<I>The Eagle/Cheryl Jessup</I><BR>Above, the new John Day dental team of hygienist Trisha Legg and dentist Thomas Gauthier are all smiles as they prepare to keep their customers smiling, too.

JOHN DAY – Not just one, but two new faces are on the scene at a John Day dental office.

First to come on board, is Thomas Gauthier, DDS, who has taken over for the recently retired Ken Peterson. A Michigan native, Gauthier graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry. He moved to Portland, where he had his own private practice for eight years, followed by eight years as part of a dental group there and in Salem.

Gauthier then spent four years in Eugene, prior to moving to Grant County. He had been looking to make a move eastward, with no particular location in mind, when he learned through a consultant of Peterson’s impending retirement. In May, Gauthier came over to meet with Peterson and by June, he had set up a dental home here.

He has plans for just a few upgrades, but says that Peterson kept up with much of the latest technology. Plans are to continue transferring all the records onto the computers rather than paper charts. He is also looking forward to introducing a couple of new instruments available in the field of dentistry.

Gauthier, who enjoys photography among many other hobbies, says that he is “looking forward to getting out into the country and doing some photography.”

He also amusedly pointed out that should anyone need prompting to remember his name, they can look to his choice of facial hair – a goatee – as a similar reminder.

The other new smiling face at the dental office as of July 1 is that of Trisha Legg, the new dental hygienist.

Legg was born in Vancouver, Wash. but grew up in Mt. Vernon, attending school there and at Grant Union High School. Active in rodeo during those years, she attended Walla Walla Community College in Washington on a rodeo scholarship and participated in the College National Finals Rodeo in 2000-2001. She received her dental assistant certification from Blue Mountain Community College, and spent time working as a dental assistant in Bend from 2002-2004.

She received her associate’s degree in dental hygiene in March of 2007. She was a member of the first class to graduate from the new Oregon Dental Services program in La Grande through Oregon Institute of Technology. By that fall, she was working as a dental hygienist in Coos Bay, followed by six months as a hygienist in Madras.

When the position opened up here in John Day, it meant that not only would Legg be able to return home, but she would also able to have room for her three horses again, too. That was important to Legg, who comes from a rodeo family and is still involved in the NPRA.

She says she’s a people person and enjoys working one on one with people and “helping them with their smile.” About working here where she grew up, she adds, “It’s nice to see familiar faces.”

Dr. Gauthier’s office is open 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, closed for lunch from 11 a.m.-noon. The office is located at 165 NW First Avenue in John Day. For more information, they can be reached at 575-0363.

Blue Mountain Eagle

JOHN DAY – Dr. Thomas Gauthier has incorporated the VELscope© Oral Cancer Screening System into his dental practice.

Oral cancer strikes three times as many victims as cervical cancer. It is one of the few types of cancer that has not seen a significant reduction in incidence over the past thirty years. For this reason, many oral health care professionals now believe that all individuals over the age of 18 should have at least an annual comprehensive oral examination, and ideally at every dental hygiene visit.

The FDA and Health Canada recently cleared the VELscope System for assisting dentists and hygienists in discovering cancerous or precancerous growths that may not be apparent to the eye. Screening adds only one or two minutes to a conventional examination and is pain-free.

Oral cancer is typically discovered in late stages, when the five-year survival rate is only 22 percent. If detected in early stages, however, the five-year survival rate is 80 percent or higher. The VELscope© System can also help discover abnormal growths before they become cancerous. According to Dr. Gauthier, “We have always conducted an annual comprehensive oral cancer screening for all of our patients, but now the VELscope© System will help us see things we might have missed previously. By detecting potential problems earlier, we will be providing our patients with the best health care currently available.”