JACKSONVILLE, Texas — After 40 years of fixing teeth and brightening smiles, longtime dentist Dr. Larry Folden at All Smiles in Jacksonville is hanging up the drill and calling it a career.
"Everybody tells you when it comes time to retire that you'll know when the time is right and I'm confident the time is right," Folden said.
Folden said his goal all along was to provide really good dental care to his patients.
"I just have really strived all along the way to just be up to date and provide as good care as was available at the time I was providing the care," Folden said.
Dr. Brad Westbrook with All Smiles in Jacksonville said Folden set the standard for dentistry in East Texas.
"When you think of dentistry, you think of All Smiles, you think of Dr. Folden," Westbrook said. "So we've got a lot to live up to but yes mixed emotions. It's going to be different but he's left us in good standing and just the reputation that he's built up. We're going to miss him."