New Face Behind the Mask at Key Center Dental

Don Tjossem, KP News

Dr. Matthew J. Cozby. Photo: Don Tjossem, KP News

The Key Peninsula now has twice as many dentists to serve the needs of its residents. Dr. John Olsson, who has had his dental practice in the Key Center Corral for over 30 years, has sold it to Dr. Matthew J. Cozby. Olsson and Cozby will co-manage the affairs of the office and plan few changes, other than those that will benefit the patients, community or clinic employees. Cozby will take over full time, while Dr. Olsson will treat patients eight to 10 days a month. “I am not retiring and presently have no plans to do so,” Olsson said.

Cozby grew up in Anaconda, Montana, a small rural town, and is familiar with the ways of life in a community like the Key Peninsula. He earned his bachelors in health science at Corban University in Salem, Oregon, before attending Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, Tennessee, for his doctorate degree. He entered the U.S. Army as a dentist in 2008. After a residency in general dentistry at Fort Carson, Colorado, he trained in advanced clinical practice at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Soon enough, he found himself living under occasional enemy fire in a combat housing unit in Iraq.

After serving in Iraq, Cozby practiced at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for five years, completing the Academy of General Dentistry Fellowship exam in the spring of 2017, shortly before his honorable discharge in June 2017. After meeting Olsson in a bible study program in Tacoma and learning about the local practice, Cozby began a regular schedule at the Key Center clinic. “I’m excited about providing dental care to our patients here in Key Center on a continuing basis,” Cozby said. “Most of the time in the Army, I’d only see a patient once before they were shipped off to another location.”

Cozby lives in Fircrest with his wife, Rachel, and daughters ages 7, 5 and 1. He enjoys the climate and natural environment of the Pacific Northwest, he said, and his outdoor activities include running, bicycling, clamming and the occasional triathlon.

Expanded services at Key Center Family Dentistry now include implants, periodontal surgery and extractions. A new topical treatment to treat and prevent cavities, silver diamine fluoride, is just one of the procedures that may be offered to patients, Cozby said. For more information, go to keycenterdental.com.