The Ouellette Family: Deep Culture For Caring
By Space Coast Medicine & Active Living // August 16, 2013
Excellence In Dentistry
ABOVE VIDEO: After 40 years of practice in Brevard County, Florida, and treating over 15,000 patients, Dr. Ouellette and his staff at Dental Specialists have built a reputation for excellence and caring.
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Call Dental Specialists and ask for Dr. Ouellette and you are going to have to do a little better than just using the last name, because currently at the Merritt Island dental office there are not one, not two, but three Dr. Ouellettes practicing.
That is all about to change soon as family patriarch Dr. Paul Ouellette eases off seeing a large number of patients in order to concentrate on teaching. It was not a decision he took lightly, but it was time to let the next generation take charge.
“If time would permit, I would put off retirement as long as possible to work with my children,” said Dr. Paul Ouellette, who plans to teach adjunctive orthodontics.
Dr. Jason Ouellette will soon be at the helm of his family’s state-of-the-art dental facility, aided by sister Danielle, the busy practice’s office manager. Dentistry is truly a family affair with the Ouellettes. In the past, both matriarch Patricia and older sister Cindy also worked at the practice. The newly minted Dr. Ouellette enjoys mixing family with work. “We all get along well together,” he said.“We have a lot of fun.”
Ouellette’s son, Jonathan, will soon leave the area to complete his implant surgery residency in Birmingham, Alabama, but will later rejoin brother Jason, a recent graduate in orthodontics from Jacksonville University.
Dr. Jason Ouellette will soon be at the helm of his family’s state-of-the-art dental facility, aided by sister Danielle, the busy practice’s office manager. Dentistry is truly a family affair with the Ouellettes. In the past, both matriarch Patricia and older sister Cindy also worked at the practice.
The newly minted Dr. Ouellette enjoys mixing family with work. “We all get along well together,” he said.“We have a lot of fun.”
While working with parents and siblings is part of doing business for Dr. Jason Ouellette, he doesn’t anticipate wife Erin to join the gang at his office, primarily because Dr. Erin is a veterinarian with a busy large and small animal practice in Jacksonville.
The couple uses St. Augustine as their base of operations, sharing their home with a mastiff, a Jack Russell terrier and a Labrador retriever. Ouellette bunks at his parents’ Brevard home during the work week and heads to North Florida on weekends to spend the day playing golf, visiting the beach and tagging along with his veterinarian wife during emergency calls involving horses and other large animals.
The couple met when a faculty member at Jacksonville University played matchmaker. Although Ouellette has been immersed in dentistry throughout his life, he was a late bloomer in the field. “I started dental school at 27,” he said.
DENTISTRY IN HIS BLOOD
He had originally considered a career in finance, and with a degree in the field from the University of Georgia, he was immersed in the mortgage and financial industry for a couple of years. Dentistry, however, was in his blood.
“I realized the opportunity that was waiting for me in dentistry and ended up taking up pre-requisite courses at Georgia State University,” he said.
“I was accepted to the University of Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco. After just a few days at the school, I knew that this was the right field for me.”
In 2010, Ouellette and his brother helped their father develop iBracesHelp, an iPhone app that helps patients manage their braces. The Ouellette siblings also worked with their father in “3D Dentists: the Future of Dentistry is Now,” an iPad book that explains the revolutionary Cone Beam Computer Tomography, a scanner that enables dentists to obtain a 3-D model of the patient’s mouth in a few seconds.
BIG SHOES TO FILL
Ouellette’s Among America’s Premier Dental Families
The Ouellettes share a deep culture for caring. In 2010, Ouellette accompanied his father to Ecuador on a mission trip to provide dental care to 395 residents of the remote and impoverished village of Cayambe. The trip was one of many in which his father has participated.
“My family is very involved with healthcare missions,” said Ouellette.
The Oullettes also help at home, particularly with “Earn Your Smile,” a program that rewards young volunteers by helping them fund their braces. Patients receive a $12 credit on orthodontic work for every volunteer hour they donate to local charities.
Ouellette knows he will have big shoes to fill at Dental Specialists, for his dad spent 40 years building a reputation for cutting-edge excellence in general, cosmetic and pediatric dentistry. Keeping ahead of advances in the rapidly changing field is also challenging, he says. “Orthodontics is constantly reinventing itself through technology,” he said.
In addition to the Merritt Island headquarters, Ouellette will practice at Dental Specialists’ offices in Titusville and Satellite Beach, as well as in offices in Viera, Orlando and Kissimmee.
Since he was barely more than a toddler, Ouellette, like brother Jonathan, has been attracted to dentistry.
“When I was growing up, I used to love going to work with my dad on the weekends and pretend to be his assistant,” he said.
By the time he was five years old, he was already an old hand with dental masks and sterile gloves.
“Thirty years later, I am still just as excited to work with my family in the office,” he said.
ABOVE VIDEO: Doctor “O” Senior interviews two orthodontic patients that just got their braces off.
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