Dr. Jason Niegsch (pronounced “Nicks”) and his wife, Marcie, have called Dentistry At Somerset their dental clinic location since 2002. Last year, after practicing at this location for over 22 years, they made a significant investment in the community to more than double their patient capacity. In July 2024, the new and improved, nearly 10,000 square foot expansion opened with 19 treatment rooms, including surgical suites for more in-depth procedures and extra rooms for team spaces.
“The new building is beautiful, comfortable and offers the latest technology, but it’s only the shell for the rest,” said Dr. Niegsch. “Our team is our greatest asset.”
Dentistry At Somerset was founded by Dr. Paul Readhead who had been practicing in Ames since 1972. He and his wife, Marsha, purchased the Somerset land in 1998, built the existing structure, and moved his practice in 2000 when the Somerset development was mostly a cornfield. Dr. Readhead renamed his practice Dentistry At Somerset for its new up-and-coming neighborhood, just as it lives on today nearly 25 years later.
Following dental school and a tenure with the United States Navy, Dr. Niegsch made his home in Ames and began working with Dr. Readhead in 2002. The two worked together for eight years until Dr. Readhead’s retirement in 2009. Dr. Niegsch continued practicing on his own with just 6 team members until 2015.
Around that same time, Marcie pivoted away from her publishing career with Meredith Corporation to join the practice. “Earlier in my career, it was something that I never considered,” said Marcie. “But it certainly provided a growth opportunity for me and more balance for our family.”
The Niegschs admitted that starting the new journey of working together was not easy, but it allowed them to step back and establish a new vision and mission for the practice. “We set goals for the future and became intentional about the legacy we wanted to create with our dental clinic,” said Marcie.
Year after year, Dr. Niegsch and Marcie put their vision and mission into practice. They designed how they wanted the patient experience to look and feel and what personal touches should be included in addition to the high-level of clinical skills and patient care.
Throughout the past ten years they invested significant time and energy into finding the right team members to provide the level of care they wanted patients to have. They trained the team regularly and worked through how to make the patient experience even better. Their continual refinements in culture, systems and processes led to the need for their expansion project.
“As the practice grew, the walls of the existing clinic were quickly getting too small,” notes Marcie. “We knew we would need more space and the existing building was land locked.” The Niegschs explored options for growth that included a second location or expanding their current building. “The thought of moving out of Somerset was not appealing to us,” said Marcie. “Fortunately, we were able to purchase the adjacent building and undertake the large renovation project.” In 2023, construction began to connect the two buildings, design, and build the new space. Construction was completed in July of this year.
Promoting and giving back to community organizations is a pillar for the Dentistry At Somerset team. Since 2015, they have contributed over $400,000 through donations or volunteer service. Each year the office hosts a free dental services day for veterans. They prioritize their donations and volunteer efforts toward causes important to their team and patients, including veterans and military, the United Way of Story County, local schools, churches, and the Mary Greeley endowment fund.
In addition to typical general dentistry services like cleanings, exams, and fillings, Dentistry At Somerset provides more specialty services and technology: same-day crowns, dental implant placement and restorations for missing teeth, Invisalign clear orthodontics for teeth straightening, tongue-tie release surgery, treatment for sleep apnea, teeth grinding, and TMJ disorder.
Learn more about Dentistry At Somerset on their website:
