About the Doctors
If you've gotten this deep into the website, then you are probably wondering about our story as individuals. Because we like to think of our patients as family, we are happy to share some of the high points of our journey thus far....
Getting to Know Us Better
Doctor Chuck and I grew up in a small farming town in the Midwest called Lincoln, Illinois. We grew up with all the best rural culture that the agricultural heartland could offer. The endless horizon in central Illinois is an uncomplicated palate of flat fields of corn and soy beans. Not a hill for hundreds of miles, so that it seems like the sunsets last for hours.
You might find it interesting to know that Chuck and I were childhood sweethearts. We met when we were freshmen in high school and married in 1981. We were inspired to choose dentistry by an interesting twist of fate: My father was a wonderful medical doctor who devoted his life to his patients, but we rarely saw him because he was so busy. Conversely, our neighbor was a wonderful dentist who would drive into his driveway at 6 pm sharp every evening. We thought that dentistry seemed like a better profession for someone who wanted a rich family life like we did. We both graduated from the University of Kentucky with Doctoral degrees in Medical Dentistry in 1987.
For sports enthusiasts, you might find it interesting to know that Dr. Chuck played basketball for the University of Kentucky and was the team Captain in 1982. Dr. Chuck was one of the top 20 high school All-American players in 1978.
In those years, Kentucky was the perennial powerhouse of college basketball, winning the NCAA finals the year that they recruited him. Dr. Chuck played against the likes of Michael Jordan, James Worthy, and Charles Barkley.
We have three silly children (2 daughters and a son) and live on a farm in Fairfield Vermont - about 15 minutes east of St. Albans.
Our two younger children are very active and keep us coming and going. Our son is a giant 6th grader (5'8" and 180 lbs. - Takes after his dad! ha) who loves basketball. Our younger daughter (age 14) is becoming an expert in the sport of fencing. (Ahh!.. There's nothing like watching your daughter sword fight like it's the 15th century!) She has an amazing story because she started life as a premature baby - weighing only one pound!..
Our oldest daughter is a freshman at Harvard University. She is studying Economics and Global Health, and hopes to run her own non-profit someday that would creatively address the problems of poverty and medicine. She is now our local Battered Women's Shelter's largest single donor, after having spent her BFA high school years selling her photography and giving the proceeds to the shelter. You can see her amazing photography at PhrogEyePhoto.com.
Dr. Chuck and I both have a passion for gardening, wilderness canoe-camping, fitness and we are amateur naturalists and have been wildlife rehabilitators for many years. In fact, we have worked with the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife as the only licensed home for orphaned moose calves in the 1990's.
I (Dr. Lynda) have a substantial and unusual artistic sideline: I make large metal sculptures with found objects and junkyard metal pieces. I learned to weld in the early 1990's at our local Adult Learning course. Since then, Dr. Chuck has had an easy task when buying birthday and Christmas presents for me - What woman in her right mind wouldn't want a Plasma Cutter, or a new Acetylene Torch tip?! A tour of our yard and garden is a lesson in true recycling - life imitating art! At our home I have about 30 sculptures made from a wild assortment of metal tools, machine parts, and other scraps.
At the office, in July of 2010, my 12 year old daughter and I built a life-sized Stegosaurus, whose head and tail move in the breeze. You can drive by and see it from Congress Street.
In the final analysis, our life experiences have taught us to look at every day and every patient visit as a gift. Chuck and I are about relationships with our patients and team.
High-quality relationships and high-quality dental care are not accidents. We enjoy maintaining rigorous continuing education schedules and we very often take as much as 4 times the amount of continuing education coursework required for licensing in Vermont.
In fact, Dr. Chuck has served the Vermont State Board of Dentistry for years, where he helps oversee the quality of dental care that all Vermonters receive. Dr. Chuck is past president of the Vermont State Dental Society and remains active in that organization whenever he is called upon.
Currently, we are in the initial stages of creating a foundation that will connect people with gifts, to a world of need. We are recognizing that more and more, people want to include a period of "giving back" in their life's journey. But just how to get started... where to begin when you want to find and connect deeply with a worthwhile charity. The Fiddlehead Foundation will become "the connector" part of the puzzle. You can read more about that exciting "work in progress" if you scroll down this page and click on the icon that looks like a globe.
We have made extensive study of leadership and business management for 20 years. We are alumni of a 7-year dental management program based on the principles of the Harvard School of Business. For this reason, we hope that you will always find a refreshingly eager and knowledgeable team waiting to serve at Fiddlehead Dental with exceptionally good management and communication systems. The whole team is committed to seeing that you receive the finest skill, care, and judgment in a warm, friendly environment where comfort, conversation and laughter are a priority.
Our goal is to work with you in a collaborative relationship to see that you are able to attain, maintain, and enjoy a beautiful smile for a lifetime.