TORRINGTON – Dr. Lance Lucas, D.D.S., is no stranger to Platte River Family Dentistry. A former patient, a friend of the business and now a member of the Platte River Family Dentistry team, Lucas is seeing patients after earning his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Dentistry in 2018.

“I was a patient here growing up,” Lucas said. “Dr. (Timothy) Pieper did my braces when I was growing up here.”

Dr. Britton “Britt” Marsh, D.D.S., said the office is thrilled to have Lucas as part of the Platte River Family Dentistry team. 

“He knew what he was getting himself into. He’s been here doing his extramural rotations and he had to do that in our office,” Marsh said. “Having been a patient here, he is pretty familiar with our philosophy and what we like to do and the care we provide.”

Lucas’ interest in the dental field began when he was a child. His dad’s best friend was a dentist and Lucas spent a great deal of time around his father’s best friend getting dental work done.

“I really enjoyed being around the office and enjoyed the environment, so that led me to wanting to look into it more, so I started shadowing in high school with Dr. Pieper,” Lucas said. “I shadowed in undergrad as well and the interest kept on growing. As the interest kept growing, I kept on seeing how dentists provide to the community and give back. That really interested me. Being able to provide a nice healthy smile to someone, someone that’s in pain, being able to relive that and to just see those improvements in a person’s personality improve dramatically.”

Lucas said the reputation of Platte River Family Dentistry had drawn him to desire to be involved with the practice. He credited their care and philosophies of patient care as being the primary driver for his choice to work in Torrington for Platte River Family Dentistry.

“That’s one thing that drew me here, too, shadowing here, being a patient here, coming here on rotation. All that kept on bringing me more and more to liking this office and seeing what they do and what they stand for; their philosophies kept on lining up more and more with mine and how I wanted to grow as a dentist myself,” Lucas said.

With the arrival of Lucas, the question then became, “what is Dr. Pieper doing?”

Marsh told the Telegram he and Pieper had been working together to determine the future of the dental office. They actively sought someone to fil the role of an active dentist. They found that in Lucas.

According to Marsh, Pieper has been transitioning from an active clinical role to a mentorship role. Pieper mentored Marsh and he is now helping to mentor Lucas. He is no longer seeing patients.

Among the changes around the office, Marsh noted the clinic was formerly known as Family Dentistry but will now be rebranded as Platte River Family Dentistry.

“On the surface and in the future, things have changed. We have a new logo; we have a new name; but at the end of the day, our main goal is to continue to provide exceptional clinical care of our patients and to continue to treat our patients as we always have,” Marsh said. “We’ve enjoyed serving the community and our patients for this long and it’s only going to continue to be that way.”

Marsh said the clinic is really excited to have Lucas as he will be able to perform a wide range of operations, including orthodontics, complex restorative dentistry, endodontics, temporomandibular disorders and pediatric dentistry.

“Lance has stepped in seamlessly,” Marsh said. “He has already stepped in to taking some classes for his continuing education to enable himself to treat his patients the best that he can. We take that family part it to heart. We want our patients to have the absolute best experience possible.”

Lucas said he is excited for the new challenge and is ready for he, his wife and two kids to be a part of
the community.

“We’re pretty excited. My wife, Paige, and I are both really excited join this great community in Torrington. We’re really excited to be a part of this office; like I said, the philosophies really line up. It’s been a very comfortable fit, and I just see it getting better and better.”

Platte River Family Dentistry is located at 2017 Campbell Drive in Torrington. They can be reached by stopping by the office or calling (307) 532-4448. Currently, their website remains pieperdentistry.com, but will soon be changing to platteriverfamilydentistry.com.

“The staff, Dr. Pieper and I full believe Dr. Lucas will be a wonderful asset,” Marsh said. “We are excited and fortunate things worked out like they did.”