NHS grads enter dentistry

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
Three Newcastle High School graduates and friends stuck together long after their high school days were over. Seth Rhoades, Joe McColley and Matt Hein all became dentists and have remained in  Wyoming.
Rhoades said that he and Hein were in the same year of high school, while McColley was a couple of years behind them. Rhoades and Hein were good friends and enjoyed spending time together – playing sports, among other things. 
“Me and Matt grew up together playing sports and going to camps together,” Rhoades said. 
Although McColley didn’t spend as much time with the duo, he said that he always respected and looked up to Rhoades and Hein because his sister was in the same group of friends. 
“I’ve always looked up to both of them a lot,” McColley said. 
But how did three high school friends decide to enter the same profession?
“I always knew I wanted to be a dentist,” Rhoades said. His stepdad owned Black Hills Dental in Newcastle before Rhoades did, and his mom was a dental hygienist. The family influence sparked an interest in dentistry in him, and by the time he was 16 or 17, he knew that’s what he was going to do. Rhoades attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and he has now been a dentist for 11 years. 
Rhoades enjoys working with his hands and seeing many people throughout the day and taking care of their oral needs. 
“It’s just a joy to see people and take care of them,” he said. 
Hein’s story is similar to Rhoades’. He hung out with Rhoades and his stepfather a lot and even job shadowed him. By his freshman or sophomore year, he had developed an interest in the career. 
“It’s a good fit for my personality,” Hein said. He enjoys meeting new people and developing relationships with his patients and their families. 
His hope is to relate to people and make dental visits a better experience. Hein received his undergraduate degree at Dakota Wesleyan University and got his degree in dentistry at the University of Colorado in Aurora. He now lives in Buffalo and owns the Buffalo Dental Clinic with his wife. 
Although Hein said that he and Rhoades had talked about their desire to go into dentistry, McColley said that when he made his choice to be a dentist, he wasn’t aware that Rhoades and Hein were going the same route. 
McColley’s grandfather owned Black Hills Dental long before Rhoades’ stepdad did, and he was Newcastle’s first dentist in 1926. 
Due to dentistry being in the family and McColley’s desire to do something in the science and medical field, he began to look into dentistry.  
“I shadowed a dentist and decided I did really like it,” McColley said. 
By college, the trio knew they each had chosen the field, and McColley said they talked and collaborated – giving each other advice and asking questions. McColley said he especially looked to Rhoades and Hein for advice because they were two years ahead of him. 
McColley earned his undergraduate degree at Casper College and the University of Wyoming, and he completed dental school at Creighton University where Rhoades went. He now lives in Sheridan and owns Creekside Dental. 
McColley said he enjoys the relationships he can build with his patients and the opportunity to be involved in the dental needs of whole families. 
Rhoades, Hein and McColley all continue to keep in touch. They enjoy talking shop, asking questions and giving each other advice. 
“People don’t like being around us,” Rhoades joked, noting that they just talk dentistry. 
The trio has especially been conversing through this recent COVID-19 pandemic because it has caused the closure of many dentists’ offices. They have kept in touch and shared with each other what they’re doing, their ideas, thoughts and more. 
Through the ups and downs of their clinics and through the current pandemic, the three have maintained communications and camaraderie through their shared experience of dentistry. 
“We’ve leaned on each other more than we have (in the past),” Hein said.