Winning smile

There are two key traits being passed down through generations of the Beattie family: a fascination with dentistry, and a superb knack for swimming.

Together the Beatties have held four individual All American swimming honors, countless national championship titles, a handful of world records, and three licenses of dentistry.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Jack Beattie — who held swimming world records and founded Beattie Family Orthodontics — Dr. John Beattie of Baldwin Park has spent much of his life perfecting clients’ smiles and his swimming stroke.

“Everybody in our family has put in their time in the pool,” John said. “And dental school, I guess.”

Now Jack is retired, and John runs Beattie Family Orthodontics from its office in Baldwin Park. When he’s not at his Baldwin Park home or the office, he’s often found taking laps in his swim cap and goggles in the pool at Grace Hopper Hall.

After he reached All American status at the University of Florida, John took a break from competitive swimming. Then last summer, he decided to dive back into it and hasn’t stopped since.

For more information on John Beattie and Beattie Family Orthodontics, located at 960 Lake Baldwin Lane, visit beattieortho.com

In his first year in U.S. Masters swimming, he won two silvers and placed in the top 10 in the world in his age group.

“There’s something so rewarding about focusing and zeroing in on something, focusing on the goal of competition,” he said. “It feels good.”

His other favorite feel-good moment comes in his orthodontics office. As John was growing up in Winter Park, he watched his father craft smiles for a living.

“I got to see what a rewarding profession it was,” he said. The moment someone gets their braces off and sees their perfectly straight, beautiful smile for the first time, he said, is a moment he knows they’ll never forget, and one he’s proud to have spent his 22-year career being a part of.

“It’s such a special moment when someone’s braces come off,” said John, who remembers everything he did the day he got his braces off: riding around to show friends his new smile, eating all the foods he hadn’t been able to eat in a while.

His two children, John, 9, and Jackie, 7, are still braces-free.

“You should know that he has two awesome kids, and he does great teeth,” Jackie said, shooting a still baby-toothed smile at her father.

While the braces will wait, passing along his passion of swimming to his kids has already started.

“It brings back a lot of memories, it’s so fun to see their faces when they come out of the pool and after the race with their blue ribbons,” he said.

And the Beattie family legacy continues.