Retired Member: Dr. Brandon Bowers

RETIRED MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: DR. BRANDON BOWERS

By: Madison Bolton, ODA Membership Manager

Coming from a family of 16 dentists, Dr. Brandon Bowers is no stranger to organized dentistry. Born and raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Bowers was a member of the very first class at the OU College of Dentistry. When the school opened it had received over 1,200 applications to fill only 24 positions available in the first class! Bowers was one of those pioneering 24. He said, “I never really wanted to be anything else but a dentist! When the school opened up, it just seemed like a great opportunity!”

Bowers graduated from the OU College of Dentistry in 1976, and around that time his father, Dr. Brady Bowers, was one of the only practicing dentists in Shawnee. “My dad had just built a new building and created a space in it for me if I ever decided to join him,” Bowers said. “I never pictured myself anywhere else. My dad’s practice is where I belonged.” With two hip surgeries scheduled in his future, Bowers had to make the hard decision to retire in 2017. But he was thrilled to pass his practice on to his two daughters, Blaire and Lauren. Both daughters are also graduates of the OU College of Dentistry and now specialize in periodontics. They work part time at their father’s Shawnee practice.

Even though he is now retired, Bowers still spends most of his time up at the office and keeps his license active and up to date to this day. He has also attended every Oklahoma Dental Association Annual Meeting since 1972, his freshman year in dental school. One of his favorite memories took place while attending the 1973 ODA Meeting. Bowers was paired with fellow classmate, Dr. Kelly Brown, to present a table clinic at the meeting, entitled “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your pulpal floor is?” This was a parody of KFOR’s advertisement at the time, “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?”

“So many doctors came by for our presentation,” Bowers recalls, “and we ended up winning top table clinic honors!” For this achievement, the ODA flew the two students down to Houston, Texas to attend the American Dental Association’s annual meeting where they encored their table clinic and ended up winning national table clinic recognition! “We were just freshmen!” Bowers said. “We had little idea what we were doing, and we won!” Bowers and Brown remain close friends to this day.

Bowers is enjoying the simple things in life after retiring. “I enjoy just being with my daughters and my wife, Janet,” Bowers says. “When you work in the dental profession every day for 40 years, you don’t have a whole lot of life going on outside of that.” Even though he has a lot of down time these days, he stays quite busy being a “full-time dog sitter, pool boy, cook, and maid!”

Dr. Bowers hooding daughter, Dr. Blaire Bowers, at her OU College of Dentistry graduation in 2010

Dr. Bowers hooding daughter, Dr. Lauren Bowers, at her OU College of Dentistry graduation in 2014 Dr. Bowers with busts of his father and grandfather, made by his mother