After 50 years of practicing dentistry, it’s safe to say that Gary Dalen, his son Jeff Dalen, and a welcoming staff at Dalen Dental have been the source of a lot of smiles.  

“It’s good to be able to help people,” said Jeff. “Being able to replace people’s teeth that have lost them; having somebody get their self-confidence back, so they can smile -- that’s the most gratifying part of the job.” 

The flexibility of working for yourself is another key benefit of the job, said the father of seven (Ben, Scotty, Luke, Troy, Buddy, Jessica and Bo). 

“I have a good schedule to watch my kids’ sports games. That's the best part.” 

Gary Dalen said his 30-year dentistry career was good to him, too.  

Whitefish born and raised, Gary graduated from dental school in 1973 and then went straight to Fort Sam in Houston, Texas, to serve as an Army dentist.  

“I had instant patients, that’s for sure, and I had four or five specialties,” he said.  

His then-future wife, Annette, who he met at Oregon State, had quickly locked in a date for their marriage. 

“She couldn’t live without me I guess,” he said with a smile. 

They’ve been married for 55 years, raised four kids and have 13 grandchildren. From football games to recent huckleberry picking expeditions, the decades have not been remiss of adventures.  

“I’ve got a wonderful life now, and it’s not dentistry,” Gary said.  

Launching an independent practice in Whitefish wasn’t all smooth sailing, however.  

“It was hard,” he said. “I had one cousin, he wanted to be my first patient... I did a lot of sitting the first couple of years.”   

Near the end of the century, Gary was ready to relocate the business from its tucked away location at 542 Central Ave. His folks gave him one acre on the family land where he grew up, one mile south of town on U.S. 93, to build a new office.  

Once, the family’s land there was about 15 acres and stretched to the riverbank, Gary said.  

Looking forward, an additional medical office space, with two apartments above it, will soon be built next to the U.S. 93 Dalen Dental Clinic office – a testament to the success of the location and the business, and the evolution of the landscape. 

Now 78, Gary remembers being about seven, driving a truck from hay bale to hay bale on the land, while his dad would chuck the bales into the truck. His dad was a railroader, an engineer for the Great Northern.  

In 1997, the land was rural, more similar to the time of Gary’s childhood than today.  

“There were no businesses out here,” Gary said. “There was a post factory over there, but that was it. In fact, [people] thought we were nuts for moving out of town.” 

It was a memorable year, 1997. It was one of the worst snow years of the century, and certainly less than ideal conditions for construction. Jeff said he remembers being in high school and shoveling snow out of the windows of the half-constructed building.  

When the new office was finally finished, the visibility on U.S. 93. was anything but nuts. New patients started rolling in fast, Gary said. Other dental professionals came too, and the building quickly became a flagship for dentistry in the valley.  

Meanwhile, unlike his siblings and more like his dad, Jeff said he wasn’t keen on studying in high school.  

“I was more interested in fishing, hunting and playing sports,” Jeff said. “My sisters were very smart, but school wasn’t my focus.” 

After graduation, Jeff was working for the Forest Service when he nabbed a forestry scholarship. He worked through the summer, and by the time he made it to Missoula for the last orientation available at the University of Montana, the only classes with plenty of space were pre-medicine classes, he said.  

Low and behold, he soon was racking up good grades, while gaining valuable knowledge about forests, and all the pre-requisites for dentistry school -- all before he ever wanted to be a dentist.  

Jeff’s wife, Jenny, was no doubt a “motivator” for the shift to a more stable career, he said. Soon, they were off to Seattle, where Jeff attended dental school at the University of Washington.  

Jeff was about halfway through school when his first son was born, and so like father like son, the balance of family and dentistry was immediately hand in hand.  

Also like father like son, both Gary and Jeff received additional studies at the Pankey Institute in Key Biscayne, Florida, where they stayed updated on the latest practices and met dentists from all over the country. 

Gary said he remembers the other cross-country dentists’ grievances about employees.  

“Their number one problem was employees – they couldn’t keep their employees.... I don’t know what it is about big cities,” he said. “And I, I just smiled.”  

Indeed, since its beginnings 50 years ago, many dedicated administrators, assistants and hygienists have been at the core of the practice’s success.  

Today, Jeff is going on 20 years of dentistry, catching up to the length of Gary’s 30-year career -- but many Dalen Dental employees have had longer tenures, working with both dentists.  

Ginger Theissen was the first longtime Dalen Dental assistant, working with both Gary and Jeff, and retired when Gary retired about 15 years ago.  

Wendy Morris has worked as an office manager for about 35 years. Lesly Smith, Donna Knoepfel and Benita Noble, among several others, have worked full careers at Dalen Dental. More recently, Katie Zignego has been a hygienist at the clinic for 12 years, and Jennifer Retz (Dalen), Jeff’s sister, joined the office staff as well.  

Morris said she saw through the transition from ledger system to documenting charts online. As technology changed, she also watched patients come through the door as children, grow up, and return with their own children, she said.  

“Dalen Dental clinic is a family, and the families keep coming,” Morris said. “It’s a generational clinic. But we’re always open to new patients and families and treat them well.”