KELLOGG — Going to the dentist in general can already be a stressful experience. Even if it’s for something as simple as a routine cleaning, chances are you’ll be leaving your appointment a bit more sore than when you came in.

Because of this inevitable physical discomfort, it is imperative that your dentist be as personable and comforting as possible. Thankfully for Bird Family Dental in Kellogg, the recent addition of Dr. Jeff Bue ensures that they continue to have “personable and comforting” taken care of.

Replacing longtime Dr. Steve Rinaldi, who has decided to retire after a long and successful career, Dr. Bue has been bouncing between the Kellogg, St. Maries and Coeur d’Alene offices since he arrived in early June.

Originally from Nome, Alaska, Bue went to the University of Michigan for dental school, then worked at a dental practice in Toledo, Mich., for the last couple years.

After getting married in November, he and his new wife, Amelia, were looking to get away from the busy life of the city and go somewhere with more outdoor opportunities such as backpacking and hiking.

“Toledo and Michigan is all really flat and I was missing all this (the mountains),” Bue said. “She (Amelia) had the opportunity for us to go somewhere different, so we were looking at the Western Montana/Idaho/Easter Oregon area. We found the group here and it seemed like a great practice to join. Coeur d’Alene looked like an awesome place to ski, camp and fish.”

Amelia is currently working on a Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, but has the ability to work on it from here.

Commuting from Coeur d’Alene, Bue spends most of his time split between the Kellogg (Tuesdays) and St. Maries (Wednesday and Friday) offices. The addition of Bue allows Bird Family Dental to considerably increase the time its St. Maries office is open.

“That office (St. Maries), we haven’t been able to have people there more than once or twice a week until now. Now they are open Wednesday through Friday.”

As mentioned, Bue prides himself on keeping people at ease when they come see him.

“I’m great at keeping people comfortable. A lot of people come in just terrified of the dentist and I know no one is excited to be at the dentist. I can’t make it fun, but I’ll make it as comfortable as I can for them.”

He had the opportunity to hone this healthy chairside manner at his previous job back east.

“The practice I was at in Toledo had a lot of people who came in who hadn’t been to the dentist in 10 or 20 years,” he said. “They were in pain (because of) infection, so they would come in hurting and I would address whatever the area of concern was, like taking a tooth out if it needed to come out, then get them a plan from there.”

For the more hands-on side of things, Bue specializes in extractions — a task that most likely requires keeping people calm in order to complete.

Between Bue and current Kellogg office dentist, Dr. T.J. Scarborough, the two have the ability to handle a wide variety of dental procedures. From placing implants to root canals and emergency extractions, there’s very little that can’t be done here locally.

With right around a month of time under his belt at Bird Family Dental, Bue is not only pleased with his practice, but the people in the communities as well.

“I like being back in a small town where I can talk to everyone about skiing and camping. I love the people around here, I feel like I fit right in,” he said. “It’s been good to join a team that knows exactly what they are doing, has good systems in place and it has just been a great practice to walk into.”

The Kellogg office of Bird Family Dental is located at 418 W. Cameron Ave. and can be reached by phone at 208-682-4540.