Local dentist Dr. Donald Brockley, whose practice is located on West Sunbury Road in Center Township, is celebrating his 50th anniversary as a practicing dentist this year. Submitted photo

Since 1975, multiple generations of Western Pennsylvanians have entrusted their teeth to Dr. Donald Brockley in Center Township.

This year, Brockley’s colleagues — many of whom are family members — are celebrating his 50th anniversary of working as a practicing dentist.

“We had a surprise gathering for him for his 50th,” said Clara Lavanture, Donald’s sister-in-law. “We had a toast to him. We had one patient come in and play a kazoo and we all sang ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.’ He had a great time.”

For the Brockleys, dentistry runs in the family, as Donald followed his father, Dr. Charles R. Brockley, into the profession. Both graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Dental Medicine, 45 years apart.

Today, Brockley works alongside his daughter, Ahono Gildersleeve, and a cadre of other family members. Out of Brockley Dental’s staff of 11, most of them are part of the family. This includes both of the dentists, as well as Lavanture, who is also the office assistant and Gildersleeve’s aunt. Gildersleeve’s uncle also works in the front office.

“There’s probably less … family practices than when he started 50 years ago,” Gildersleeve said. “(Back then), you could just open up a place and put your name on the sign. These days there are bigger offices, like Aspen Dental. Big, big franchises. We pride ourselves on being a family practice.”

Brockley’s career has not been without its share of adversity. His dentistry practice moved into its current home on West Sunbury Road, near the Clearview Mall, after he lost his former location in the Morgan Management Building fire of 2003.

According to Lavanture, Brockley is camera-shy and does not like to boast about his achievements or his career publicly. However, he does have people in his family who are more than willing to pick up the slack and do it for him.

Both Gildersleeve and Lavanture say that one of Brockley’s most enduring traits is his ability to make patients feel at ease in what some consider a terrifying and humiliating environment.

“Some people have ‘white coat syndrome’ and are afraid of the dentist,” Lavanture said. “He always has a mask that has a face on it, and it makes people chuckle. People who are 40 or 50 years old will go, ‘Oh, you’re wearing the clown mask again.’ And I'm like, ‘Yes, he always does that.’”

“He takes his time and he's patient with every patient that comes in, whether it’s an easy procedure or a big procedure,” Gildersleeve said. “He cares about making a rapport with his patients and making everyone feel comfortable, especially in a stressful or uneasy environment like the dentist’s office.”

Because of his sheer longevity, Brockley — the second in a three-generation dentistry family — is now seeing young patients whose parents and grandparents also turned to him to take care of their teeth.

“He's seeing multiple generations of families,” Brockley said. “There are people who've been seeing him and he's been the only dentist they’ve had their entire lives. And then they bring in their children and then their children end up bringing in their children.”