Windermere resident opens orthodontics practice

HORIZON WEST  For many business owners, running both their businesses and their families is a balancing act.

It’s a challenge Windermere resident Dr. Lauris Johnson knows all to well. Johnson is a mother to two small children, a wife to husband Lawrence — who owns and operates V’s Barbershop in Lakeside Village — and an orthodontist with her own practice.

“The biggest thing I’m learning is to balance my time,” Lauris Johnson said. “And making the most of the time you have. Sometimes even as a parent, you take for granted the time that you share with family. Because I’m having to divide my time, I really try to focus on what I’m doing.” 

Her practice, MyFamily Orthodontics, opened recently in the space right next to her husband’s barbershop. It’s something she’s dreamed of bringing to life for a while now, after having been in orthodontics for the last decade.

“My initial interest in dentistry started as a child, because I had my own incident where I fell and knocked out a front tooth at age 4,” Lauris Johnson said. “I saw a pediatric dentist, and that dentist ended up being a close family friend and took me under his wing as I grew up.”

It’s part of the reason Johnson eventually went off to dental school and gained an interest in orthodontics. She learned about many different dental specialties, but orthodontics is one of the only specialties that isn’t taught in depth in dental school. When she was introduced to orthodontics, she had her “Aha!” moment — it was a competitive field, but it was what she wanted to do.

“When (my daughter) was 2 or 3, she’d always tell me and my husband, ‘I love my family!’ It seemed like the perfect name for the office.”— Dr. Lauris Johnson on the name of her orthodontics practice

Johnson completed an orthodontic residency at the University of Colorado in Denver and has been working in the field ever since. But after nine years of working as an associate in private offices and in group practices, she wanted to have autonomy and treat patients her own way.

“I always knew I wanted to be able to treat patients in a fashion where they don’t feel like just another mouth,” she said. “I like to be hands on, get to know the patients and educate them about oral health and how it’s related to total wellbeing. It’s always very rewarding when you realize you’ve impacted someone’s life so much.”

When the Johnsons moved to Windermere, they were searching for the right place to build their businesses. Lakeside Village and the surrounding, growing Horizon West area turned out to be the place to be.

Lawrence’s barbershop opened first, toward the beginning of the year, but Lauris’s practice wasn’t far behind it. Now, she is working on getting the awareness of her presence out.

Johnson offers traditional braces, Invisalign, orthopedic appliances in the early Phase One treatment, and works with oral surgeons on surgical cases. She is accepting new patients, and consultations are free.

“I’ve been really blessed with a good staff,” she said. “That was something I think every owner of every business hopes for — you just hope and pray you find the right group of people that share your vision and want to help promote the brand and give back to the community. I’ve been fortunate enough to find that.”