To meet Dr. Michael G. Willes (pronounced Willis) is to meet someone who truly loves what he does:both the daily challenge of achieving excellence in orthodontics, and the opportunity to interact with exceptional people his patients and staff each day. In all aspects of his life, Dr. Willes is a perfectionist who strives to excel in everything he undertakes.
A Southern California native, Dr. Willes established his practice in Carlsbad in 1996, and cant imagine living anywhere else or doing anything else for a career. His journey here included growing up in Fullerton, where he played high-school football and baseball, and was named football league MVP his senior year.
He went on to play baseball at Brigham Young University, where he was a two-time All-American and led the nation in home runs in 1987 and 1988. In addition to baseball, Dr. Willes took two years off during his undergraduate studies to serve an LDS mission to Paris, France.
After graduating with a pre-dental zoology major and French minor, Dr. Willes continued his education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry where he was on the deans list, had research published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, and graduated with honors. Dr. Willes received his orthodontic specialty training at UCLA. While there, he put braces on himself to know what it felt like since he had never needed them as a kid: He wanted to be sure he understood what his patients would be experiencing.
Dr. Willes has earned the prestigious designation of lifetime Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics. He is also an active member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, and the American and California Dental Associations. Dr. Willes is past president of the San Diego Academy of Orthodontists. As a dental student, he was named to the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society all four years.
In his spare time, Dr. Willes enjoys spending time with his wife, four children and their families, as well as surfing, wakeboarding, riding his motorcycle, running (including three marathons), camping, playing rhythm guitar in a rock band, shaping his own surfboards, and reading. His wifeHeidialso appreciates his ability to repair just about anything and his willingness to tackle all her honey-do requests when hes not taking care of patients.
Carrie is usually the first person youll meet when you call or come into Willes Orthodontics. With more than 30 years of orthodontic experience both in the front office and as RDA, Carrie is qualified to help, whatever your needs. Even more important than her experience, though, is that she loves the chance to serve each patient and her warmth, enthusiasm, and genuine concern for others show through. Carrie explains, It is exciting to see patients smiles transform over the course of treatment, and it is rewarding to see how happy patients are with the end result! I enjoy the opportunity to get to know each patient and hear all the exciting things that happen in their lives during their treatment. She adds, Working for Dr. Willes is an honor. He is a great orthodontist!
Bria chose to work in orthodontics because of positive orthodontic memories from her youth, and now she wantsto make orthodontics great for others. Her goal is to help each patient feel comfortable, cared for, and have fun. As she explains, Ortho is definitely the most fun, enjoyable, rewarding specialty to work in. Getting to know each patient and helping them feel like family is one of my favorite things, especially knowing Ive helped change patients lives one smile at a time. Her experience here is completely opposite that of her youth: Working at Willes Orthodontics is awesome! The team is great, and I love how Dr. Willes is a perfectionist; he truly wants whats best for our patients!
Heidi loves being part of the Willes Orthodontic teamin a variety of supporting roles. As Dr. Willess wife, she utilizes her background in journalism and public relations to oversee the marketing aspects of the practice, like planning and running our fun patient and colleague activities, as well as managing oursocial media.She also does the bookkeepingand she can make a Costco run with the best of em! Her favorite part of being on the team, though, is the chance it gives herto associate with the incredible staff and patients that are Willes Orthodontics. As for the doctor himself, Heidi thinks hes the greatest! But, of course, shes biased. (Heidi also enjoyed taking the beach scene photos for our website.)
When there are so many orthodontic choices out there, Why Choose Willes Orthodontics? is an important question. And our best answer is because not only is Dr. Willes a highly trained, extremely experienced, board-certified orthodontic perfectionist, but because he LOVES what he does: He genuinely enjoys the challenge of providing the best treatment possible and making sure you have the healthiest, most perfect smile imaginable.
The whole Willes Ortho team strives to make the entire experience fun and give you a reason to smile with EVERY interaction. We hope you look forward to coming to our office, not only because you know you will receive amazing orthodontic care, but because you also know well be there to support and cheer you on and celebrate your successes, and even sympathize when things dont always go as hoped in daily life. We want to be your smile-makers in more ways than just straightening your teeth.
We also seek to always communicate clearly, answer all your questions, and address any concerns. Our goal is your complete comfort and trust ...and yourhealthy, beautiful smile.Soif youre not already part of our orthodontic family, we invite you to come get to know us. We would love to serve you in the future.
