Our staff is incredibly knowledgeable and would love the opportunity to be a part of your oral health. One of the more unique stories you may hear is how our doctors met each other.
Dr. Cregger met Dr. Schneider, whom we affectionately call Doc, when he became his golf caddy at just 15 years old. They hit it off right away, which led to Dr. Cregger taking care of Doc’s yardwork. After much encouragement on Doc’s behalf, Dr. Cregger applied and was accepted into the six-year dental program at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. The rest is history! Their friendship remained throughout Dr. Cregger’s time in school, and they have practiced together, without interruption, since 2006.
Dr. Schneider has been in practice since 1983, when he took over for Dr. Ray Krukenkamp. Dr. Schneider was thrilled at the opportunity to take over such a thriving, established practice. Dr. Krukenkamp started our early morning tradition with a 6am start time, but Dr. Schneider quickly had to change it to 5am to accommodate his growing practice. With Dr. Cregger’s addition, and an even faster growing practice, another change had to be made. Our office is proud of our unique 4:30am start time (Monday-Thursday).
Why the crazy hours? We understand that many people are unable to miss work or other obligations for dental appointments. We have many patients that will come in before work, or even after if they are on night shift, to be seen. We feel that we open access to care for those that otherwise would let their oral health suffer if they could not come in early.
Dr. Schneider’s early North County roots took a unique turn one afternoon at a dental convention. A dentist named Dr. Calton came into a class late with his wife and there were no seats to be had. Dr. Schneider stood up immediately and gave Dr. Colton his seat. Little did he know that small act of chivalry would lead his practice’s future to our previous Town and Country location. Due to failing health, Dr. Calton contacted Dr. Schneider and informed him that he needed help covering patients. Dr. Schneider helped Dr. Calton our even though he really did not have the luxury of time with a young family at home and a busy practice in North County: One day after finishing up with patients Dr. Calton asked Dr. Scheider to open his hand, in it he placed the key to the office. This unique, but true story, is how the practice ended up in West County.
We are proud to share the story of our practice because, to this day, we still have patients from Dr. Krukenkamp and Dr. Calton that come to see us. We thank them both for the start of our wonderful patient base and we thank those patients for their loyalty. It is through your referrals and dedication that our practice has been able to thrive for so long. Both doctors that passed on their practice to Dr. Schneider made him promise ONE thing – to pass it on to another doctor the same way they had done for him.
In 2006, Dr. Cregger joined the practice after graduating from University of Missouri-Kansas City. It was evident that, as the two doctors began working together the rapid growth would require a change to the office. In late 2008 Dr’s Schneider and Cregger
expanded to a larger location in the same building a Ballas and Clayton Road in the Town and Country Medical Building, which was just upstairs from our original office in Town and Country. As our practice continued to grow and thrive, it became clear that one more move and an expansion was needed to best treat our patients.
In March of 2020, Dr. Cregger opened our current location at 1000 Des Peres Rd, in Des Peres, MO. Dr. Cregger wanted to make sure he had the best for our patients. Our modern office demonstrates our willingness to keep up with the latest dentistry has to offer while maintaining the same level of customer service and dedication that has built the foundation of this practice over the past 80 years. Our current location boasts a spacious waiting room, ideal for social distancing, as well as a separate kid waiting room with video games and other activities to keep kids occupied while they wait! We are like a family business that has been passed down over the years, and we feel that separates us from many other offices that are simply bought and sold.
Aaron Cregger D.D.S.
Meet Dr. Cregger
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