Meet Dr. Sue...
Dr. Sue Keller, a cum laude graduate of Harvard University and graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, established her first dentistry practice in Greenfield, MA 1995. Her current practice, Strong & Healthy Smiles by Dr. Sue Keller, was established in April 2007 in the Florence area of Northampton, Massachusetts.
In addition to family preventive care, Dr. Sue focuses on providing comfortable dental care to adults who are anxious or who wish to create a strong and healthy smile in as few visits as possible using sedation dentistry. It is a passion of Dr. Sue to create a life-time plan of dental health for her patients to help them reach their dental goals.
Educational Excellence
Dr. Sue Keller (nee Sisak) grew up in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania on Lake Erie in the small town of Fairview, west of the city of Erie and the Presque Isle Peninsula. After graduating from Fairview High School as class valedictorian (1986) Dr. Sue went on to attend prestigious Harvard University where she graduated cum laude. She played trumpet in the Harvard University Band, played principal bass in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, was manager of the women’s ice hockey team, won a gold medal rowing Novice crew, played JV soccer, and drove the big red shuttle bus around campus and the streets of Cambridge!
After graduating Harvard, Dr. Sue earned her degree in Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine in Farmington, CT. She served a one year residency in General Practice dentistry at Hartford Hospital (CT), which included training not only in clinical dentistry, but also rotations in medicine, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, and was a member of the oral and maxillofacial surgery trauma team, serving the Emergency Department every 4th night, in-house.
Dr. Sue continued her post-doctoral education with “Creating Restorative Excellence” at the Kois Center in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. She also completed advanced training with the Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation.
Family Life
Dr. Sue has lived at Deerfield Academy since 1993, where her husband Sean teaches math and coaches the boys’ soccer team. She is the proud mom of daughter Hunter (2002) and son Avery (2004). The Keller Family also includes three cats (Willie, Ginger, and Cinnamon) and four fish (Prince, Blackie, Jules and Little).
When Dr. Sue is not helping patients, continuing her education, or with her family, she is actively involved in personal growth, through many means: refining her jazz skills by playing stand-up bass (after playing symphonic/classical bass since age 9), beginning aikido practice (a Japanese self-defensive art) and learning to ride a motorcycle at age 40! Dr. Sue participates in many kinds of mind and body-based therapies, including drawing her feelings and thoughts with Cray-pas oil pastels and colored pencils, reading personal growth and universal spirituality books, and listening to her children, who are wise from the heart.
When is a dentist office not a dentist office?
When it's the "Blue Tooth Cafe" of course! Dr. Sue is an accomplished double bassist and (less accomplished) singer performing with many local groups, including in past years the Pioneer Valley Symphony, Commonwealth Opera, Valley Light Opera, and the Franklin Medical Center’s “Clinical Notes.” More recently, she is playing jazz at the Performing Arts Center of Easthampton (PACE) Friday Night Jazz Jams. She is also famous for two-time appearance as a “pregnant singing tenor dressed as a man” with Valley Light Opera’s performances of The Grand Duke in 2001 and HMS Pinafore in 2003! She plans to reprise the role (without the pregnancies!) in the fall of 2009 with Valley Light Opera’s production of The Pirates of Penzance, her all-time favorite show. Look for her as a pirate singing tenor!
Several times each year, Dr. Sue hosts a night of jazz at her practice, transforming it into the "Blue Tooth Cafe", where you can catch some of the Pioneer Valley's jazz musicians jamming and having a great time in the reception room of Strong & Healthy Smiles. For more information on how to attend performances at The Blue Tooth Cafe, join our mailing list. If you're a musician, you're always welcome to sit in!