Dr. Macy Hyvonen is putting down roots, and a few root canals, near her hometown of Charlo with the opening of her dental practice, Mission Mountain Dental, at 203 Main Street in Polson.

Two other Charlo-ites, dental hygienist Sharon Toussaint and dental assistant Rocky Knight, are helping with Hyvonen’s new pursuit, as well as hygienist Victoria Haggard of Ronan.

Hyvonen has known Sharon for most of her life and went to school in Charlo with Rocky’s oldest daughter.

“So it really was me and Sharon and Rocky – three Charlo girls – keeping this place going,” says Hyvonen recently. 

But the Charlo roots go even deeper. Last fall, while listening to her sister, Brenna, perform at Ninepipes Lodge, Hyvonen was approached by Toussaint, who asked if she knew any dentists who might be willing to work a day or two at the Montana Dental Group clinic in Polson since the dentist there was trying to retire. Hyvonen, who works at Clark Fork Dental in Missoula, promised to “ask around.”

At the same time, she and her other sister, Megan Hyvonen, were thinking about buying a house on Post Creek that had belonged to longtime family friends Duff and Marion Gerrish. They grew up nearby and their parents, Rod and Martha, still live on Post Creek Road.

“As the house at Post Creek was developing, I called her (Toussaint) and was like, ‘maybe I'm interested in picking up a day or two,’” she recalls.

Hyvonen began working one day a week in Polson, and the other dentist quit and left town shortly after she arrived. The owners, who live out of state, planned to close the clinic rather than try to recruit another full-time dentist.

“Every day that I was up here, there was just so much need,” she said. Many of her patients were on Medicaid, which was the only way they could afford dental care.  

“And I just felt like, how can it close? Where are all these people going to go?”

As she and Megan were moving forward with the little house on Post Creek, she decided to launch a dental practice in Polson. It’s been a whirlwind ever since, especially since both the house and the office required extensive remodeling.

She bought the business in February and closed the office in March and April. Her crew –comprised mostly of family members, friends and employees – completely remodeled the aging space with new floors, brightening the interior with paint and new ceiling tiles, and ordering enough new chairs and equipment to furnish three treatment rooms and a fourth room for cleanings.

“It's a big commitment and investment,” she says, but the result is “a comprehensive-care kind of place.”

Toussaint, who has seen patients from Polson to St. Ignatius during her long career, offers dental hygiene Mondays-Wednesdays while Hyvonen sees patients on Thursdays and Fridays. She hopes to recruit another dentist to work Mondays-Wednesdays, and an office manager, since those duties are currently overseen by Knight.

Making dentistry "not so scary"

Hyvonen continues to see many low-income patients on Medicaid – a clientele that dentists often avoid due to excessive bureaucracy and low reimbursements. But for Hyvonen, who earned her dental degree from the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, it’s a good fit.

The school had a public-health orientation, and Hyvonen spent half of her senior year doing rotations at community and Indian health centers. After graduating in 2008, she spent her first four years of practice working in community health settings.

“I became very comfortable and accustomed to public health dentistry where there’s a lot of extractions, a lot of dire need,” she said. “But I like that kind of dentistry – that's part of what makes me feel okay about taking a project like this on.”

She eventually moved on from the public health setting, returning to Montana and working for Family Dental Group in Missoula for over 12 years before joining the smaller Clark Fork Dental practice more than two years ago.

Hyvonen jokes that as she went through school, her dad, Rod, “became my best patient. He was my first root canal, my first crown, my first implant.”

Her deep affection for family and home – the people and landscape of the Mission Valley – permeate her new practice.

She especially appreciates Knight and Toussaint, who were employed at the previous practice and have helped her rebuild.

“The crew has been awesome, keeping the place up and running on the days that I'm not here,” she said. “Sharon and Rocky are lifelong valley people and they know everybody.”

Although the practice lost track of some patients during the period they were closed for remodeling, Hyvonen says many are trickling back and seem thrilled with the bright well-equipped space. She hopes they’ll begin to attract new patients as well.

The Charlo trio shares a common ethic when it comes to providing dental care. “The atmosphere in the office is more of an encouraging one” as opposed to a scolding “look at the state of your mouth!”

“We try to make it not so scary,” she said. For people who have had negative experiences, it can take time to build trust and “get over that fear factor.”

Five months into the practice, she says “every day we're figuring out a new challenge.”

And some days are easier than others.

“Every day I'm like, ‘what in the hell did I do?’” At the same time, her life experience has taught her “when you put your heart into something and your brains, you get rewarded. Maybe you don't make a lot of money doing that, but you get rewarded for that.”

“if I have the ability to be a part of the solution, or at least help along the way, for people that really need it, why wouldn’t I?”

For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 406-883-0496.

    Dr. Macy Hyvonen opened Mission Mountain Dental at 203 Main in Polson last spring. (Kristi Niemeyer/Leader)