April Hinton in one of her exam rooms at Hinton Family Dental in Stansbury Park Thursday morning. Hinton opened her own dental practice in March.
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Loading...April Hinton knew by the time she was a teenager what she wanted to do with her life.
After years of schooling and a few moves with her family in tow, her career dream has finally come true.
In March, the Stansbury Park resident opened her own family dental practice, called Hinton Family Dental, next to Subway and Soelberg’s in the Stansbury Crossing shopping center in Stansbury Park.
“I started in dentistry as a dental assistant when I was about 16,” Hinton said. “I worked for a doctor who loved dentistry and he would teach me as he worked. As he taught me, I got very excited about dentistry and the ability to change someone’s life by fixing their smile, so I just proceeded in that direction.”
Hinton earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in medical biology, and then went on to earn her dentistry degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., in 2006. For the past seven years, she worked as the dental director for the Wayne Community Health Center in Bicknell, Utah.
Hinton said thanks to her husband, Jason, who pushed her to achieve her career goals, she decided to open her own dental practice.
“My husband always knew I wanted more, so he said ‘Let’s get it done,’” Hinton said. “We went through a lot of transitions so that I could open my own practice, but we’re really excited to be here.”
Hinton, who is originally from St. George, decided to move to Stansbury Park along with her husband and five elementary-age children because her husband’s siblings have all migrated to Tooele County.
“We have a lot of family here and we wanted to have our kids be raised here,” she said. “We also really like the small town feel and living in Stansbury Park. It’s a great place.”
Hinton said her practice offers most dental services, however, it does not offer orthodontic care.
“We offer just about all services,” she said. “I love to work on kids. That’s one thing I really love — having a family practice because I like to be the main provider for the entire family. My favorite thing is pediatric dentistry, but I also do dentures, which a lot of doctors don’t like to do.”
Hinton said in addition to regular services, her practice offers a state-of-the-art in-office teeth-bleaching system.
“It’s called Sinsational Smiles,” she said. “The procedure only takes 20 minutes and there’s no sensitivity associated with it like with most bleaching systems. It’s not nearly as time consuming or cumbersome as most out there, and it lightens your teeth two to five shades with just one treatment. It’s something I’m really excited about.”
Currently the practice has two chairs, but Hinton plans to expand to four within the next 18 months. Hinton said there are televisions installed above each dental chair so that patients can watch movies while having work done on their teeth.
Hinton has two employees, office manager Jerri Albertson and dental assistant Dejah Prather. The practice accepts most dental insurances and also offers care credit, which is dental financing with no interest payments over a 12-month period.
Although the practice has been open for a few weeks, Hinton said the grand opening will take place April 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a meet and greet, a drawing and teeth bleaching available at a discounted price for up to 12 people.
Hinton Family Dental’s office hours are Mondays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The office is located at 576 Hwy. 138, Ste. 200 in Stansbury Park. Appointments can be made by calling (435) 728-0550.
