By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Local resident and dentist Bonner Morren plans to open a new practice in Steiner Ranch in the months ahead. He was the first tenant to sign a lease at Palo Verde at Steiner, the new retail site being built at Quinlan Park Road and Steiner Ranch Boulevard.

“We signed the lease before COVID,” said Morren.

His new practice, Austin Dental Co., is taking up a 2,900-square-foot, L-shaped space in the middle of the new site. Plans are to open May 1.

He and his wife, Rachel, who is also a dentist, moved to Steiner seven months ago. The couple, along with their dog, are already getting involved in the community. She will continue to work at Toothbar in downtown Austin for the foreseeable future.

“We live in the area where we are opening an office and think that’s important,” Morren said. “We are meeting people and making friends.”

With their new Austin Dentist Co. practice, the couple wants to start giving back to the community. They picked a charity, Four Points Pop Warner, to work with and where a percentage of sales can go to scholarships.

Morren said he learned a lot from football growing up in Dallas and even played as an outside linebacker on the Texas Tech University football team from 2008-2010. 

“You learn to be coachable, you learn perseverance and about being ethical, and that all carries over to where we are here,” Morren said. That is why the Austin Dental Co. chose to help FPPW.

Morren is trying to incorporate best practices from the handful of dental offices he’s been a part of over the past several years in Austin. Most recently he worked at O4 Dental on South Lamar, where he helped run the office as it was a second location. He has also worked in a corporate practice with less of a personal feel, and a clinic where there was high volume. 

At Austin Dental Co. he will offer nearly every service except root canals. He plans to network with most insurance companies and have a competitive membership plan.

Initially Morren plans to have four operatories, with room to expand to eight as the practice grows. Each space will have two monitors, one for viewing x-rays and another on the ceiling for client entertainment along with noise cancelling headphones.

The wall of windows is where the front desk and coffee bar will be. There will also be a lounge area for cosmetic consultations and whitening. 

The office will be fully digital from day one including all patient forms will be filled out electronically.