T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Jason Horan or Horan Family Dentistry, center, and staff celebrate 15 years in the practice. Alyssa King, left, dental assistant, Marina Fox, front desk, Stacie Rothenbuhler, dental assistant, Gina Horan, office manager, Katy King, dental hygienist, Kelly Mullins, dental hygienist, Michelle Gallagher, dental hygienist.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Horan Family Dentistry is marking its 15th year keeping teeth healthy and smiles bright.

“I guess the thing that drew me to dentistry was that I always wanted to be in the medical profession and really found myself to be a little more artistic and enjoyed working with my hands and trying to help people,” Horan said.

“The more rewarding aspects would be getting people out of pain, helping people overcome their fear of coming to the dentist. Helping kids overcome their fear,” he added, noting many patients – particularly children – can be apprehensive about their dental visits. Horan maintains a personable approach with his patients.

Originally from Buffalo, New York, he set up his practice in St. Clairsville after meeting his wife, Gina, an area native. He now resides in Bethesda.

After 15 years, Horan’s practice has become a fixture in the area and knows his patients inside and outside of the office.

“Being we’re in a small community, not only are some of these people just patients, but we’ve also developed a lot of friendships over the years,” he said. “We see them on a daily basis. Even though we live in Bethesda, that’s only a few minutes away. All of our kids go to school in St. Clairsville and their friends are also our patients. It’s pretty hard to go out and about and not see a patient. … Of course we want to do the best job that we can do and treat people the best that we can treat them.”

Horan has watched many of his patients grow up.

“Some of these kids have started coming here at four and five, now are young adults, or the teenagers that we started seeing in the practice, we are now seeing their children too,” Horan said.

His office has also kept up with changes in technology since starting.

“We’re now doing puttyless impressions. We’re using a scanner for most of our impressions,” he said. “The materials in dentistry have changed over the years, but the biggest improvement has been adding the scanner to our office.”

Horan’s office has also begun offering new services, partly prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve decided to offer Botox treatments, not only for the cosmetic portion but also for the therapeutic portion, for people who are grinding or clenching or suffering from headaches,” he said.

“Since COVID has hit the world, more people are grinding and clenching their teeth. More people are ending up with broken teeth. More people are having headaches from stress. It’s even well-documented that grinding and clenching has been directly related to stress, and with COVID, everybody’s under a lot more stress.”

Horan’s interests also include the agricultural. Visitors to his office will see several pictures of miniature donkeys on the walls.

“For quite a few years we’ve bred and raised miniature donkeys,” Horan said. “My wife was from St. Clairsville. She had grown up on a farm and we wanted to start small.”

Horan noted the donkeys have excellent teeth.

“Most people are buying them as pets,” Horan said, adding his family has raised about 50 donkeys at a time.

His children are also involved in 4-H and they show various animals at the Belmont County Fair. His business has also supported the event.