Dentistry a family affair for Carlons

ALBANY — Drs. Daniel J. Carlon Sr. and Rebecca Carlon — he an endodontist, she a general dentist — raised a son and a daughter who saw that their parents had a passion for what they do while still making it to their sporting events and recitals.

Even with that passion, there was no expectation that the entire family would end up in the dental field. Once it worked out that way, though, it felt like a dream come true for the parents to see their children follow in their footsteps.

“After they finished college, they had the option to do anything they wanted,” Daniel Carlon said.

It was a surprise to the mother, too, who said: “We told them: ‘Make straight A’s, you can do whatever you want.’”

Rebecca Carlon, a native to the Albany area and a 1976 graduate of the Emory University School of Dentistry, also has a background in teaching. Until July 1979, she was an assistant professor in the Vanderbilt Medical School, while also serving as a hospital dentist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

After setting up private practice, she served as the supervising dentist and lecturer in the Department of Dental Hygiene in what is now Darton State College from 1980-81, as well as working as an assistant professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry from 1983-84.

“I went into it because my father was a dentist,” Rebecca Carlon said. “I was exposed to, and I love it.”

Her office is at 1105 W. Fourth Ave., where she has been practicing with her daughter, Dr. Christen Carlon, since the younger dentist’s graduation in May from Georgia Regents University.

Patients are scheduled to come into their office every six months, more often than most people see their primary care physicians. This can afford the dentists relationships with the patient base they might not otherwise have, such as knowledge of a specific patient’s personal hardships.

“I love the technical things I do, but what makes me love it is the patients,” Rebecca Carlon said.

Since going into the field, she has not looked back.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” the dentist and mother said. “I never minded getting up to go to work. I never wished to do anything different.”

General dentists like the mother and daughter Carlons are typically the first point of contact for a dental checkup or concern. The result is typically continuity and multigenerational relationships with the families they serve.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how excited they are (about us) working on them,” Christen Carlon said.

Dr. Daniel Carlon Sr. operates his practice, Carlon Endodontics, at 405 Kingswood Drive in the building where his father-in-law once practiced. He graduated from Boston College in 1975 with an undergraduate degree in biology and obtained a dental degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 1978 before receiving a specialty certificate in endodontics in 1984 from Medical College of Georgia School of Dental Medicine.

It was a track he decided on as a child, having more experience in a dental office than most other children would care to have. He was also persuaded by the desire to make a decent living while also having the ability to maintain a family life.

“I didn’t have great teeth, so I spent a lot of time with the dentist,” he said. “I thought, ‘Gee, I can do that.’ It got me a little bit interested.

“My experience (with the dentist) was pretty good. Nobody in my family was in the medical field.”

In the two years immediately following dental school, he performed root canals while serving in the U.S. Army Dental Corps at Fort Jackson, S.C., achieving the rank of captain.

Like his wife, he also has instructed others in the field by serving as an assistant professor at the MCG School of Dental Medicine since 2012.

His practice gets referrals from within Albany as well as Tifton, Fitzgerald and Americus.

“It’s very much an honor to treat these people, and treat them well,” he said. “They depend on us.”

It is the people, he said, that keeps him in Southwest Georgia rather than returning to his northern roots. He has even come to like the “small-town flavor.”

“I must admit, people are so nice, it’s hard not to fall in love with the area,” the senior Daniel Carlon said.

Treating his patients well comes with understanding of the inconvenience involved in sitting in a dentist’s chair.

“It’s important to do the work, but to also make them feel as comfortable as possible,” he said. “You can give someone a bad memory they won’t let go.”

He has been in his current practice since 1985, and he gained a partner earlier this year after his son, Dr. Daniel J. Carlon Jr., completed his specialty training in endodontics from Georgia Regents University.

“(My parents) still had time to go to soccer games,” the junior partner said. “When I got into dental school, I got to learn the dental-speak I first heard at the dinner table.”

The younger endonontist, 28, graduated from Emory University in 2009 — two years after spending a summer at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, as part of his dental studies. His dental degree was obtained from Georgia Health Sciences University in 2013 before immediately going into specialty training.

“When you take on a partner, you never know what you are getting,” his father said. “(With your child as a partner) you have someone who has the same philosophy and will carry it on.”

Daniel Carlon Jr. has since completed more than 300 non-surgical root canals and more than 20 surgical root canals and is on track for board certification.

Due to his time spent in specialty training, he got started with his career at around the same time as his younger sister. That put him two years behind his peers, but he is at peace with that.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.

His career path was influenced by a number of different factors.

“I remember thinking growing up that I wanted to do something in the medical field,” he said. “I saw my parents had a passion, and I liked working with my hands.”

He shadowed his father and enjoyed that experience. He said he knew he wanted to go into specialized dental school and thought general dentistry was the more difficult track.

“I got lucky enough to get into a residency program,” he said.

Christen Carlon, 26, is also a graduate of Emory, earning her undergraduate degree in 2011, a year after spending a summer in Australia like her older brother. Her volunteer experience until her graduation from dental school included service at Ben Massel Clinic, Dentists for Della, a mentorship program at GRU, a service trip to Nicaragua and a dental awareness booth at a flea market in Augusta.

The first crown she did was on her father. That was a procedure that almost did not happen, since she was not immediately sold on the idea of becoming a dentist.

“I was in a phase where I thought I would be a rebel,” she said. “I thought about going into business, but when I got older, I decided to rethink that.”

She also liked working with her hands and getting a glimpse of what her parents do, which ultimately led to her career choice.

While they were both working toward their degrees, Christen Carlon had her older brother to fall back on.

“I wouldn’t have made it through if I didn’t have him there,” she said.

Once she earned her dental degree, it was a whole different experience for her, and she hasn’t had time to get bored with it.

“I’ve learned more since (beginning practice) than four years of dental school,” she said.

With their two children going into the same field, Rebecca Carlon and Daniel Carlon Sr. have built a legacy they were not expecting. They still have a strong a passion for what they do, so retirement is not in the near future for them. But they feel secure now about the hands they will leave their practices to, knowing the same values and ethics will be continued.

“This is very rare, for your child to become the same as you, and join you,” the senior endodontist said.

When the children were in their grammar school years, they were in their father’s office learning sterile techniques every morning by helping with some of the set-up.

“They did that until the eighth grade,” Daniel Carlon Sr. said. “They knew what we were doing while not seeing us do it.”

The parents even have something of a competitive environment with their children, which can give all four of them satisfaction in what they are doing.

“They have breathed new life into the practice,” Rebecca Carlon said.