I grew up in a small town in Utah called Erda. After graduating from Tooele high school in 1998, I went on a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints in the Lima East, Peru mission. I learned Spanish there and the joy of serving others. When I came home, I went to the University of Utah and met my sweetheart Nicole there at a football game. We later married and after finishing my undergraduate schooling with a degree in Medical Biology we moved to Richmond VA to go to Virginia Commonwealth School of Dentistry. Nicole finished her education there as well, in exercise science. After graduating from dental school in 2008, successfully completing boards, and having a baby girl we moved back west to Boise, Idaho. My dad had previously lived there and I did for a little while as a kid. Nicole and I visited during breaks in school and we fell in love with the access to the outdoors, green belt, great restaurants and wonderful people.

I was extremely fortunate to find a great dentist there to work with, Dr Michael E Peterson. He was an expert with digital dentistry, specifically CEREC. Shortly after joining him at Lake Harbor Dental, we got Boise’s first Sirona CBCT 3D X-ray and became heavily involved with helping other colleagues with the use of digital technology. We use it to help patients by finding pathology, for better diagnosis, and to more accurately and comfortably place implants. We later learned to use it to recognize oral signs of sleep disorders. I have worked with Mike since 2008. I have been lucky enough to also become a trainer and lecturer on topics that excite me like guided implant surgery and digital approaches to treating sleep apnea. I have taught all over the US but mostly in the West. I have been able to receive training in Germany with Sirona technology. I have also traveled to the Dominican Republic to learn advanced surgical techniques with Dr Arun Garg. I was one of the first dentists in the country to become a Cerecdoctors Mentor and I went to Scottsdale for years to both learn and teach at the Spear Center for Dentistry. More recently, I have been teaching and training in Raleigh at 3D Dentists. Dr Tarun Agarwal has been a terrific mentor and friend there.

I love to teach. I feel like it keeps me current. I now prioritize teaching my five children ages 13, 11, 8, 8, and 4. I find no other greater sense of fulfillment than spending time with my family. We moved up to Garden Valley in 2020 to provide more learning opportunities in nature for our kids. We quickly fell in love with the community there and have been involved in sports, church, and many outdoor activities. We opened up Garden Valley Smiles in Oct 2021 and we are hoping that it continues to grow as we provide outstanding care and top of the line technology to provide digital dentistry. Also I continue to work in Boise at Lake Harbor Dental several days a week as well.

It is my goal with this digital technology to reduce cost, reduce visits, and increase comfort. Please give us a call or come on in and see what we can do.

Best Regards,
Eric Ballou