Stuart Curry Dentistry, Birmingham

After graduating UAB Dental School, Dr. Stuart Curry joined the U.S. Air Force, where he honed his oral expertise at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base. After three years, however, he yearned to apply his skills at his own practice on familiar ground. So he traveled back to his hometown of Birmingham and opened Stuart Curry Dentistry, where he now tends to teeth with general and cosmetic treatments—including tooth-colored fillings, crowns, whitening, and Invisalign orthodontics.

To help patients have positive associations with the dentist office, Dr. Curry has tried to emulate the calming ambiance of a spa with the center's decor and amenities. Dr. Curry also allays qualms with a host of advanced technological tools: he utilizes digital x-rays, which expose patients to less radiation than traditional x-rays, and he ups the efficiency of procedures with the help of an in-house lab.