Meet The Doctors
Dr. Blake Westra, DMD
"I grew up in the West Suburbs of Chicago in the town of Wheaton and moved to Edwardsville, IL while in High School. After graduation, I attended Washington University to complete my undergrad. In 2005 I furthered my studies at Southern Illinois University, School of Dental Medicine. My path to dentistry started with a spring break trip my Junior year of college. It was a mission trip to do construction in Honduras. During that week, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to help in a clinic with physicians and dentist for a day. It was that day that I fell in love with short term medical and dental trips. I went on several more mission trips over the next couple of years, which helped guide my decision into dentistry. Dentistry is one of those things that many people are afraid to have done. I strive to put my patients concerns and well-being as my primary focus and hope to provide a calming, comforting environment for patients. Being able to restore and help maintain a healthy mouth for every patient is a goal of everyone in our office." DMD: Southern Illinois University, School of Dental Medicine Member: American Dental Association (ADA), Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA), Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), Illinois State Dental Society (ISDS), Eastern IL Dental Society Beyond the office, Dr. Blake spends most of his time with his growing family, coaching his kids sports teams and golfing on occasion.
Dr. Zach Ferguson, DDS
Originally being from Bourbonnais, Illinois, I'm glad to be returning to the central Illinois region. Since Bourbonnais, I attended high school in Cleveland, Tennessee, the University of Illinois for undergraduate studies, and Midwestern University for both my Master's of Biomedical Sciences degree and dental school.The motivation behind dental school actually began with a routine dental visit. In high school, I knew I wanted to go into the healthcare field, but was not sure which part of it. At my 6 month check up, my dentist suggested I shadow him for a day and see what I thought. Upon observing the difference a dentist can make in the appearance and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence of a person sealed the deal for me. From then on I focused on becoming a dentist. During my time a U of I, I was a four year member of the Pre-Dental club, traveled to Honduras for a Dental Brigades trip, and volunteered at any dental function I could. This continued into my time at Midwestern where I worked at a dental lab while honing my skills.
Dentistry is something that I genuinely enjoy. Not only just the procedures and technical aspects of it, but the interaction with patients may be my favorite part. I hope to be able to provide you with the best care possible all while making the experience as relaxing as I can
Dr. Daniel Wen, DDS
I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, went to Severna Park High School and attended Johns Hopkins University, Anne Arundel Community College, University of Maryland, and the Oral Roberts University College of Theology and Ministry. Somewhere in mix of my exhaustive schooling experience, I completed a post-baccalaureate research program at the National Institutes of Health (in Bethesda, Maryland), where I worked on mutating mice in the name of dental science.
I later attended Dental School at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from dental school, I returned to Maryland, and then decided that it was maybe time to see the Midwest. I found Marshall Dental Professionals through a representative within the Christian Medical Dental Association. I wanted to work within a dental practice that aims towards delivering fair and compassionate dental care. This is what led me to the vast corn and soybean fields of Southern Illinois and this Dental Office.
I want to work closely with each individual patient in addressing the patient’s most pressing dental health needs, and to make each patient feel an active part in the dental health care process so that the patient knows how to take the necessary long-term steps to improve his or her dental health.
In my spare time, I like to study American and European history, and amass a growing repository of semi-useless American popular culture facts. I have pretty much given up on my abysmally woeful hometown Baltimore Orioles baseball team (I will resume being an Orioles fan after I hear that Peter Angelos has moved on). I also still follow the time-honored tradition of shopping at Goodwill for shirts and office supplies. I am currently in the process of trying to build a bass-pumping, hi-fi surround-sound stereo system that can responsibly fit into my apartment's living room.