By Mary Owen
With no job too big or small, creating nice smiles is a family affair for the Hunsakers.
“We love working with people,” is the consensus of the father, son and daughter team who maintain an office in Salem. Next month, the trio will work two days a week at their new practice in Aumsville.
“Aumsville ran an ad for a dentist and we thought it would be a good place to open second practice,” said Dr. Ben Hunsaker, the patriarch of the group. The new office will be housed in a building next to Neufeldt’s on Main Street, he said.
Ben Hunsaker came to dentistry later in life after involvement in other occupations. In 1990, he graduated from the Oregon Health Sciences University dental school, receiving several awards, including OHSU’s Award of Clinical Excellent and the American College of Prosthodontology’s Undergraduate Achievement Award and its Outstanding Achievement in Periodontics.
“When I was in dental school, Travis would hang out watching me pour models and do lab work on the weekends,” Hunsaker said.
“I realized then it was what I wanted to do and it stuck,” said Travis Hunsaker, 29, who dabbled in construction, security, concrete work and landscape maintenance before following his dream.
Dr. Travis Hunsaker grew up in Salem and graduated from Sprague High School. He served a two-year mission trip for his church, where he learned Spanish. His language fluency caused him to be called on to provide dental care for Spanish-speaking patients at Marquette University School of Dentistry. A May graduate, he excels in areas of periodontology, prosthodontics and restorative dentistry.
“We like to do a lot of cosmetic restorations,” Ben said.
“But we do a lot of bread and butter things too, like periodontic cleanings,” Travis added.
The third Hunsaker to enter the field of dentistry is daughter, Angela Burnham, 25.
“I was getting ready to do my prerequisites for dental hygiene when Dad had an opening for an assistant,” she said. “I filled in and never left.”
She took several classes to receive her Expanded Functions certificate, and after seven years at her father’s office, works full-time assisting and can also fill in at the front desk when needed. She and her husband, Shane, have a daughter, Alli, 3, and a cat named Chunky.
Joining the trio is Joey Semolke who began her dental career about 18 years ago after finishing college in Sacramento, Calif.
She has been the Hunsakers’ desk coordinator for four years. She maintains her assisting certification and fills in when needed.
Several others are involved in the practice, as well. Amanda Houskeeper graduated from the Expanded Functions Dental Assisting program at Chemeketa Community College in 1995.
She has been with the Hunsakers for two years, after 10 years in offices in Oregon, Washington and Utah and a two-year hiatus to spend time with family.
Lee Brammer began her dental career 12 years ago after graduating from the OHSU dental hygiene program. She has worked as a hygienist in several offices throughout the Salem area and has worked with the Hunsakers for a little more than a year.
Travis Hunsaker met his wife, Laurie, at Oregon State University where he was a member of the rowing team and earned his bachelor’s of science degree. The couple has three boys: Avery, 4; Carson, 2; and Emmett, 10 months.
Ben Hunsaker and his wife, DeAnna, who helps at the office at times, have two other children, Kevin, 27; and Megan, 21. Kevin and his wife, Katrina, share their home with a Labrador retriever.
Megan is a student at Oregon State University, and hopes to become a veterinarian.
“She spends most of her time with her two horses,” Ben said.
In his spare time, Ben enjoys volunteering for Boy Scouts of America and is involved in his church. He joins the rest of the family in their love of the outdoors – hunting, camping, fishing, boating, snow boarding.
The Hunsakers plan to participate in the upcoming Aumsville Corn Festival Parade, pulling their float with a ’37 John Deere tractor. They also donated a certificate for dental services to the Corn Festival drawing.
Their opening celebration is next month; time and date to be announced. For more information, call their Salem office at 503-363-2536.
