WALLOWA — It’s no circus, but Wallowa now has a dentist of its own that James Barnum opened shop downtown Sept. 26 in Big Tooth Family Dentistry.

“No, we’re not part of the circus,” said James, in a joking reference to his distant relative P.T. Barnum, the famous American showman of the 19th century.

This Barnum is a general dentist who provides cleanings, advanced cleanings, composite fillings, crowns, bridges and dentures. He’s planning to begin doing denture realigns, where he re-bases a denture to give it a better fit.

The BarnumsJames comes to Wallowa with wife Emilia and their five children. They came from Milwaukie, a Portland suburb, where they operated a dental practice for 12 years and she worked for a corporate pharmacy.

They first came to visit and then decided to make the move 14 months ago.

“We visited here and the people here are so friendly,” Emilia said. “We saw there wasn’t a dental office here and the doors seemed to just open.”

Both adult Barnums got their respective degrees at Oregon Health & Science University. James earned a DMD — Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry. He said it’s a little different than the usual DDS in that its focus is on whole-body health.

Emilia earned her degree in pharmacology.

James is a native Oregonian, but Emilia has a different tale to tell.

She was born in Romania and came here with her parents at age 10.

“I spoke zero English,” she said.

But that’s hardly evident now, since she worked really hard to get rid of her Romanian accent.

“Now when I see people with an accent, I think, ‘Oh man, it’s nice’ (to not have one),” she said.

“It was a teenage thing, wanting to fit in. It was pretty life-changing for me. I was pretty shy and timid.”

Now the couple has five children, ranging in age from 4-15. They home-school the kids, who are also able to take part in sports programs at Wallowa schools. Their oldest son is on the high school basketball team.

The officeLocated right downtown, Barnum’s office is housed in a building built in 1890 that’s gone through several incarnations.

The building has “a fairly rich and weird history,” he said.

“It’s housed almost everything under the sun,” Emilia said, adding a tie to her profession. “One of the last things was a pharmacy.”

The building was one of the few that didn’t lose all its windows during the disastrous Aug. 11 hailstorm that pummeled Wallowa. However, the Barnums did have to replace the roof.

The practiceSo far, the dentistry is attracting customers locally. He said they’re even getting calls from Union and Umatilla counties, but they are primarily interested in keeping their clientele limited to Wallowa County.

“We want to keep it on a local level,” she said.

James agreed.

“We’ve been saying, no,” he said. “We want to just stay loyal to this little community.”

Emilia works alongside James — when she’s not home-schooling the kids — putting her knowledge as a pharmacist to work.

“She comes in really handy when it comes time to talk medical histories and medications with patients,” he said.

James said he hopes to bring to Wallowa dental services that residents have had to leave town for in the past.

“Right now, people have to go to La Grande or Walla Walla or Idaho and we’re going to start doing that in-house,” he said of some of the dental services.

He said he has no dental hygienist — “I’m it” — but that could change in the future.

“We’ll grow as big as the community wants us to grow, but we’ll do it slow and steady,” he said.

A new homeThe Barnums find living in Wallowa just what they were hoping it would be. Living just a block and a half away from the office, they find it quite convenient.

“One of the big differences between working in the city and out here, down there you’re just in the hustle and bustle of the city, the rat race, and we wanted a slower pace,” James said. “We wanted to know who our neighbors are.”

Emilia agreed.

“We like taking the time to get to know people,” she said. “That’s the beauty of a small community, you get to know them by name and run into them and the grocery store and whatever.”

Also, they like being in a more friendly community than the metro areas.

“I can hang a U.S. flag out the window and not be a target,” James said. “You do that in the city and you’re a target.”

What: General dental care

Who: James and Emilia Barnum

Where: 207 E. First St., Wallowa

Phone: 541-605-3710

Email: bigtoothfamily@outlook.com

Hours: Tuesday-Friday and by appointment

Online: Facebook