Dr. Daniel Nelson says small-town life is in his blood.

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times

As you walk into Springbrook Family Dentistry at 214 State St. in Guthrie Center, don’t be surprised if you get very little conversation from the first staff member to greet you. That’s because Ollie, the office dog, likes to greet everyone who comes in, but he’s not much of a talker.

Luckily, Dr. Daniel Nelson, who owns and operates Springbrook Family Dentistry, was willing to talk about the business.

“I graduated dental school in 2018 and worked at a few offices at the same time that I opened this office up in August of 2018,” Nelson said. “I was able to buy this building and do a full remodel with all new equipment, and we started from scratch. It was a lot of time, money and effort, but I think it’s been worth it.”

Nelson explained that small-town life is in his blood.

“I graduated from Panorama High School, and I always wanted to come back to a small town. I like the community, the atmosphere and the type of people who are here,” Nelson said. “I definitely like the peace and quiet.”

Currently, the office is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. But despite not being fulltime, Nelson aims for complete patient service.

“One of the things I pride myself on here is that I do almost everything in-house. Implants, dentures, partial dentures, orthodontics, braces. I do root canals and some pediatric dentistry,” Nelson said. “Of course, if a case is too difficult, I have to refer it out.”

Nelson believes in staying up to date with technology in dental care.

“I also have a 3-D printer here, so I’m able to print certain appliances for patients such as dentures, surgical guides and things like that,” Nelson said. “I scan almost everything, which means no goopy molds. It’s just a wand that basically takes a video, and then I use that to 3-D print things.”

The business has a small but dedicated team.

“I have four employees — plus Ollie,” Nelson said. “There’s Anna, who mainly works up front, scheduling and checking insurances. And I have two assistants right now. Daffnie is from Panora originally, and my other assistant, Kylee, is also from the area. She’s actually going to dental hygiene school this fall to become a dental hygienist. And the hygienist that I have now is Nam. It’s like a family.”

Nelson mentioned two factors that make his practice special.

“One is our comfort dog, Ollie. He’s a Golden Doodle, so he’s hypoallergenic, and he’s a big lover. He doesn’t really bark, and just wants to be pet. He’s a huge hit and helps people who have anxiety. We’ve had him here since 2020,” Nelson said. “The other thing is keeping things in-house as much as possible so that people don’t have to make trips to Des Moines or Omaha.”

Asked about a favorite success story, Nelson quickly recalled a patient who needed relief from a very distressing situation.

“One of my favorites would be a patient that needed some pretty extensive work. I took out some bad teeth that were causing her pain,” he said. “I was able to implant dentures, and when we were done, she was crying because she was so happy. She gave us all hugs.”

In the foreseeable future, Nelson has no plans make big changes to his business. Instead, he intends to keep doing what has worked so far.

“I definitely plan to stay up to date, not only with the technology stuff, but with the routine stuff, too. To renew my license, they require 30 hours of continuing education every two years,” Nelson said. “I usually do 80 to 100 so we can keep providing the best care possible.”

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

At the joint meetings of the Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center school boards on Jan. 15, one of the main discussion topics was how to merge the two boards into one, if/when consolidation of the two districts occurs. Currently, each board has five members. Superintendent Josh Rasmussen suggested the new board could be either five or seven members.

After discussion, the consensus was that the potential new board would include two members from each current district and one at-large member.

The next steps regarding possible consolidation include petitions from each district and a ballot measure for voters to determine if consolidation will happen. Adair-Casey board member Randy Carney pointed out that since many in the community believe the districts are already consolidated, it may be a challenge to have a strong voter turnout percentage.

Adair-Casey PreK-eighth grade Principal Ed Den Beste shared information about new drinking fountains that were installed over the holiday break, and he updated the board on other happenings and upcoming events.

Guthrie Center PreK-sixth grade Principal Tandem Eischeid summarized happenings in his area, including an addition to make recess more fun.

“We got some sleds for our recess. No injuries so far… We laid out the rules, and that’s going pretty well,” Eischeid said.

High School Principal Brian Sauser reported on positive grade trends.

“We ended up not having any failing grades in the entire high school, which is amazing for our students and staff,” Sauser said. “On the flipside of that, we had almost 500 A grades.”

Rasmussen said the districts are continuing work toward filling open bus driver positions.

The next regular meeting of the boards will be Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Adair-Casey Junior High. The public is welcome.