Building smiles in Scappoose

Orthodontist fills service gap with tech-savvy practice

By Darryl Swan

The South County Spotlight, Jan 28, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Darryl Swan / The South County Spotlight

Dr. Frank Hsieh opened his orthodontics and periodontics practice in Scappoose last July in a refurbished ranch house on Columbia River Highway.

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Dr. Frank Hsieh knows the benefits of a great smile. He has one himself, and is not afraid to show it off.

Hsieh entered the orthodontics and periodontics professions with the goal of helping others achieve the same benefits, and in July he started a new practice in Scappoose out of a refurbished ranch house on Columbia River Highway.

His goal: “Just to help people have a healthy smile,” he says.

For the uninitiated, orthodontics is the medical field that deals with correcting teeth irregularities, such as overbites, crooked alignment or missing teeth. Periodontics, conversely, centers on the gums, and has a clear-cut health focus on treating gum disease, such as periodontal disease.

While many wince with sticker-shock when confronting the possibility of orthodontic care — prices can range between $4,800 and $5,700, and insurance typically covers only about 20 percent of the cost — there are more than just cosmetic benefits.

Poorly aligned teeth frequently contribute to greater occurrences of trapped food and, therefore, lead to higher frequency of dental caries, including cavities. And some studies suggest the earnings outlook is moderately brighter for people with clean, well-managed teeth.

Hsieh, 39, got his start in oral medicine in his native Taiwan at the age of 18. There he was afforded the option of diving straight into dental school without taking prior college courses. He graduated from National Yang-Ming University dental school at age 24, and then spent two years in state-required military service before moving to the United States at age 33. He earned his dentistry degree from Indiana University in 2003.

He splits his time between the Scappoose practice and as an assistant professor at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where he teaches advanced orthodontics. One part of his instructional series is in the use of temporary anchorage devices, or TADs. TADs are metal pins inserted through the jawbone that give orthodontists the flexibility to focus on problematic areas of the mouth, while leaving problem-free areas alone.

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