Dr. Mark Sutor, Bloomington Periodontist

My name is Mark Sutor.  I am a periodontist in Bloomington, IN.  I am the youngest of three “Sutor Boys” raised by a single mom in Hickory Hills, IL. 

I was the first person in my family to go “away” to college, where I attended Indiana University.  An athlete scholarship allowed me to become a four year letterman in football from 1979-1983 at which time I was part of the first team in IU’s history to win a post season bowl game (Holiday Bowl).  I feel very fortunate to have had that experience so I remain very active with IU education and athletes.

My graduate education lead me to Dallas, TX where I attended Baylor College of Dentistry.  My wife, Alisa, was able to find a good banking job in Dallas so we chose to spend the next 4 years in Texas.  The year that I graduated, 1988, my son Chad was born in the Texas summer heat.  I was about to start my general practice residency in Lexington, KY in July, so I moved our few dental school belongings to Lexington with the plan to return for my first child’s birth but Chad “decided” to come a little early so I found myself scrambling for a way to fly back to Dallas to witness this great miracle of childbirth, luckily I arrived 30 minutes before his birth!  I had to soon return to Lexington to start my next “phase of post graduate education” so I left my wife and newborn son in Texas while I began my residency but they soon followed.  I spent one year at the VA Hospital in Lexington doing a general practice residency where I got to learn skills in each aspect of dentistry.

Upon completion of this 1 year residency I then began my 2 year periodontal residency at U.K. School of Dentistry in 1991.  My residency was filled with wonderful mentors and role models for my future career as a periodontist.  I feel fortunate to have been exposed to so many great educators during that time.

After a lot of research and discussions with my family and friends, I decided to start my practice in Bloomington in 1991.  At that time there were no organized continuing education opportunities for dentists in Monroe and the surrounding counties so I saw an opportunity to provide high quality continuing education and a surgical experience with dental implants that weren’t available at that time.  I am the President and founder of “Hoosiers for Dental Excellence”, which is a study club that emphasizes “advanced education and continued lifelong learning opportunities.

We have over 25 members from a 50 mile radius of South Central Indiana.  We were the first study club of its kind in the entire state of Indiana when we began in 1998. Now there are over 200 nationwide.

I can’t imagine anything I like more than being a periodontist and dental implant surgeon but if dentistry wasn’t in my future, I probably would have been a football coach at the high school or college level.  Dentistry and coaching both involve helping, teaching, motivating and striving for excellence. 

We are so fortunate to be able to treat a wide variety of patients young and old but the patients that stand out in my mind are the ones that value having a healthy, comfortable and esthetically pleasing smile for a lifetime.

I have been lucky to treat a wide variety of patients from all over the world but I still get a warm feeling in my heart when patients tell me how special they feel when they are treated in our office.  I loved to hear our patients tell us how wonderful, kind, and caring our entire team is and how professionally they have been treated in all aspects of their visit with us.

One of the funniest moments in my career came when I arrived at my office and started to search for my daily surgical scrubs that I wear each and every day.  Well, since my son was playing basketball at the time for Purdue, my staff though it would be funny to have me wear “black and gold” Purdue scrubs.  Well, to a die hard Hoosier fan and alumni, that was like a “stab in my Hoosier heart”.  We still laugh about that day my entire office wore those Purdue scrubs.  By the grace of God, I survived. J

One of the greatest compliments I have received in my career was when one of my patients told me that our office was the most professional, up to date caring, well-organized, health care offices she had ever experienced.  Coming from a patient that was 85 year old, I considered that a wonderful compliment knowing and respecting the fact that she had many life experiences in which to compare.

I hope that my time and effort as a dental specialist and teacher would be remembered as one that helped people become as good as they could be.  Our study club has given our dental professionals educational opportunities like no where else.  We call it our dental school without walls.  I feel fortunate to have been the leader in that journey with all of them. 

So that is my story.  We are always accepting new patients and I would be honored if you would allow me that opportunity to be your dental specialist; to improve the quality of your life for years to come.

Click Here to check out Dr. Sutor in Doctor of Dentistry Magazine.

Dr. Sutor is committed to providing the latest in periodontal treatment techniques and dental implant surgery to all his patients.