Richard B. Lestage, D.D.S., M.P.H.
Submitter: R. B. Lestage
Date: 22 Mar 2008

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DR. RICHARD B. LESTAGE is a native of Jennings, Louisiana, and a 1968 

graduate of Jennings High School.  During high school, he 

was a member of the football team, the Key Club, and the 

Beta Club for scholastics.  He attended undergraduate school 

at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and received a 

Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology in 1971.  In addition 

to a heavy emphasis on chemistry and microbiology, he enjoyed 

numerous courses in history, geography, anthropology, and 

foreign languages.  In 1975, he earned a Master of Public 

Health degree from the Tulane University School of Public 

Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. Dr. Lestage 

then received a full four-year U.S. Navy scholarship to 

attend dental school at the L.S.U. School of Dentistry in 

New Orleans and graduated in May, 1979, as a four-year member 

of the C. Edmund Kells Honor Society.

 

Dr. Lestage began a four-year tour of active duty with the Navy 

in Jacksonville, Florida (1979-1983), including two years aboard 

the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal, which included a Mediterranean 

and North Atlantic cruise and two cruises to the Caribbean. He 

then left active duty to practice in Jacksonville for one year 

after having received a Florida dental license in 1980. Dr. Lestage 

returned to Louisiana to practice in New Orleans for two years 

prior to moving to Dumfries, Virginia, to practice with Dr. James 

Hale in February, 1987. He has practiced general dentistry here 

continuously since then, and has also maintained a position with 

the U.S. Naval Reserve, promoted to the rank of Commander in 1990.  

Dr. Lestage is also a clinic supervisor for the new Germanna 

Community College Dental Hygiene Program in Fredericksburg, Virginia.



Dr. Lestage has been an active member since 1988 in the American 

Dental Association, Virginia Dental Association, and the Northern 

Virginia Dental Society. Dr. Lestage is also actively licensed to 

practice in Florida and Louisiana, and has an inactive license in 

Tennessee. He was also credentialed for a license in Maryland in 

1986. Dr. Lestage has maintained steady involvement in continuing 

education throughout the years, including many A.D.A. conventions, 

the D.C. Dental Meeting, the Hinman Dental Meeting in Atlanta, the 

Florida Dental Conference, the New York Dental Conference, U.S. 

Navy courses at Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. Army courses at Walter 

Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.,the National Institutes 

of Health in Bethesda, limited attendance workshops in Phoenix, 

Arizona, and many correspondence courses on all dental subjects. 

He is also C.P.R. certified. A credentials book of certificates 

is maintained at the office for clients’ inspection.  



As far as non-professional interests, Dr. Lestage has enjoyed 

the study of history for many years, having won the Woodman of 

the World history award in grade school.  He has also enjoyed 

traveling extensively throughout the United States, Mexico, 

Canada, and Western Europe.



Prior to his move to Virginia, Dr. Lestage returned to L.S.U. 

in Baton Rouge to complete graduate level courses in nutrition 

and exercise physiology.  He has maintained a vigorous physical 

fitness schedule for many years, including jogging and weight 

training. Overall health is of great importance to him, with 

dental health as an integral part.



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[July 2004 Follow-up] 

"I must mention that I am only maintaining a very part-time practice in

Virginia at this time. I decided to pursue practice elsewhere on a couple of

occasions in the past year and a half. I am currently practicing as a

civilian contractor for the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and

residing in Pinehurst, N.C., for the time-being. I plan to return to

Virginia from time-to-time to treat my former patients. However, this may

not be my final disposition. I have even considered a move to Fort Polk in

Louisiana, near most of my family in DeRidder."