He has been active in numerous local civic service organizations. He has served as President of the Jackson Community College Alumni Association, the Jackson Host Lions Club, the Jackson District Dental Society, and the Jackson Community College Foundation. He has also served as a board member and President of the Country Club of Jackson.
He is a member of several professional organizations including the American and Michigan Dental Associations, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the American Equilibration Society. He is a Fellow of the International College of Dentistry and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He is also an alumnus of the L.D. Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education. He received the prestigious Fellowship Award from the Academy of General Dentistry in 2012.
His pursuit of continuing post graduate education in dentistry has taken him world-wide, from Jackson to London, England. He has also studied in Boulder, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Diego, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Toledo, Chicago, Nashville, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Tampa, Miami, Boston, Omaha, Sanibel Island, and Whitefish, Montana. With his more than 28 years of clinical experience, Dr. Slete has combined over 3,500 hours of advanced learning since graduation from dental school. He has concentrated his knowledge in comprehensive treatment of the patient for total health with an emphasis on cosmetic and restorative dentistry. He emphasizes not only the cosmetic result, but also how teeth fit together and work together. This knowledge allows him to recommend and provide treatment for his patients that will look their best and function the longest.
Dr. Slete is the recipient of the Michigan Dental Association Young Dentist Leadership Award. He is one of only two dentists in the entire state to ever be the national recipient of the American Dental Association Golden Apple Aware for Distinguished Achievement. He also has received the Jackson Community College Award for Distinguished Service and the Jackson Leadership Academy Alumnus of the Year for 2010.
Dr. A.J. Balaze is a native of Davison, Michigan. He received his bachelors degree in Human Biology from Michigan State University, and graduated from Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio in 2013. At Case Western he received the International Congress of Oral Implantologists Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to research and education in the field of Oral Implantology. During his dental education, Dr. Balaze was a contributor to a research study analyzing the accuracy and consistency of Cone Beam Computed Tomography used in dental procedures. He also contributed to the Bolton-Brush Growth Study Collection, which comprises the worlds most extensive source of longitudinal human growth data.
Dr. Balazes dental experience started at an early age working as an assistant at his fathers practice in Lapeer, Michigan. He then gained an even greater knowledge of the dental profession while working as a laboratory technician at Ward Dental Lab in Brighton, Michigan. Dr. Balaze has also traveled to Las Vegas, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit and Boston in pursuit of furthering his dental education.
Dr. Balaze is a member of the American Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, Michigan Dental Association, and the Jackson District Dental Society. He currently resides in Dexter, Michigan with his wife Julia and children, Luke,Evelyn and Zachary. Dr. Balaze enjoys hockey, golf, guitar and photography.