Dental clinic under new ownership
By Amy Robinson
Farmer Staff Writer
After working in the Maisey Dental Clinic in Watford City for the past 12 months, Dr. Monty Bulzomi has purchased the practice and renamed the business, Legendary Smiles.
A North Dakota native, Dr. Monty Bulzomi was born and raised in Carrington, where he graduated from high school in 2005. Even though he was from Carrington, he’d been coming to Watford City and the McKenzie County area since he was eight years old to hunt mule deer with his family.
After Bulzomi graduated, he went to college at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where he obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. From there, he went to Dental School at the University of Minnesota. And after finishing four years there and receiving his graduate degree, he spent the next year in residency at Denver Health Medical Center.
“Growing up, I knew I wanted to be in the medical field,” explained Bulzomi. “All through my high school and college, I thought medical school. And through college, I talked to several doctors and dentists. About halfway through under-grad school, I decided to do dentistry instead of medicine.”
A great deal about the field of dentistry appealed to Bulzomi. He liked being able to do direct patient care. He could work with people. Plus, he said there was an artistic side to dentistry that allowed him to work with his hands. Additionally, he felt there was more of an opportunity to eventually own his own practice, which he would do before his 30th birthday!
Once Bulzomi finished his residency in Denver, Colo., he and his wife, Chelsea, decided it was time to move back to their home state of North Dakota. Bulzomi’s wife was actually from Watford City. They met in high school when her family moved to Carrington for a couple of years. But once they fell in love, Chelsea would follow him for the next 10 years until they returned to their beloved North Dakota roots in June of 2015.
“Chelsea and I dated since we were 16 years old,” recalls Bulzomi. “And we’ll have been married for five years this August. She’s been by my side for the last 10 years. We both love North Dakota and wanted to eventually move back for the small town atmosphere we both really enjoyed. We always knew we wanted to raise a family in a small town in North Dakota. And the timing was right. The economy with the oil was doing really well and it was the perfect time to move back, and we chose to move back to Chelsea’s hometown - Watford City.”
“Plus I thought it would be nice to come back and take over a hometown dental office, especially the office my wife went to as a child,” added Bulzomi. “My wife was really excited to move back, especially to a community that has been really receptive to new businesses, and a community that has been very progressive.”
Bulzomi jokes that his family kind of messed up their plans, however. Although they all wanted to end up in the same place, close to one another, the majority of his family moved to Idaho, where one of his sisters, brother, and parents are, and it’s where most of his parents’ grandchildren are. Even his other sister is closer to the rest of his family in Wyoming.
But regardless of the change in plans of living arrangements, Bulzomi says moving to North Dakota was definitely the right move for his wife and him. Watford City has offered many, great opportunities to the young couple!
“I like that people, businesses, and local government in Watford City can work together to get the new amenities like the new Events Center and the new high school to make the community better,” stated Bulzomi. “I like that so many people that have lived here and live here now like the town and want to make it a better place. Plus I love the outdoors and all the opportunities it offers like hunting, fishing, and hiking.”
Aside from liking the community and what it has to offer, Bulzomi has had big plans of his own to help better the community as well.
“We’d like to continue with our current business, providing quality patient care,” explained Bulzomi. “We’d also like to grow the practice, grow the staff, eventually add another dentist, and add more services to the community.”
The first part of that goal was buying Maisey Dental Clinic, which he did last month, not quite a year after he and his wife moved to Watford City and started working at Maisey Dental Clinic.
“I started working for Maisey Dental Clinic after my residency in Denver,” said Bulzomi. “It was the owner’s goal in the beginning to eventually have me run the Watford City dental office. So, fortunately, I was able to do that this month.”
Not only has Bulzomi become a dentist before age 30, he’s become the proud owner of Legendary Smiles, and he also recently became a new dad. Those are quite the accomplishments for a young man on a path to success. Bulzomi has also served the past five years with the North Dakota National Guard.
“Everyone is pretty much law enforcement on my side of the family, so part of the reason I joined the Guard was to keep up a little bit with family tradition,” laughed Bulzomi. “No one else in my family works in the medical field, so it’s just me. I definitely didn’t follow the family career!”
When Bulzomi isn’t busy running his dental office or devoting time in the National Guard, he is busy being a new dad to his five-month-old baby girl, Noelle. And as a family, the Bulzomis enjoy many outdoor activities like going to the lake, skiing, snowboarding, and traveling. They also enjoy trying different foods and restaurants.
“I also really enjoy hunting still, as well as working out,” added Bulzomi. “And I enjoy reading!”
Being involved in the community is also a high priority on Bulzomi’s list. He was involved in the start-up committee for the Young Professionals of Watford City organization. He and his wife attend First Lutheran Church, and Bulzomi is a member of several dental organizations.
“I went to the eighth grade career class last week to talk to the students about being a dentist and the career field,” explained Bulzomi. “And our dental office already went and spoke to the kindergarten class earlier this year. It’s nice that they have opportunities for us to go into the schools and give the kids exposure to different things. It’s a great community to be involved in.”