How Hope Restorative & Cosmetic Dentistry came about…

Since graduating from dental school in 1993, Dr. Cha’s dream was to become a world-class cosmetic dentist. In 1997 he formed Tulsa Cosmetic Dental Center and started serving the Tulsa area providing cosmetic and restorative dentistry.

In the early 2000s, years of practicing dentistry had taken toll on his body. In 2008, after a long dental procedure, Dr. Cha had ruptured two spinal discs. Immediately, he was seen by a physician.  However, the physician misdiagnosed his condition as an acute muscle pain, administered pain medication and sent him home. When the pain medication had worn off in the early morning hours, Dr. Cha found himself not being able walk nor feel his lower body. He was seen by the spinal doctor in the morning and was operated on.

The operating doctor gave a diagnosis of “cauda equina syndrome,” a serious condition where the spinal cord suffers permanent nerve damage from the disc fragments compressing the cord. After three weeks of heavy steroid treatment, the physician dismissed Dr. Cha from the hospital with a 25% chance of complete recovery.

This was a very dark period in his life. After a period of uncertainty, wondering if he could go back to his dental career, he realized that in the darkest hour he just needed hope—a hope of a better future, a hope of recovery.

Dr. Cha found his hope in the scriptures, in Isaiah 53:5: “And by his stripes we are healed.” As a result, in 2009 he changed the name of his dental practice to Hope Restorative & Cosmetic Dentistry, where the mission of the clinic is to restore patients’ hopes and dreams by restoring broken-down oral health to a beautiful healthy smile.