Moses Lake Dental in the works

Office expected to open mid-July

MOSES LAKE - Perhaps it's a given Owen Packard would wind up becoming a dentist.

"My father was a dentist, all of my brothers are dentists," he explained. "I think just watching our father, how much he enjoyed dentistry, and having opportunities to go to his office and watch him work, I think that planted in all of his sons a desire to enjoy the same profession."

But each sibling made the decision independently, without their father ever once trying to persuade his children into dentistry, Packard explained Tuesday morning outside the building he's having built on Clover Drive.

The building is going to be called Moses Lake Dental, said Packard.

The business also has offices under the name Creekside Dental in Yakima and Kennewick.

Packard's father was based in Carlsbad, Calif., where Packard began practicing.

"Then I moved up to beautiful Washington, and never regretted it," he said.

Packard said the Moses Lake office will house three dentists coming into the practice.

"I know them all personally, they're very, very good people, high integrity," he said. "They do great work and they're going to make a great partnership."

One dentist lives in Othello, and Packard said the other two are moving into the area. He's been training one in his Yakima office for the past year, he added.

"I have recruited them to Moses Lake," he explained. "It's a great community, wonderful place to raise a family. They are excited to come."

The Yakima office started to see patients coming from Moses Lake, Packard said, so he decided to investigate.

"It seems that there's just a need here in Moses Lake," he said. "We are a practice that our goal is to serve all the people, regardless of what insurance they have. And so there's a need for that here. We're not afraid to see the patients who have state coverage, we're not afraid to accept a lot of the insurances that are out there. Our goal is to meet a need."

Moses Lake Dental will include state-of-the-art sterilization, digital radiography, and some lasers.

The office is about 9,500 square feet, Packard said.

"We took great care in the floor plan," he said. "It's a large office - we don't want people to feel like they're in a huge office. The typical patient may only see a portion of the office. Even though it's a large office, we want them to feel like it's not so big."

Packard expects the office will have 25 employees.

"It is going to be a beautiful office," Packard previewed. "And a preventive dentistry, and a restorative dentistry."

Drywall is expected to be placed soon in the building, currently under construction on Clover Drive near the Pioneer Way intersection. Packard expects the building will open in mid-July. The construction company, Baker Construction, is based in Spokane.

"It will have beautiful landscaping," he said. "We're really excited to be next to Horizon Credit Union. The City of Moses Lake has been really wonderful to work with. A pleasant surprise, I think. This is a great community. A lot is going on here, isn't it?"

Packard said he takes pride in being able to help people who are having a hard time receiving care they need.

"My hope is that this office will be a welcome dental office for anyone and everyone in the valley seeking quality dental care," he said. "We hope to work in partnership with all the dentists in the valley, and increase awareness of the need for proper dental care, increase the need for awareness of prevention. We want to provide dentistry as affordably as possible. That's a big concern today, the rising health costs. Our goal is to try to keep those under control for people."

The Yakima office has been open for 12 to 14 years, Packard estimated. The Kennewick office has been open for about four years.

"Doing well, very busy," Packard said. "We expect the same for Moses Lake."

For more information about the business' Yakima and Kennewick offices, access the Creekside Dental Web site at www.creeksidedental.net.