With great foresight, Bob and Tansy Goodman registered the 1-800-DENTIST phone number in 1980, six years before the 1-800-DENTIST brand was actually conceived. The pair licensed this number through their own company, Applied Anagramics, Inc. Although it would take some time, the Goodmans' business was eventually designed around that very memorable phone number.

In 1980, telephone technology was at a vastly different place than it is today. The technology was becoming a bit cumbersome and as a nation, we seemed poised for the next big thing. Still, the Goodmans understood a fundamental truth: People will always use the telephone as a means to find service providers.

In 1985, Applied Anagramics began to execute on a marketing program that was offered to select dentists, allowing these doctors to use the now famous 1-800-DENTIST number to promote their practices locally. Just one year later, in early 1986, Fred Joyal and Gary Saint Denis -- founders of 1-800-DENTIST's parent company, Futuredontics -- contracted with Applied Anagramics to use the 1-800-DENTIST number and branded it for use as a dentist-patient matching service in Southern California.

Over the next few years, Futuredontics refined its cooperative marketing program, licensing the use of 1-800-DENTIST for the entire country. In 2002, Futuredontics acquired the 1-800-DENTIST phone number and brand from Applied Anagramics and soon thereafter developed a Web site that complements the telephony model.

Today, the 1-800-DENTIST brand serves all 50 states and is the largest dental-patient matching service in the country. We've come a long way, but couldn't have done any of it without a real consumer need. Our company owes a great deal to the communities that we serve and we thank these communities by continuously improving upon our patient-dentist matching model, ensuring that it is, and continues to be the most progressive of its kind.