Drs. Smith and Domingue

Reconstructive dentistry, meaning the rebuilding of a worn, collapsed or heavily restored bite rather than the repair of one tooth at a time, is a discipline general dentists study for years after graduating. Drs. Smith and Domingue built their Lafayette practice on Beaullieu Drive around it, and both dentists teach advanced techniques to colleagues visiting from around the country. Patients typically come in with something that has been accumulating quietly: decades of crowns and fillings reaching the end of their service life, teeth shortened by grinding, or a bite that drifted after a molar was lost years ago and never replaced.

Before booking, the real question is scope. A full reconstruction addresses every tooth in one coordinated plan, which produces a stable result but arrives as a single large number and a months-long schedule. Doing it in segments spreads both the cost and the chair time, yet each segment has to be planned against the final design or you end up redoing finished work. Anyone weighing this should ask to see the diagnostic step, meaning mounted models, photographs and a wax-up or digital design of the intended result, before agreeing to the first crown.

Practices that skip the diagnostic step are guessing, and the guess is expensive to correct later.

Dr. J. Jerome Smith graduated from LSU School of Dentistry in 1980 and has spent more than four decades practising in Acadiana, with an emphasis on implant dentistry and comprehensive adult reconstruction. Dr. Daniel Domingue was born and raised in Lafayette. Alongside the reconstructive and implant work, the office covers everyday general and preventive care such as exams, cleanings and fillings, plus cosmetic treatment for patients whose concern is appearance rather than function.

The practice sits off South Ambassador Caffery Parkway near Kaliste Saloom Road, which places it inside the busiest medical and retail corridor in Lafayette and within a straightforward drive for patients from Carencro, Crowley and Jennings, all of which the office regularly sees. Hours begin at 7:30am every weekday, running to 4:30pm on Monday and Tuesday, finishing at 3pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and closing at 1pm on Friday. Early appointments are the norm rather than the exception here, so if you need to be at work by nine, that is the slot to ask for when you call.