‘A legacy of caring’ continues

DENTON – For the husband-and-wife team of Dr. Patricia Higgins and Dr. Rowland Holsinger, their dental practice has been a long journey of pursuing excellence. Maintaining the status quo or settling for mediocrity has never been in their DNA – and isn’t on their radar.

The new name of their practice reflects their evolving focus on dentistry, as well as overall wellness, during the past 40 years at their practice nestled in the woods on River Road in Denton.

Reflecting the expanding set of services they offer, the couple recently announced the name change from Smiles by Holsinger and Higgins to Smiles and More Dental Wellness.

“We're changing our practice name to Smiles and More Dental Wellness, because when we first started, dentistry was truly a reparative scenario. You know, see a hole, fill a hole,” Holsinger said.

“And now it's proactive, getting our patients healthy, creating for them the smiles that they desire and deserve,” Higgins added.

“Things kind of changed up from the beginning,” Higgins said. “We have been on this constant learning journey. In 1998, we were seeing kids when we moved in here, but by 2000 we had made the decision to have an adults-only practice and focus on one patient at a time, and just doing more complex dentistry on adults. And now, not only are we doing all of that, but we're doing so much more. Hence the name change.”

The “so much more” Higgins referred to includes cutting-edge technology and procedures the dentists use to enhance healing, improve comfort, increase self-confidence and provide better health outcomes.

That includes creating platelet-rich fibrin, or PRF – the “super sauce of healing,” Higgins said. Using a person’s own blood, the dentist spins it down and concentrates it. It can then be used for both dentistry and facial esthetics. “We can use it to make plugs so that when we take out a tooth, we can stick it in the socket, and it heals so quickly. … It’s just nature's way of making sure that you put healing in the fast lane,” Higgins said,

“It stops the bleeding immediately,” Holsinger said. The healing process also is accelerated “because it’s all your own stuff.” Because the practice’s population is older, “healing is an issue. We can take a 60-year-old and give them the healing of a 40-year-old.”

“We have liked it very much because of the dentistry it has helped us do,” Higgins said. For example, “when Dr. Holsinger needs to put bone around an implant, he can use the PRF and put bone in there to help stabilize that area and get better growth around the implants.”

The dentists also invested in three different photon lasers for dental procedures and are expanding their use, as well, “which is part of the reason why the name changed, because now we're doing more than just dentistry.”

One of the lasers used for treating temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, or TMD, was made available in the United States in late 2024, and “we were within the first 100 people in the country to have it,” Holsinger said. They’ve also added salivary testing for bacteria, which may indicate issues in the gastrointestinal tract.

“We believe that dentistry is more than just taking care of the teeth. It's about taking care of the total person,” Higgins said. “We're learning how important the mouth is, in terms of the airway and the tongue, in terms of the development of facial bones. We're just tying it all together. And we're not the only ones tying it all together, but we're doing more than simple fillings and cleanings and that type of thing.”

The dentists introduced artificial intelligence (AI) software to the practice in October 2025. “It's kind of crazy, just how much technology has changed,” Higgins said. Although AI isn’t perfect, she said, “It nudges you to do that second look.”

“We have lots of stuff, but it all works together,” Higgins said. “We're a husband- wife team. We support one household, so that means that we have more money to spend on the practice, to keep on reinvesting.”

The dental offices are located on property once owned by three Holsinger brothers, who migrated from Pennsylvania after the Civil War. One of those brothers was Rowland Holsinger’s grandfather. A graduate of North Caroline High School and an Eagle Scout, he went on to dental school, graduating with Pat Higgins, a self-described Army brat from Oxon Hill, Maryland, on May 28, 1982. They were married the next day.

Their practices in the early days were separate: his in Ocean City and Wilmington, hers in Baltimore, Seaford and Middletown, Delaware. They eventually began their joint practice in a tiny office which they rented for four years in Denton. They opened it in February 1986, and their first daughter, Rebecca, was born that May. Their younger daughter Allison came along a few years later. Their daughters are now “very independent and hard-working business women,” Higgins said.

“When we opened our practice 40 years ago, what we spent most of our money on, as far as supplies and equipment, was for oral surgery equipment, because we thought that we were going to be just basically pulling teeth, and probably doing dentures, partials and simple fillings,” Holsinger said.

“Things have changed a lot in the 43 years that we've been practicing dentistry,” Higgins said. “At every pivot point of the practice we've changed our name, and so we became Healthy Smiles, Dentistry for All Ages, probably around 1986-1988. We treated kids, we treated adults, and during that time, we took specialty training.

“We were among the first graduates of LVI (Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies), which is advanced cosmetic dentistry training, and most the courses that we were taking were about doing better root canals, doing implants, doing veneers, doing full mouth reconstructions, doing more complex dentistry on adults, and also taking care of older adults with older problems like dry mouth and stuff like that,” she said.

By 2000, the dentists decided to focus solely on older teens and adults.

Recently, Holsinger and Higgins teamed up with CARE^® Esthetics to provide “better, healthier natural anti-aging therapies,” according to the Center for Advanced Rejuvenation & Esthetics.

PRF can also be used in CARE® Esthetics protocols for TMD and other pain issues in the head and neck area. Now, with their expanded offerings as “Smiles and More,” Holsinger and Higgins can use PRF for “skin tightening, skin volumization, acne reduction, scarring,” Holsinger said.

The dentists are impressed with the emerging range of procedures available to them to help their clients enhance their appearance and health.

“It really is a game changer,” Higgins said. Their Biocare laser can be used to stimulate collagen and tighten wrinkled skin, while the PRF can be employed for facial peels and microneedling.

“The quality of the skin is just so improved,” she said. “You go from that saggy, multilayered-looking skin to robust, moist skin that rebounds. I mean, it's pretty amazing.”

“Dentistry goes far beyond esthetics, but esthetics make a difference,” Higgins said. “I have patients who are very proud to brag on the fact that they have crowns on their front teeth, and no one knows it, because everything looks so natural, and that's what you want. You want a beautiful, natural smile that suits you, and for it to suit you so well that no one suspects that you had that much dentistry done.”

Holsinger recalled a patient who “didn't smile for his wedding.” After 20 years of marriage he sought dentistry that enhanced his smile. “His wife said, ‘You know, he never smiled. Now he doesn't stop smiling.’”

They have accrued dozens of advanced training certificates, most of which are framed and posted on several walls. Both are members of both the American Dental Association and Maryland State Dental Association. Both have served as president of the Eastern Shore Dental Society.

Holsinger also qualified to become a diplomat of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine, and he’s the only diplomat on the Eastern Shore.

“That's been beneficial, because now Tidewater Health has reached out, so we're seeing their patients that are either CPAP-intolerant or could benefit from an oral sleep appliance,” Holsinger said. Patients can perform an at-home sleep study, which is reviewed by a physician. Patients can then receive a letter of dental medical necessity, followed by a consultation and treatment by Holsinger.

They are members of a small dentist mastermind group that gets together quarterly to challenge each other to carry out the plans they envision.

“During the years, you just add more flowers to your bouquet of knowledge,” Higgins said.

They value their staff and create opportunities for them to acquire more knowledge and training, as well. All are civic-minded and lend their help in thanking clients and benefiting the wider Eastern Shore community.

The years of training have only increased their satisfaction in helping their clients and those in need. They help provide free dental services through the Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy, an annual free adult dental clinic in Salisbury, to be held this year March 27-28. Holsinger has been the dental lead of ESMOM since 2012, and one of their staff members will serve as the sterilization lead this year. Sue Simmons of Denton will serve as the community lead.

“Our parents gave us this legacy of giving a helping hand, and this is something that our team is just so excited about,” Higgins said.

The name change to Smiles & More Dental Care reflects the values and evolving focus of Higgins and Holsinger.

“Now you can transform people's smiles. You can transform their lives,” Holsinger said. “You can change their personality from being withdrawn to outgoing. We can give them self-confidence. How you feel about yourself makes a whole big difference about how you live your life.”

They say they love what they do, and it shows. From the comfortable waiting room to the thoughtful porte-cochere that protects clients from the elements, from timed entrance doors to aid those in wheelchairs to the attention directed towards seeing only one patient at a time, clients come first.

Holsinger and Higgins, both 69, have no plans to retire soon, but they do want to map a future that extends their work.

“When you're still at the top of your game, and you're still excited about coming into work, and you still love why you're doing it, why stop?” Higgins said.

“Many years ago, when we were looking at the future, we thought that we could just walk away and lock the door, and that just doesn't seem right,” Higgins said. “You want to have a legacy – a legacy of caring.”

For more information about Smiles & More Dental Care, including a list of services, and before-and-after photos, visit smilesby.com. To learn more about the Eastern Shore Mission of Merc, visit www.easternshoremom.org.

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Here are more photos & cutlines by Connie Connolly and suggested cutline for Mickey’s pic of H & H:

Dr. Rowland Holsinger and Dr. Patricia Higgins announce the new name of their dental practice, Smiles & More Dental Care.

4938 – A sleek and comfortable waiting area greets patients at Smiles & More Dental Care, located at10646 River Road, Denton.

4939 - Recently, Drs. Holsinger and Higgins teamed up with CARE® Esthetics to provide natural anti-aging therapies.

4940 – Drs. Higgins and Holsinger have earned dozens of certificates that reflect their ongoing training during the 40 years of their professional dental careers.

4950 – Whimsical cartoons and patients’ drawings are valued by husband-and-wife dentists Dr. Rowland Holsinger and Dr. Patricia Higgins

4953 – Along the walls of their practice, Drs. Higgins and Holsinger celebrate milestones along their 40 professional journey.