PATRICK M. MCDONOUGH D.D.S., M.S., P.A.
Welcome to our website! I’m excited to be a part of the New Bern community, and want to share a little about myself and what brought me to periodontics and implant dentistry.
I was born in Goldsboro and my family moved to Fayetteville when I was 3 years old. Although a “city boy” for most of the year, I spent my summers barning tobacco, picking cucumbers, and helping care for 80,000 turkeys on my uncle’s farm in Duplin County. This was a formative part of my life and taught me the value of hard work and dedication.
My family has a history of military service, and after graduating high school I received an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I majored in biology and completed an individual study course with the staff periodontist, Dr. Charles Powell. This was my first introduction to dentistry, and I never looked back. I have always loved working with my hands, and I’d finally found a profession that combined this with my interest in biology.
Pursuing this new dream, I received a scholarship from the Air Force to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. While there, I met and married the love of my life, Lee. We were both in school and graduated on the same day – I with my Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS), magna cum laude, in 2003, and Lee with her Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health degrees.
JEFFERY R. THOMAS, D.D.S.
Dr. Thomas feels very privileged to have been able to serve the citizens of New Bern as well as the eastern North Carolina region for over 30 years. He has done this not only in treating patients but in civic, education and leadership activities. Understanding community involvement is easy for Dr. Thomas as he was raised in Hubert, NC and graduated from high school in Kinston, NC.
Dr. Thomas began his career by obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also completed his Doctorate in Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) program at the UNC School of Dentistry. He then practiced dentistry for four years with the U.S. Navy, mostly serving the U.S. Marine Corps in Beaufort, S.C. and obtained the rank of Lt. Commander. After that, he went on to complete post-doctoral specialty studies in periodontology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, School of Dentistry where he was also trained in dental implant placement.
After beginning practice in New Bern, Dr. Thomas quickly focused his practice on implants, esthetic periodontal (gum) plastic surgery, and complex interdisciplinary dentistry (involving specialists and your own dentist). In his career, Dr. Thomas has placed almost 10,000 dental implants!
Dr. Thomas additionally has Fellowship status in the prestigious honor societies of the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists. He has also presented several programs for the International Society of Periodontal Plastic Surgery and is a member of that group. He is also a member of the American Dental Society of Dental Anesthesiology, plus has served in the past for almost 25 years on the Sedation and Anesthesia Advisory Committee for the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners in a volunteer position. And of course, Dr. Thomas is a member of the American Dental Association and is a life member of the Southern Academy of Periodontology.
When not involved in education, Dr. Thomas loves to spend his time on the water boating or fishing with friends, family and his dog. He has been blessed to have spent almost his entire life in such a great area with the best folks in the world, as well as the most exceptionally committed staff people of which one could ever ask. Eastern North Carolina is, and will be forever, his much cherished home.