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“We were scared to death.”
That’s how Kim Shepherd remembers the day her small, personal IT provider got folded into a bigger company. Computer Habits had supported Aadland Dental Group for years. They knew Aadland Dental Group’s system inside and out. And then, almost overnight, that relationship became part of something much larger: Pact-One.
Thirteen years later, Kim is still the business manager at Aadland Dental Group, working alongside her sister, Dr. Kristine Aadland. In that time, the practice has grown from one doctor to three, from a handful of chairs to ten operatories, and from a small team into a group of 16 to 18 women who, as Kim puts it, “have a great time doing what we do.”
Watch Kim tell it herself, or keep reading for the highlights of this Dental IT Success Story.
Family-Built, Digitally-Driven
Aadland Dental Group is a family business. Kim and Dr. Aadland grew up in a household where “kitchen table talk was business,” and they built the practice the same way: hands-on, together, and unafraid of hard work.
That upbringing shows up in how the practice runs today:
- Ten operatories, three doctors. Hygiene, restorative work, implants, and same-day smile makeovers are all happening at once, on a tightly built schedule.
- A highly digital workflow. Aadland Dental Group has always pushed to stay at the front of digital dentistry — which means their network has to keep up.
- An all-women team. Sixteen to eighteen women run this practice day in and day out.
- Zero patience for downtime. With that many chairs running back-to-back, one broken connection throws off the entire day.
What Happens When “Small and Personal” Has to Scale
When Computer Habits merged into Pact-One, Kim wasn’t just worried about losing a vendor. She was worried about losing a relationship that mattered to her business’s survival.
“There’s a bottom line that comes along with running a business. And if you’re down, you know you’re in trouble.”
It’s the same fear a lot of growing practices carry: the bigger and more digital you get, the more you depend on IT working perfectly and the scarier it feels to hand that dependency to a company instead of a person.
Showing Up Before Being Asked
Here’s what changed Kim’s mind. On day one of the transition, the owner of Computer Habits didn’t send an email. He showed up in Kim’s office with Pact-One’s president, Dan Edwards, in tow.
“He said, ‘We’re on a tour, and this is what’s going on, and I want you to meet him because you matter to us.’”
That set the tone for everything after. When Kim voiced concerns, they got addressed — not ignored. And over 13 years, she’s watched Pact-One make changes based on client feedback, again and again.
“I don’t know that there’s a lot of corporations that can say that. I’ve watched Pact-One make some pivots, always in the name of: how do we serve our clients better?”
What the Partnership Looks Like Day to Day
For Kim, the proof isn’t in a sales pitch, it’s in the small, consistent things:
- Quarterly, in-person check-ins. Her Client Success Manager, Larry, stops by roughly once a quarter just to ask how things are going.
- Proactive heads-ups, not just reactive fixes. “I get an email: ‘Hey Kim, this is going on out there... warn your team to be careful.’ I don’t think everyone gets that from their IT company.”
- 24/7 monitoring she never sees. “We have so many things going all at the same time that I never have to worry about, because it’s handled in the background.”
- Real access to real people. Not a ticket queue, but a phone number that gets answered.
Two moments in particular stuck with her.
When New Equipment Became the Problem, and Pact-One Still Showed Up
Aadland Dental Group likes to be an early adopter of new dental technology. Once, a piece of equipment they brought on caused network issues almost as soon as it was plugged in.
“It was really frustrating — super busy office, and I must have talked to Pact-One almost every day.”
Pact-One’s team worked through it methodically: ruling things out, isolating the new device onto its own network so the rest of the practice kept running, and staying in Kim’s office even after they suspected the equipment — not their network — was the real cause.
“Even though they truly knew it was not them, they showed up for me. It was more for our doctors — it was a show of faith, to say, ‘We’ve got you.’”
When the equipment vendor tried to point fingers back at Pact-One, Kim didn’t have to guess who was right.
“It gave me a different platform to speak from. I could advocate for my practice because I knew it was not us.”
The Windows 10-to-11 Migration Nobody Panicked Over
Upgrading an entire office full of computers is never seamless. But what stayed with Kim wasn’t the upgrade itself — it was what happened the Monday after.
“There was a person at my door first thing Monday morning to say, ‘Okay, does everything work?’ That speaks volumes to what you think of us. We’re not just a small dental practice — we mattered.”
IT She Doesn’t Have to Think About
Ask Kim what running a ten-operatory, three-doctor practice on the same IT team for 13 years has bought her, and the answer isn’t about speed or uptime percentages. It’s peace of mind.
“I feel very fortunate that I do not have to think about my IT on a daily basis. I just don’t, because it’s handled.”
“So even though it’s a corporation, I feel like it’s comprised of really great individuals who are just as human as you and I.”
“I feel like we have a partner in the background that’s protecting us — no different than our security system or our fire system, in the places we’re most vulnerable.”
And when asked what actually separates one IT company from another on paper-thin margins? Kim doesn’t hesitate:
“It’s the intangibles. It’s how we treat people. It’s the things you cannot put on paper.”
Ready for Your Own Success Story?
If you're growing (adding operatories, locations, digital tools) like Aadland Dental in Washington, the pattern underneath this story holds true: growth exposes every gap in your technology. More operatories mean less room for error. More digital tools mean more places something can go wrong. And the practices that keep growing without the chaos are the ones with a real partner behind the scenes — one who answers the phone, shows up in person, and treats a "not our problem" moment as a reason to dig in harder, not walk away.
That's the same approach behind our network security and backup & disaster recovery services — built to handle the "what ifs" before they ever reach your patients.
Every great practice needs a reliable backbone. That’s us.
Book a consult and let’s talk about what “you don’t have to think about your IT” could look like for your practice.
Not ready for a call yet? Get a ballpark first with our instant dental IT pricing estimator.
Dental IT. Remove the Burden. Embrace the Use.
Quality patient care – it’s ultimately why you became a dental professional. But, some business operations can get in the way (such as pesky computer issues or lack of IT support). That’s where Pact-One Solutions can help! Our passion lies in supplying reliable, responsive dental IT support and security that practices can count on.
Whether you’re looking for dental IT services for your startup or searching for more responsive dental IT support – our team of dental IT specialists have you covered. With team members throughout the United States, we offer nationwide support to dental practices of all sizes, specialties, and stages of growth. Our wide range of dental IT services ensure your data is secure, accessible, and protected.
Don’t let technology challenges hinder your ability to deliver exceptional dental care. Contact us at info@pact-one.com or 866-722-8663 to join over 3,000 dental professionals thriving with the support of a dedicated dental IT team.
