Dr. Mary Bec Keith is a new dentist in Kinston. Photo by Linda Whittington / Neuse News

A local dental practice recently welcomed a familiar face back to her hometown.

If the newest dentist at Harvey & Associates Family Dentistry looks familiar, it’s probably because she is. Dr. Mary Bec Keith, who joined Harvey & Associates at the beginning of July, is the daughter of Earl and Mary Margaret Keith of Kinston; she’s also a 2010 graduate of Kinston High School. 

Keith graduated from UNC with a degree in biology in 2014 and attended dental school at ECU, graduating in 2018. She then made the decision to spend a year of residency working at the Veterans Administration hospital in Fayetteville. 

She gained experience there doing dental implants, but Keith said the professional experience was almost secondary to the impact of working with veterans who were disabled and all that those interactions with them taught her. 

Choosing to move back home was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“I always knew I wanted to be in Eastern North Carolina,” she said. “I knew I was a small town person. I didn’t know that I would come back (to Kinston) at first, but by the third or fourth year of dental school I knew I wanted to come back and serve the people I had grown up with.”

In many ways, Keith said, it’s almost as if she had never left. 

“People in the community welcome you with open arms whether you’ve been gone for ten years or not. There’s no place like home,” she said.

Keith said she looks forward to getting involved in the community now that she is back in her hometown. She has a sister and a close friend who are teachers, so she plans to volunteer at local schools. She also hopes to become involved with the SPCA.

Libby Smith, a long-time receptionist with Harvey & Associates Family Dentistry, said they are happy to have Keith join the team.

“It’s exciting to see someone her age choose to move back home. It’s going to be great having her here,” Smith said. 

Keith is accepting new patients and looks forward to serving the community.

To learn more about Harvey & Associates Family Dentistry, please visit www.harveyfamilydentistry.com.