Stephenville, TX & Eastland, TX Dentist
Get to know
Dr. Stephen LaDuque
Dr. LaDuque feels extremely blessed to have a profession that he’s both very skilled at and absolutely loves: being a dentist in Stephenville and Eastland! As a man grounded in faith and family, these blessings lie in his passion supporting his patients, the community, and our team as a healer, teacher, coach, and mentor. He finds immense joy in helping patients become healthier in little and big ways while making them more confident and comfortable with their smiles and lives in general. Every day, he gets up and commits to the intention of supporting his patients while being led by our core values at Texas Dental Excellence, which include the pillars of Spiritual Wellness, Emotional Wellness, Mental/Mindset Wellness, Relational/Family Wellness, Physical Wellness, and Financial Wellness.
Why Did You Want to Become a Dentist?
Dr. LaDuque knew that he wanted to become a healer from a very early age… around 5-7 years old. Even in middle school and high school, he was drawn to the spiritual aspect of people’s journeys as the leader of his youth group for 4-5 churches in Laredo. He volunteered at a local hospital when he was 15-17 years old working in a local ER and NICU unit. While this strengthened his desire to help others, it helped him realize that he wanted to support people earlier in the process of their health, as he typically treated really sick patients dealing with long-neglected problems. The next step in that growth was a job in college, where Dr. LaDuque worked for a newly-established husband and wife dental practice doing everything from janitorial, painting, mowing the yard, assisting with patients, sterilization, taking x-rays and even filing insurance! Dr.LaDuque always had two jobs in college to make ends meet, but it was the dental office that finalized the decision.
Of all people, it was his orthodontist who helped him see where he could truly make a difference. Dentistry would enable him to treat people BEFORE they needed the ER or had serious health issues, boosting their self-confidence at the same time. When this realization took hold, there was no stopping him.
Where Did You Study Dentistry?
Dr. LaDuque attended Texas A&M University, and while in college, he always had to have two jobs to make ends meet. During his sophomore year, one of them was with a pair of local dentists that had just moved to the College Station area. He gained valuable experience with them cleaning the office, assisting patients, and handling the business aspects of the practice. This set him on a path that eventually saw him graduate from the Texas A&M School of Dentistry.
Today, Dr. LaDuque has been providing general and cosmetic dentistry as well as orthodontics for over 30 years. He has attended the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies and earned the highest aspect of training as a Senior Master in Fastbraces. He has also traveled around the nation for several years training other dentists for Fastbraces and Invisalign.
Still striving and learning, Dr. LaDuque is a member of several professional organizations:
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American Dental Association
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Texas Dental Association
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American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
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Academy of General Dentistry
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American Academy of Implant Dentistry
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American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine
Outside of the Dental Office, What Do You Like to Do?
Dr. LaDuque is married to his soulmate, Dr. Jill Wade (a fellow dentist), and they have a combined 6 daughters! They live outside of Stephenville and have a 500-acre grass-fed cattle ranch in Lingleville that Dr. LaDuque and the kids work on often.
Outside of dentistry, Dr. LaDuque has four loves: Faith, Family, Fitness, and Farm. Although 85% of his time is dedicated to these areas, he is also a lover of Texas A&M Aggie football and all things Aggieland (he has two daughters currently attending there). Dedicated to service, he along with Dr. Wade have given talks on several stages with Tim Tebow and Ed Mylett in their efforts to support others through transformational coaching/mentoring.
