Othello dentist marks 30th anniversary

Rydman reflects on 'pure stubbornness'

OTHELLO - Dentistry has come so far since Richard Rydman began practicing in Othello, there are procedures he wouldn't mind having himself.

After attending a lecture in 1994 on porcelain bonding, Rydman decided to take up the practice, which used porcelain instead of metal.

"It was the first time I'd actually seen crown or bridgework that actually looked like teeth," he said. "The reason it looks accurate is it absorbs light rather than reflects it. You'd never, ever guess it was artificial. Thirty years ago, when I first started practice, I'd get high school girls, young women who wanted to put a crown on a front tooth. I'd actually talk them out of it. I'd say 'What you have now looks better than what we can make for you.' In today's world that's not true. We can actually make it as good, if not better, than what nature gave you."

When he first attended the lectures, Rydman said, it was the first thing he saw he would actually have done to himself.

"As a dentist and knowing what you do to people every day, to look at something and say, 'You know, I'd have that done,' that makes a pretty big impression," he said, adding with a laugh, "Because some of it, I don't think I would want done."

Rydman began building his office in 1977, opening his practice, located at 425 E. Hemlock St., the following year.

He moved to town right out of school with his family, primarily because he was impressed with the weather.

"Something about the climate felt good to me," he said. "The air, the dryness, the lack of humidity. My wife had grown up on this side of the mountains. She always wanted to move back so once we were able to do that, we did."

Rydman believes he pursued his career because he spent so much time going to the dentist as a child.

"I basically knew three groups of people," he said. "I knew fisherman, my dad was a commercial fisherman. I knew school teachers. And I knew dentists. I thought well, I think I'll do that. I didn't want to become a school teacher. And I was ready to get off the ocean. My mother was a registered nurse, and I think she had a lot of influence in that. But I just sat in their chairs a lot, had a lot of work done."

Rydman's staff planned several receptions and drawings to mark the anniversary through next week.

Why has Rydman's practice lasted as long as it has?

"Just pure stubbornness," he said with a chuckle. "I don't know. I've had people ask me, 'Why don't you go to the Tri-Cities?' or things like that. I like small communities, I don't like traffic, I don't like big mass crowds. You give a little bit to live in Othello, but you gain a little too."

Rydman considers the cosmetic smile makeovers his favorite part of the practice.

"One thing that's really changed in doing this is that when we get done now, we're as excited as the patient," he said. "It's exciting to see the changes. You'll see these people come in, they're conscientious of their smile or they're embarrassed by whatever - the day you change it, they quit doing that. I don't know how you can take a habit you've done for years to cover up something you're self-conscious about and it goes away immediately, like a snap of a finger. But you see it time and time again with this."

For more information, call Rydman's office at 509-488-2651.