Loeta Robles – Transforming Lives With Tooth Fairy Magic

Loeta Robles, DDS, transforms lives with knowledge, compassion and a bit of “tooth fairy magic.” Photos by Nicole Roberts Photography.

Tooth fairy magic seems to transform lives at 101 Raley Boulevard in Chico, CA. In 1991, 16-year-old Loeta Robles began as an office assistant for the only female dentist in town, Barbro Beckett. She emerged with a new mentor, a new passion and a new career path.

Dentistry was the perfect path

Barbro became “like a second mom” to Loeta and encouraged her to pursue dentistry. Loeta eagerly became a hygienist, but resisted going for her doctorate, feeling somehow inadequate to become a dentist. It wasn’t until her pregnancy with her second daughter, Elliana, that she began to reconsider.

“At first I thought it was pregnancy hormones,” Loeta laughs. But her husband, Jesse, agreed that dentistry was the perfect path for her. “I thought I wasn’t the type of person to be a dentist, whoever or whatever I thought that should be. When my girls were born, I realized I didn’t ever want them to think like that. I want them to know they can do whatever they want to do. I couldn’t tell them I didn’t become a dentist just because I didn’t think I could.” In 2015, Loeta graduated from University of California, San Francisco with her doctorate in dental surgery.

Tongue tie release helps infants nurse

After completing her doctorate, Loeta began following up on a suggestion to look into tongue tie — a condition in which extra tissue below the tongue restricts the tongue’s movement. This condition can cause serious nursing problems for infants unless it’s “released” (corrected) with a small surgery known as frenectomy. Loeta learned how to perform the procedure and now helps families from all over the North State, including babies on the verge of hospitalization for failure to thrive. “Some parents have been told their babies are lazy, but babies aren’t innately lazy,” Loeta explains. “It could be that they fall asleep nursing because tongue tie makes nursing take too much energy.” With greater use of their tongues, infants can get proper nutrition and return to health within days.

Self-doubt and self-confidence

While Loeta freely admits to battling self-doubt on her journey, Barbro has watched Loeta gain confidence over the years. Upon Barbro’s retirement, for example, Loeta took on leadership of a study club Barbro had spearheaded. The group of dental professionals meets monthly to discuss current treatment plans and complicated cases.

“Most of the men in the study club have been dentists for way longer than Loeta has,” Barbro says, “and Loeta has no problem with that. I love that about her; she just goes straight for it.”

Helping Camp Fire survivors and area dentists

“Going straight for it,” however, does not mean striking out alone; Loeta emphasizes the importance of teamwork and delegation. After the 2018 Camp Fire, for example, survivors needed replacement dentures and oral health care. Dentists who had practiced in the burned-out area needed new tools and workspaces. Loeta organized 45 local dental professionals and developed a team approach to meet these needs, such as offering a few of the rooms in her office for displaced dentists to use.

Mentoring a new college graduate

In 2016, Loeta agreed to let Bella Reynolds — a new college graduate —observe her dental practice. Bella emerged with a new mentor, a new passion and a new career path.

“Loeta not only colored the world of dentistry for me,” Bella says, “but she taught me many life lessons, like how to be a rockstar working mom with a balanced at-home life. While many call me her ‘mini me,’ our mentorship has never been about her creating me to be just like her, but giving me the opportunity to create myself.”

Loeta deeply values community

Whether on the individual level with mentees like Bella or on the professional scale with her clients, Loeta Robles deeply values community. She gratefully remembers receiving overwhelming support when she was commuting to and from San Francisco for her doctorate.

“My daughters are 12 and 14 now, but they were three and five at the time,” she recalls. “Elliana’s preschool teacher offered to keep her all day, and even picked up Julia from kindergarten so Jesse only had to go to one place to pick them up after school. They even sent me photos of the girls throughout the day.”

Advice for new parents — say yes to any help

Reflecting on that hectic season, Loeta always advises new parents to “say yes to any help that people offer. It doesn’t show any weakness on your part. You’re not meant to do this all by yourself or know how it all works from the get-go. You’re supposed to have a support system.”

As a friend, mentor, mother, and healthcare professional, Loeta Robles helps build that support system for parents in the North State with energy, compassion, and maybe just a little bit of (tooth) fairy dust.