BILLINGS - Billings is a growing city, but not so big that hometown folks coming back to do business here should go unrecognized; especially when they are among the minority in their profession.
Doctor Lisa Abeln is one of only a few female dentists in Billings.
"People have been really excited about it and it has just been great," said Abeln.
There are about 100 dentists in Billings, and the field has been historically male dominated.
"There's a numerical lack of female dentists in Billings specifically," said Dr. Ken Bagby, Billings dentist.
However, Dr. Bagby said more and more women are choosing careers in dentistry.
"When I was in dental school, which was 25 years ago, the ratio was one to six, and I believe right now it's at least at one out of two," said Bagby.
Abeln did her undergraduate studies at Montana State University Bozeman and received her degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Minnesota.
"The problem is that we don't have any medical or dental schools in Montana and so everyone goes out of state to go to school, and then what's hard is trying to get people to come back here," said Abeln.
Abeln, 28, practices at Turley Dental Care in Billings, and said she is excited to be working in her hometown.
"My husband is from Senior and I'm from West and both of our families are here so it was great to come back to Billings and get back involved with the community," she said.
She encourages young women with aspirations to be a dentist to work hard in the sciences and give her a call, "Shadowing dentists is the first step I think to seeing if you're really that interested so if anyone would want to come see me and come shadow me that would be great!"
Abeln said she loves dentistry because it allows you to work with your hands and to help people feel good about their smiles.
Billings also faces an aging population of dentists soon to retire in the coming decade.
Bagby said he hopes young dentists, like Abeln, continue to choose Billings as a place to practice.