Meet Dr. Ellen Nordgren

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a dentist but always loved going there, even when I had to get fillings done. I realized going into my senior year of college that I needed to work with people rather than enter into a career doing research, so I thought, I could be a dentist! Luckily, this was a great decision as I love it. I strive to make patients feel comfortable in the dental chair, which is not most people’s favorite place to spend much time. Helping someone get over a fear of dentistry is incredibly rewarding. I also love helping someone change their smile into one that makes them happy. This can be truly life changing. I think my favorite part of dentistry are the relationships you get to make with patients and how you get to learn about their families and lives outside of the chair.

I grew up in Owatonna, Minnesota, a small town in the southern part of the state. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree at Gustavus Adolphus College in 2005 with a degree in Biology. In went on to complete my DDS at the University of Minnesota in 2009 where I graduated with Honors. I practiced for two years in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN.

During that time, I met my husband Craig, who is a pilot in the F-15 Strike Eagle and was stationed in England at the time. He got orders to move back to Seymour Johnson, so I moved to Goldsboro, NC, and worked in an office in town until 2017. We then moved to Langley AFB in Virginia where I worked in an office in Yorktown until 2020. We were lucky enough to come back to Goldsboro for my husband’s current assignment in the fall of 2020.

When I’m not working, I spend my time with my family. Craig and I are kept very busy with our three kids, Carter, Hannah, and Henry. I also enjoy running and baking to help unwind.

Being a military spouse, I have worked in a number of offices in multiple states. Walking into Hinnant Family Dentistry, it felt like a family instead of a group of co-workers. Not all dental offices have that kind of environment and shows how much each person there cares for each other and their patients. I knew immediately that HFD would be a great place to work and am very excited to be able to join the team.