I knew when I was relatively young, probably elementary school, middle school, that this is the direction I wanted to head. I had a family member, my uncle, was a dentist, and I had trauma to my mouth front tooth when I was young and involved going to the dentist a lot. I had a lot of different appointments, and I, unlike most, always enjoyed going to those appointments, so seemed like a good career path to take.
I went to Spalding University for undergraduate, which is a small college in Louisville, Kentucky, and went there initially to play baseball, which I did for a couple of years, and then stopped to focus on my studies so I could get into dental school. Then, I did that and I went to the University of Louisville for the four-year dental program and did a one-year general practice residency at the University of Louisville Hospital after that.
The nice thing about the residency is it gave a lot of experience treating patients, whereas in dental school, you’re learning the basics. In residency, you’re kind of mastering the basics and learning some more advanced techniques, and you also get to interact with different faculty, prosthodontists, endodontists, oral surgeons, different specialties, so you get to pick some things off of them.
Well, since dental school, the two areas that I’ve dived in a little bit deeper are sedation dentistry, where you’ve been trained with IV sedation, removing wisdom teeth, which goes along with IV sedation, and more of an aesthetic technique called the Bioclear technique, which is a way to treat, in my case, it’s for anterior teeth, your front teeth, whether it’s closing spaces, filling in what we call black triangles or some dark areas between your gumline and your teeth, or fully covering the teeth and kind of changing the shape and shade of your smile.
It’s nice when you can actually do something that improves a patient’s comfort or self-esteem or both. It doesn’t happen every day in dentistry, but when you do, are able to accomplish that, it’s very rewarding.
Dr. Daryl J. Peak Takes Time to Listen to His Patients
When he was growing up in Louisville, Dr. Daryl Peak looked forward to visiting his childhood dentist, and he dreamed of becoming a dentist himself. Today he is living that dream as a member of our team, and he still looks forward to going to the dental office every day.
Dr. Peak realizes that most people are more anxious about dental care than he was. Because of that, he takes the time to understand his patients’ personal concerns and needs. By doing this, he’s able to develop a treatment program that works for each individual. His goal is to make everyone who visits Edgewood Dental Care feel comfortable and confident about the care they receive.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biology from Spalding University, Dr. Peak earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine at the University of Louisville. He then completed a one-year general practice residency at the University of Louisville Hospital.
It would also be fair to say that his education has never ended. He is committed to staying up-to-date on the latest research and technology in dentistry. To do this, he attends continuing education courses frequently. He also applies the knowledge he gains to keep improving the care he provides.
Outside of work, there’s a good chance that Dr. Peak is cheering on the Louisville Cardinals’ basketball and football teams. He lives in Highland Heights with his wife, Tara. They enjoy camping, fishing, rooting for the Bengals and Reds, snow skiing, and traveling.