Dr. Cole Peterson

I’m very excited and honored to become part of the Bozeman area dental family. I left Great Falls in 2006, and I’ve been trying to get back to Montana since. My wife, Mollie, and I are very thankful to call Bozeman our new home, and we look forward to becoming active members of its’ community. 

With my training and experience I feel uniquely qualified to operate Bozeman Periodontics. Following graduation from dental school in 2018, I spent a year as general practitioner in a suburb of Denver. At the same time, I completed a fellowship in implant dentistry including the prosthetic aspects rehabilitation. For two years of residency, I worked a day a week providing surgical dentistry in multiple general practice offices in metropolitan Denver. Not only did that provide the opportunity to hone my surgical skill set, but I was able to collaborate on an in-office basis with the referring doctors. 

I’ve known Steve Helm for the past two years due to his connection to my residency director Charles Powell and my primary mentor, Al Sutton, a prosthodontist. Through multiple visits, I found Bozeman and Bozeman Periodontics to be a great fit. Steve and I share many practice and treatment planning philosophies, and I hope to maintain the excellent communication that he’s demonstrated over the years. 

Steve leaves big shoes for me to fill as he’s consistently provided quality periodontal and implant treatment over the last two decades to the Bozeman community. I plan to continue that heritage by placing the patient first, providing comprehensive treatment, and maintaining high levels of communication with you. 

I look forward to the opportunity work with you and we appreciate your continued trust in Bozeman Periodontics as we undergo this practice transition. I look forward to meeting everyone soon!  

Dr. Steven H. Helm  

After graduating from high school with honors, Steve attended Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania where he completed his B.S. in Biology. He obtained his Doctorate of Dental Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine where he earned the Zugsmith Award for Clinical Excellence. Steve has been providing gentle dental care under IV conscious sedation since 1989.

Following Dental School, Steve entered the United States Air Force as a Captain, where he completed a General Practice residency in Washington D.C. at Malcom Grow Medical Center and became a Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry. During his tour at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., Steve took courses at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

After practicing general dentistry for the Air Force in Germany, Steve pursued post-graduate training at the University of Texas Health Science Center and Wilford Hall Medical Center at San Antonio, Texas earning both a Certificate of Periodontics and Master of Science degree. His research has appeared in four scientific journals and he won recognition in the Pritchard Prize competition for dental research.  The University of Texas Health Science Center is a world leader in research in aspects of bone biology, inflammation research, extracellular matrix biology related to regenerating new bone and controlling the loss of bone under a variety of conditions, and bone ridge augmentation in periodontal and implant patients.  He completed the Institute for Laser Dentistry Category 2 Dental Laser Course.

Steve then became board certified as a periodontist and later served as an Instructor of Periodontics in the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. After spending four years in Colorado, Steve and his wife, Colleen, moved to Italy where they biked and skied in the Alps while Steve served as Chief of Periodontics and Deputy Dental Commander at Aviano Air Force Base.

After returning stateside, and realizing an opportunity to move to Bozeman, Steve served his final four years in the Air Force Reserve at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington while simultaneously practicing periodontics in Bozeman. Steve retired from the Air Force as a Colonel in 2009.

Steve is a member of numerous local and national dental organizations, leads a local dental study club, served as president of the Intermountain Society of Periodontists, and has been inducted as a Fellow in the International College of Dentistry.  He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology which requires extensive testing.   Additionally, as a Diplomate he must demonstrate up to date knowledge of periodontal and implant therapy by taking examinations every few years.

Steve and Colleen love spending time together in the outdoors including road and mountain biking; hiking with their two German Shepherds; and telemark, cross country, and alpine skiing. Although they have enjoyed their abundant opportunities for travel they are extremely enthusiastic about their decision 17 years ago to settle down in their favorite choice of mountain towns.