Bradley D. Harrelson, DMD

Dr. Bradley Dale Harrelson completed his Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston at the Texas Medical Center. Prior to pursuing a dental career, he received a Masters of Divinity from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary at which time he served as the youth pastor for the First Baptist Church of San Francisco, CA. Just prior to dental school in Mississippi, he served as the clinic director for the Mission First Christian Medical and Dental Clinic, a non-profit clinic in Jackson, MS. It was ministering to the physical needs of these patients through the help of volunteer dentists that he was drawn to dentistry. Dr. Harrelson was a recipient of a highly competitive Health Professions Scholarship from the United States Air Force (USAF) and received his DMD in 2007 from the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry in Jackson, Mississippi. While in dental school at the University of Mississippi, he was extremely involved in organized dentistry serving as the national president for the American Student Dental Association in 2005-2006 as a third year dental student. After dental school, he was appointed by the American Dental Association president to serve on the ADA Strategic Planning Committee and as the Air Force Liaison to the ADA’s New Dentist Committee. After dental school, he was stationed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, DC, where he completed an AEGD-1 residency. After completion of the residency, he served four years as a general dentist at the Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota. While serving in South Dakota as Deputy Flight Commander of the 28th Medical Group Dental Clinic, he received several awards for his service among which was the Air Force-level award for Outstanding Junior Clinical Dentist of the Year in 2010 and the Air Combat Command MajCom award for Outstanding Junior Clinical Dentist of the Year in 2010. While serving as a staff oral and maxillofacial surgeon on the faculty of the Advanced Education in General Dentistry Residency Program at the 96th Medical Group at Eglin Air Force Base, he also received the Outstanding Clinical Dentist of the year in 2017 for the Air Force Materiel Command MajCom.

Over the years, he has also used his alter-ego of Dr. Juggles to educate and minister to children and adults. This began during a mission trip in his first year of dental school in which he began to use juggling to grab the attention of children and subsequently provide oral health education. Each February while at Ellsworth AFB and at Eglin AFB, he used Dr. Juggles during National Children’s Dental Health Month to provide oral health education to multiple elementary schools which was covered by Air Force Public Affairs for the Defense Media Activity Channel along with local news channels.

While being stationed in this area, Dr. Harrelson enjoyed investing in the community by volunteering as a leader in the Student Ministry at Crosspoint Church in Niceville and donating time to provide for the oral surgery needs of patients at the Crossroads Dental Clinic in Valparaiso. That is one of the main reasons that he is so excited about this practice because it provides a way that his family can continue to serve the community in which they were already so invested.

Shortly after arriving in the Emerald Coast in July 2016 upon receiving our orders to Eglin Air Force Base to serve as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, his family fell in love with the area and it just felt like home even though they have lived in several great communities throughout his Air Force career.  So, the Harrelsons were happy to say that the area that always felt like home for their family had really become home as they planted deep roots here in this community through this practice. 

Family has always been of utmost importance to Dr. Harrelson; and if you are around him long, it is certain that you will hear stories of his wife and children and how proud he is of them. Dr. Harrelson is married to Kasey Harrelson, and they have three wonderful children.

Kasey also serves the Emerald Coast as a realtor for MVP Realty. During college, Kasey was a scholar-athlete in basketball at Louisiana State University for two years and at the Master’s College in Santa Clarita, CA, for two years. She is extremely talented and has served anywhere from Wells Fargo Financial in San Francisco and Jackson to serving as the director of children’s ministry in South Dakota to a realtor in Florida. She has been amazing in all those capacities while never ceasing to be the number one Super Fan for our children in all of their endeavors.   Bradley and Kasey have three wonderful children:  Abbie, Logan, and Colby. 

The Harrelsons are committed to the communities of the Emerald Coast and look forward to serving it and its members for many years to come!

WHY IS THERE A DOLPHIN HIDDEN IN OUR LOGO??

You may have noticed that within the tooth/implant logo, there is a dolphin hidden in the wave that is rolling out of the tooth. Why is there a dolphin hidden in our logo? From the very first day of my family’s arrival in this area of the Emerald Coast we saw beautiful dolphins frolicking in the bay as we crossed the Rocky Bayou Bridge and later the Tom’s Bayou Bridge with our realtor. Every time we go out on the bay or to Crab Island or into the Gulf in a boat, we love to see the energetic dolphins playing in the crystal-clear, blue waters around and below us. It was one of the things that made us fall in love with this area and desire to plant our lives here and I must say, seeing dolphins play in the waters around us just never gets old! It is one of those great things that reminds us that we are blessed to live every day in an area where people come to vacation!!

Something is reassuring and peaceful about their playful antics. They seem to happily grin while leading carefree lives. It is known that dolphins, like humans, are intelligent, and possess a strong sense of community. They are brave as well, as dolphins don’t turn tail when threatened by predators like sharks. They fight back! For centuries, many ancient cultures gave dolphins a special place in their legends, myth, and folklore. To this day, seafaring cultures continue to value dolphins as a symbol of protection. Sailors of many nations consider a dolphin to be lucky, or a good omen. Often, this was for practical reasons, as pods of dolphins frequent shipping lanes and coastal areas where humans dwell. For the earliest seafarers, a dolphin would have been a welcome sight and sign that dry land wasn’t far away. Old sea dogs knew that dolphins following a ship was a good omen, as their boat was sure to reach harbor safely.

So, through the years, dolphins have been long considered good-hearted, cheerful, kind-hearted, socially-supportive protectors; and that is what we strive to be for you at Blue Water Oral Surgery Center! May this always be a place where you will feel cared about just as you would around your own caring, loving family and where you will know that your health and well-being will always be protected by us! We look forward to taking care of you!