went back to school for another couple of years, so a lot of schooling. And then came back and bought the practice from him with my partner Cissy Furusho, and went from there.
I always loved working with kids, and to me, I would rather work on a kid any day than an adult. Kids are, you know what? They’re raw. They’ll let you know exactly where they’re at. But yet, they’re very forgiving. And it’s one of the best feelings when you have a kid that you can turn around and make it a nice and fun environment, and then you just hold out your hands to them and they just latch onto you and they just love you to death. Kids are just awesome. They really are. You know, I can’t say enough about working with kids. I just love working with them.
The most rewarding part is having a scared kid come in and being able to kind of turn them around and give them that peace of mind and to make it a fun experience for them. That’s what we’re about. We’re about a fun environment here. And it’s about being able to connect with that kid. And that’s one of the biggest things, is we want to connect with the kid. We want to be with that kid, and I want their attention on me so that we develop a relationship. That’s really important because we’re gonna be seeing these kids for quite a long time, and so, we wanna develop that relationship with them. In fact, some of them, it’s hard for them to move on actually because we’ve developed such a good relationship with them over the years.
Meet the Dentist
Dr. Kirk Kollmann Wants to See Your Child Smile
After graduating from the University of Florida College of Dentistry, Dr. Kirk Kollman earned his pediatric dental degree from Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. He has completed many hours of continuing education courses in the field of orofacial myofunctional therapy with the AOMT. Dr. Kollman also:
- Serves as a spokesperson for the Chicago Dental Society
- Participates in various dentistry organizations
- Works as a clinical instructor
- Volunteers for the Cleft Palate & Craniofacial Team at Lurie Children’s Hospital
He loves to be the do-it-yourself craftsman, as he is proficient in electricity, carpentry, woodworking, plumbing, and more. Dr. Kollman also enjoys working with computers and various gadgets.