Jeff Wells has travelled some distance, from the oil fields of Texas to a Corner Brook dentist chair.
Wells, the owner of West Coast Family Dental, a dental clinic located in Corner Brook, now likes to joke that he’s drilling on a much smaller scale.
He began his career as a dentist in Corner Brook in 2016 after a circuitous journey that included a lengthy stopover working in oil and gas sectors in Houston, Texas.
It had taken him some time to discover dentistry was his vocation but the fulfilment he’s gotten from this line of work during the last five years has more than confirmed it.
“The satisfaction you get from problem solving and helping people with their oral health, plus the hands-on work I get to do every day, has really been something that aligns with me personally,” he told The West Coast Wire.
Furthermore, Wells feels he gets to both educate people about the importance of dental health and help them be themselves.
“It’s really rewarding when a patient’s eyes are opened to the importance of their oral health and how it affects their overall health,” he said. “There’s also a satisfaction that comes in cases when you do a smile makeover – it could be dentures, or it could be Invisalign – and a patient’s personality really gets to come out at the end of the day.”
The path to dentistry
After completing university studies, the Mount Pearl native, by happenstance, found work in the oil and gas sector in Houston in 2001.
But after a half decade or so in that industry, Wells was left with a sense that he wasn’t living up to his true potential.
“I always felt something in health care was more up my alley,” he said.
After a conversation with his father, and doing some job shadowing with a dentist, he realized that, despite earlier fears, it was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.
“I have to be honest, for most of my youth and young adult life, I was petrified of dentists,” said Wells. “Even well into university, I had the typical needle phobia that a lot of patients have. That scared me from dentists and would have even scared me from the thought of being a dentist, just having that association of needles in the mouth.”
When he looked into the profession a bit more, he realized that would be just a small part of the job.
After Wells started down that path, he never retreated. In 2005, he went back to Memorial University to complete the prerequisites to get into dental school.
However, Canadian authorities rejected his application to sponsor his wife, who is from Houston, to move to Canada.
So, Wells moved back to Houston and completed his studies in the United States.
He was accepted into a dental school in Cleveland, Ohio.
After four years of study and a year of residency in Cleveland, he had become a licensed dentist.
Wells had always known he wanted to move back home to Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I had that typical pull that a lot of Newfoundlanders have; that magnetism that draws us back here,” he said.
With his wife’s immigration issues resolved, he returned home in 2015.
They decided they wanted to settle on the west coast and moved to Stephenville.
When he heard of a position opening in 2016, he moved to Corner Brook and started his practice at West Coast Family Dental. He took over as owner the following year.
Working during COVID-19
COVID-19 has impacted West Coast Family Dental like it has everyone else.
The business was shut down with the initial lockdown in March 2020 and gradually re-opened in June while enacting restrictions related to COVID-19.
After a COVID-19 outbreak in Newfoundland and Labrador in February sent the province into lockdown again, Wells has only been taking emergency patients.
This time around, he says the business was more prepared for a potential lockdown. Financial support from the federal government has also helped.
Unfortunately, staff has been temporarily laid off while the lockdown is underway.
Wells can take Invisalign – clear form of braces – appointments through remote assessments.
About West Coast Family Dental
West Coast Family Dental employs four dentists, including Wells, three hygienists, three assistants, and two staff working at the front desk.
Wells says they’re a very close-knit crew.
“A part of the reason we’re called family dental is because, certainly, among staff we consider ourselves family,” he said.
According to Wells, they are the only dental office on west coast of the Newfoundland with a Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scanner, a CAT scanner used for the face.
“I use it for planning my dental implant placements, I use it for wisdom tooth extraction,” he explained.
The clinic is located at 2 Mt. Bernard Ave. – a building known colloquially as the old city hall.
For more information about West Coast Family Dental, visit http://westcoastfamilydental.com/
