Dr. Jeffrey Becker got his start in dentistry in a first grade class at Nile Garden School 21 years ago when his dad and dentist Jim Becker used him to show his classmates the procedure of taking a “gooey” impression of his teeth in Ms. Robin Wilson’s class.
Having joined Dr. John Trueb’s office on the West Yosemite Avenue Kaiser campus, Becker will soon be returning to Nile Garden to give a similar dental presentation to a special teacher’s class — the same Ms. Robin Wilson.
Becker said when he would think of her over the years, he would think of her smiling. He plans on visiting her class for Dental Awareness Week in February.
Enjoying spending time on a basketball court even today, Becker has positive memories of Sierra High School and being on the hardwood. Peer Resource teacher and basketball coach at Sierra High school Scott Thomason left his competitive mark as well.
Becker plays gym level basketball on weekends and hopes to soon be playing his point guard position on Sunday nights. He and his wife Melissa met as children attending several East Union High School basketball camps. She graduated from East Union while he received his diploma from Sierra High. They didn’t see each other through their high school and college years — he was into dental and she was immersed in nursing.
Melissa is now a registered nurse in Lodi.
They had connected again after many years and he asked her out on a dinner date at the Texas Roadhouse in Tracy.
Becker received his bachelor of science degree in Biology from U.C. Davis in Sacramento and went on to dental school as USC in Southern California. Following dental school he practiced at another dental office in Manteca for a year. While attending dental school he and a group of six student dentists went on a self-organized mission trip to China and Honduras to treat those in need of dental work.
In China, he remembers doing six permanent crowns in one day for a young girl who was afraid to smile because of the way she looked to others. Now, she is not afraid to smile, he said.
Becker said he loves to travel having gone to Cabo, Honduras and St. Lucia where a person can see the world for what it is and enjoy the simple things like fresh, clean water when they return back home again and see how good we have it in the U.S..
He said he loves the family element in Trueb’s office where the personal touch is important. As recent as Tuesday afternoon, he had a whole family in his office when a fourth grader had to have a tooth pulled. His third grade brother watched the procedure seeing how painless it was for his big brother and learned not to fear dentistry in the process.
Becker said his young patient was great adding that he gave them both prizes to take home afterwards.
The first cleaning of the teeth of his patients is done by him as he wants to get to know them better on their first visit. Subsequent cleanings are done by dental hygienists, he said.
Being punctual and not keeping his patients waiting is the first of his concerns, he said. Secondly the patients are completely informed and fully knowledgeable of their procedures before leaving the office. He said he feels it is also so very important to call all of his patients on the phone the day after their appointment to see how they are feeling.
“We can do all porcelain crowns in one day and we use all digital X-rays for less radiation exposure to the patients. Laser treatments are used for gum treatments,” he said.
Dr. Becker is currently the highest ranking Manteca dentist on YELP. The office website is www.mantecafamilydental.com.
