June 29th, 2020
I’m Dr. Mark Knoefel. I’m the owner of Oasis Orthodontics here in Edmonton. I actually grew up in Montreal, a small suburb actually of Montreal called St. Bruno. But I was most fascinated by the type of work an orthodontist was doing because it combined science and it also combined art. And those really are my two passions. And I knew already at age 14, that this is what I wanted to do.
Language has always been my passion and I’ve taken courses in Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, and Italian. I just love saying words to patients in their native tongue.
I almost picked a career in music, believe it or not. I grew up playing the piano. And as a teenager, I then switched over to the pipe organ. I studied at the Quebec Conservatory for several years. I was also involved in a lot of amateur acting, some of it was actually with the German Theater of Montreal as well at which actually landed me a very brief part in a Hollywood movie. I kind of joke around and say that being the father of four children kind of means that I do orthodontics as a hobby because it’s such a busy, busy family life. But my involvement with the children is with their music, it’s with outdoor activities. Oftentimes I’m the dad just driving them from one soccer practice to the next soccer game, to their music lessons. I really have to give credit where it’s due and yes, even though I’m quite involved with the kids, my wife’s really the one who is the pillar and the foundation that my wife and I make a great team.
So physical fitness to me has meant that I’m also more alert in general. I feel I provide better care as a result of it. And it’s affected my self confidence and most importantly, the way I look at it is I owe it to my patients to be physically fit and to perform at a top level for years and years to come. I’m not going to lie to you, I still like to act a little bit and fool around a little bit in the practice because having a good time to me is paramount.
And if my patients can laugh and my staff can laugh, then we all can have a more fun day. So I like to do impersonations. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to suffering. So let me make you an offer you can’t refuse, wear your elastics and brush your teeth and please floss.
Send us a note and we will answer it when we release new videos.