The Future of Dentistry: How Dr. Andrea Joy Smith Changes Lives with Modern Oral Health Methods
Dr. Andrea Joy Smith
Corporate Business News Sponsored by Business Watch Global
California’s capital city of Sacramento has something big to smile about because it's home to a bustling oral health clinic that has joyfully dedicated itself to transforming community smiles using life-changing modern dental techniques for decades.
A patient-centered approach that leaves people at peace, fulfilled, and enthused about the work done at her office is what Sacramento Dentist Dr. Andrea Joy Smith prides herself on.
For years, local residents have been on the receiving end of top-notch dental services provided by Smith, who founded her dental practice, Dr. Andrea Joy Smith Family Dentistry in Sacramento in 2001.
Her philosophy of practicing care-focused dentistry is rooted in the belief that oral healthcare is meant to be treated with compassion. That, combined with a deep understanding of patient needs, and being well-versed in cutting-edge technologies is Smith’s recipe for administering case-specific remedies that align with the highest standards of modern dental care.
Though still a practice that performs general dentistry procedures like cleanings, fillings, and crowns, Smith has gone the extra mile by obtaining advanced certifications in procedures not commonly offered by general dentists such as Botox, Lumineers, Oral Conscious sedation, Invisalign™️ and One-Piece Dental Implants.
Smith’s passion for honing her craft of dentistry has not only led her on countless quests to find solutions for those in her care, but it has also earned her coveted recognition by her peers. She has accepted prestigious industry awards and earned prestigious accolades including:
The Lucy Hobbs Project Award – Recognizing women in dentistry who are trailblazers in leadership, mentoring, and clinical excellence
Lifetime Member, Who’s Who in Dentistry
Diplomate, International Congress of Oral Implantologists (ICOI)
Diplomate, International Academy of Mini Dental Implants (DIAMDI)
Certified Clinician, Pinhole Surgical Technique Academy
Member, Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation (DOCS Education)
Member, Academy of General Dentistry (AGD)
For a full list of Smith’s professional honors and affiliations, visit www.drandreajoysmith.com/awards-affiliations.
Going out of her way to find fresh answers to the oral health problems plaguing the lives of her patients has been the cornerstone of Smith’s practice since its inception; which is how she became who she is today: a beloved healthcare provider who is eager to go the lengths required to research the latest advancements in dentistry. Her intention is to offer the best service possible to the community of people she serves.
According to Smith, her devotion to achieving high levels of success in her field comes from her upbringing. Born to Entrepreneur Andrew Lee Morrow (1926 - 2006) and Teacher’s Aide Gladys Morrow (1929 -2012) in 1960, Smith was raised in the city of Compton in Los Angeles, California.
Being the ninth of eleven children, Smith describes her childhood as one filled with love and notes the gratitude she holds for the sacrifices her parents made in order to ensure their family had adequate resources for seeking out the best opportunities life had to offer.
One major sacrifice her parents made was moving from Birmingham, Alabama, Smith's original birth place, to Los Angeles, California just before her second birthday. The purpose of the move was to provide the entire family access to the best possible education and career opportunities.
This happened in the years following the Jim Crow era and Smith’s father believed that a city like Los Angeles would offer greater prospects for long-term success. That sentiment was accompanied by his presumption of less racial tension in California compared to Alabama, which solidified his choice to move the family.
“He felt that we would have a better opportunity of getting higher education”, said Smith, explaining her father’s rationale behind the move.
These teachings, coupled with the deep love she felt toward her set of siblings, still evoke in her a sense of comfort and appreciation for her childhood years.
From her perspective, a notable benefit of being part of such a large family was the abundance of inspiration to draw from when starting on her path of higher education and business.
“Having older siblings shaped my ambition because I aspired to be successful like them”, said Smith.
Her enthusiasm for learning originated during her early years of education. Smith attended Longfellow Elementary School, Walton Jr. High School and Compton Senior High School; all in Los Angeles’ city of Compton. For her, performing well in the classroom was a way of showing gratitude to her parents for the life they created for her.
“I wanted my parents to be proud of me”, Smith explained, gleefully describing the childlike innocence that sparked her joy for learning and excelling in school.
This eagerness was further encouraged by memorable teachers she encountered who she distinctly remembers vocally expressing their satisfaction with her academic performance.
One of those memorable educators was Mr. James, Smith’s 5th grade teacher who, as she recalls, expressed a lot of confidence in her.
“His praise for me sparked the desire in me to do better in my primary education”, said Smith as she reminisced about the source of her motivation for thriving in those elementary and junior high years. Assurances like these made her feel even better about the effort she put forth in her studies.
When it came time for college, Smith was accepted into the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and decided to attend largely due to its proximity to family. She would go on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology; soon after which, she married and started a family with her current husband of 40 years, Leland Smith.
Dr. Andrea Joy Smith and Husband Leland Smith
But, even with achieving these milestones, life after college wasn’t everything Smith had hoped for. She quickly realized that her then-current level of education wouldn’t afford her the future she had in mind for herself and her family.
While working as a night clerk for aerospace and defense technology company Northrop Corporation (Now Northrop-Grumman), Smith became pregnant with her first son, Ryan (born in 1988). Upon finding out she was with child, she felt deeply moved by the idea of setting a high example for her future offspring. She knew that if she wanted to be an inspiration, she would have to lead by example. For Smith, this meant going after bigger dreams than the ones she had already achieved.
“While I was on maternity leave, I thought about my ambitions and my aspirations. I felt that if I didn’t go back to school to achieve my dreams, I would not be able to be a good example to my children to inspire them to follow their dreams. That’s when I decided to go to dental school”, Smith explained.
It was at this time that Smith began hatching a plan for how to build a new life for herself that would both satisfy her ambitions and set a positive example for her future children she knew would be looking up to her.
@VSNewsNetwork
•
@VSNewsNetwork •
The idea of working in healthcare was a natural next step for Smith who felt a strong calling for helping people and being a source of light in their lives. One afternoon, Smith decided to participate in a charity program run by the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Dentistry in which volunteers visited underserved communities with a mobile dental clinic offering free dental services.
“I enjoyed watching the dentists provide care to these children who were eager to be interacted with. I liked seeing the kids happy while getting treated and taken care of”, said smith.
After witnessing the unforgettable joy-filled smiles on the children’s faces she had a hand in helping, Smith settled on the idea of becoming a dentist.
What had begun as a day of simply wanting to lend a helping hand had unknowingly changed the course of Smith’s life forever. It was then that she officially started to put her plan of becoming an oral healthcare provider into action.
After completing the additional general education courses necessary for dental school admittance at an accelerated pace, Smith’s life began to move fast. With a 3.98 GPA, she scored well above the national average on the DAT (Dental Admissions Test), granting her admission into 22 of the 23 dental schools she applied to. After much consideration, she and her newly-formed family migrated to Northern California where she would attend and graduate from dental school at the University of California, San Francisco in 1994; following the birth of her second child, Vincent, in 1989.
Dr. Andrea Joy Smith on stage at the 2025 University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry Alumni Association Career Panel (April, 2025).
After years of practicing dentistry with various colleagues, Smith established her dental practice in Sacramento in 2001. Since then, she has been on a mission to provide resolve for people in search of high-quality, leading-edge dental services.
All these years later, Smith’s career has amounted to her being on the receiving end of multiple industry awards, serving thousands of patients, earning prestigious dental titles, and pushing the boundaries of innovation by learning how to perform modern dental procedures that have changed the lives of those who have sat in her chair.
While the scope of her achievements is impressive by any measure, Smith says she did not quite expect her humble dream of wanting to help others to evolve into the robust career it has become today.
“I always tried to stay patient-focused. My goals were simply to take care of patients and create a life for my family. Beyond that, I never thought my practice would be anything other than providing those things”, Smith explained.
Offering progressive oral health solutions has been a passion for Smith since the beginning of her dental career. On top of performing general dentistry procedures, Smith received advanced training in procedures like Invisalign, PerioProtect, Veneers, Lumieers and Sedation dentistry. According to Smith, this was all in an effort to make her practice better for her patients and set it apart from other general dentistry practices.
In the midst of growing her practice, Smith realized that people had oral health needs which superseded the existing methods traditionally offered as the industry standard in dentistry. The constant exposure to unique patient issues prompted her to seek out answers to dental problems for the benefit of her patients.
“Patients were having complex dental problems that were not easy to fix. When I would come across a patient that had a complex problem, I would set on a quest to find the answer”, Smith said, explaining her motivation behind going above-and-beyond for people who had already exhausted traditional treatment options.
Overtime, Smith recognized a pattern in the plights experienced by her patients as it related to their oral care. She noticed that they typically consulted with numerous doctors in hopes of resolving their issues, but were often left with no solution. This highlighted a defect in the oral healthcare industry, which prompted Smith to hunt for answers beyond conventional treatment methods.
“I wanted to be the dentist that provided the solution; not just for a singular patient, but for the patients who are to come as well”, said Smith, reflecting on what still drives her to find innovative techniques to solve dental problems.
This was the very situation Smith found herself in in 2007, when a patient arrived at her office with a loose-fitting denture. When searching for a way to help, Smith discovered the use of a specific type of dental implant: The One-Piece Dental Implant. After years of taking courses on all types of oral implantology, Smith achieved proficiency in the One-Piece Procedure and started using them to replace missing teeth and stabilize loose dentures.
One-piece dental implants are a minimally invasive way to solve the problem of ill-fitting dentures and missing teeth. Similar to traditional dental implants, they involve inserting a metal screw into the gum that serves as a base for the denture, tooth, or row of teeth to sit on. What makes them different from traditional implants, however, is that they come in one piece as opposed to the multiple parts involved with traditional dental implants. On top of that, they require significantly less bone in order to place. These game-changing features allow the procedure to be less invasive, less costly, more efficient and thus more attainable for a wider group of people. The surgery of the one-piece dental implant procedure compared to that of traditional implants does not require removing a large amount of bone which keeps the blood supply in tact, resulting in less healing time for the patient. That, compared to the fewer parts that form the implant itself, make the procedure an all-around more simple experience to tolerate and recover from.
“One piece dental implantology is a less invasive way to accomplish the same end result of replacing missing teeth and securing loose dentures. They are made of the same medical grade titanium that traditional implants are made of. They fuse to bone, and are stronger in that they are one solid piece as opposed to the multiple parts that make up traditional dental implants. It’s one piece and one surgery and does not require disruption of the blood supply. The blood supply is what provides the nutrition to the bone in order for it to grow back, but if you’ve disrupted the blood supply, it’s going to take much longer for the site to heal”, said Smith, explaining why this procedure is deemed cutting-edge.
Because of these characteristics, one-piece dental implants come with less healing time, reducing post operative pain. These factors significantly increase access to care for people who have minimal bone to work with as well as limited finances.
While she recognizes the beneficial impact that traditional implants have had in the field of dentistry for decades, according to Smith, the One-Piece Dental Implant Procedure is a “new, modern approach”.
The innovation, simplicity, and effectiveness of this new way of replacing missing teeth and securing loose dentures has lead Smith to coin the phrase “The One-Piece Dental Implant Paradigm” to describe the forward-thinking nature of this procedure.
A paradigm, as commonly defined, is a standard, perspective, or set of ideas. The One-Piece Dental Implant Paradigm, when compared to the conventional dental implant model, introduces a new framework for addressing the problem of missing teeth and loose dentures. Traditionally, implant procedures involved disrupting the blood supply, removing significant amounts of bone, and placing multi-part implants that required extended healing time to fuse with the bone. In contrast, the One-Piece Dental Implant Paradigm is guided by a different set of principles—favoring a minimally invasive, conservative, and flapless surgical approach.
Smith believes this new method of placing dental implants aligns with the broader trend in modern medicine favoring less invasive procedures.
Before and after photos of a patient whose smile was restored using One-Piece Dental Implants
“The reason why this one-piece dental implant paradigm is so progressive is because it’s keeping in line with that modern trend. What makes it so minimally invasive is the fact that we’re not disrupting the blood supply, we’re removing a minimal amount of bone, and we are allowing the patient’s body to heal faster”, she explains.
According to Smith, finding this one procedure for a single patient has ended up helping thousands more who suffered with similar issues.
“When I set out in 2007 to solve a loose denture problem for one patient, it spiraled into being able to help hundreds of patients with loose dentures and thousands with missing teeth, as well as people in need of full mouth restorations. My natural curiosity and desire to advance my skills led me to doing fixed dental implantology”, said Smith.
One-piece dental implants have become a staple service in Smith’s dental clinic. The idea that a smile can be transformed in a single visit is revolutionary in the field of dentistry; especially when compared to traditional dental implantology, which is a process that requires 3-6 months of healing time as well as additional surgeries.
Smile transformation using One-Piece Dental Implants
“When a patient comes in with a single missing tooth or one that needs to be extracted and replaced, I can, in one visit, remove a tooth, place an implant and a temporary crown in the same day. For the patient, that is life changing because the alternative is to have it extracted and wait for the bone to heal to place the conventional implant; or to wear a removable appliance until the bone heals”, explained Smith.
Smith’s hands-on approach does not go unnoticed by those on the receiving end of her care. Recently, an elderly patient of hers who she spent years treating passed away. The woman’s husband personally reached out to Smith to inform her about how much the effort she put forth on his wife’s case meant to her and their family. While attending the funeral, the patient’s family members expressed their gratitude for the love and care Smith showed while working to improve her oral health.
Reflecting on the case, Smith remembers how much of an impact having her teeth fixed had on her life. Before the procedure, her patient was unwilling to marry her husband as she was insecure about the appearance of her smile.
“I’m glad they were able to get married. She would not marry him until she got her teeth fixed, but she was scared to get them fixed because every doctor that saw her ridiculed her for letting her teeth get so bad before trying to find a solution. I try to sit down and meet the patient where they are without passing judgement. When I went to the funeral, all three of her children said to me: ‘Our mom loved you so much’. Beyond the dentistry, she and her family could see how much I cared for her as a person”, said Smith, detailing the heartwarming moment from her perspective.
Stories like this remind Smith of the reason she got into healthcare in the first place: to make a positive impact on the lives of people placed in her care.
Replacing teeth and stabilizing dentures using the One-Piece Dental Implant procedure has afforded Smith the ability to produce fast and effective results with minimal pain for her patients. Because of the procedure, Smith’s practice has become a hub for patient appreciation and life-changing moments as patients who have been searching for an answer to their oral health issues are finally able to receive the care that they need. Seeing patients smile, increase their confidence and restore normal function to their oral cavity is what warms Smith’s heart each and every day she’s able to deliver these results.
“Since I’ve been doing implantology, I’m moved almost every single day by patients who are grateful to have their oral health back on track”, said Smith.
Stories of patients feeling grateful for services they receive at Smith’s office are plentiful. She recalls recently seeing another patient: a childhood gunshot wound victim who received One-Piece Dental Implants ten years ago. He came into her office for a return visit regarding a separate issue.
“The first thing he said to me when he walked in was: ‘My implants are holding up fine!’”, expressing gratitude for the work she had done to his smile all those years ago.
In this case, the bullet he took to the jaw left him with very little bone in his mouth. An oral surgeon had previously attempted to place conventional implants that eventually failed. But, thanks to the minimally invasive nature and smaller size of one-piece dental implants, Smith was able to give him a set of teeth to eat and function with, saving him from wearing a partial removable denture that he wasn’t pleased with at the time.
“I had an implant to fit his bone, rather than trying to build his bone to fit an implant. The smaller diameter one-piece implants were just what he needed in order to have long-lasting treatment that is still doing well today, ten years later”, Smith explained.
The beauty of this specialized procedure is that the benefits do not just stop at the patient level, they also extend to doctors willing to learn and implement it into their office. In the next stage of her career, Smith’s expertise in the One-Piece Dental Implant procedure has allowed her to become an educator for doctors who are interested in learning how to perform it.
Dr. Andrea Joy Smith educates doctors on how to perform the One-Piece Dental Implant Procedure during an in-person training session
In 2022, Smith partnered with dental education company Dental Practice Mastery to create a series of courses designed to help teach doctors advanced procedures such as this one. By participating in the course, not only are doctors given detailed instructions on how to perform the procedure and implement it into their dental practices, but Smith participates in hands-on training that includes monthly coaching calls, in-person visits, and an open question and answer forum to help guide doctors through the proper techniques for integrating the procedure.
“This one-piece implant procedure that I have become an expert at has impacted so many of my patients’ lives. As many patients as I have personally transformed, there are thousands and thousands more that need the same type of transformation. If I can provide the type of education that will allow more dentists to do the procedure in a less invasive manner, it would open up access to dental implant care that most patients either can’t afford or are told they don’t have enough bone for. This procedure increases access to care for patients who have been locked out of receiving dental implants. Now that I can educate other doctors, my reach is lot further than I ever imagined”, said Smith, explaining the importance of her role as a dental mentor and educator.
As helping patients has always been at the center of Smith’s reason for practicing dentistry, Smith’s oral health clinic has evolved into a place to receive the most modern care that the dental industry has to offer. The reason why Smith has put so much focus on the One-Piece Dental Implant Procedure is because the more patients she has helped with it, the more the word of mouth has spread, therefore amplifying the widespread need for this type of treatment.
“My practice sort of evolved into being one that focuses on patients with missing teeth that were in need of extreme dental rehabilitation. When I solve a patient’s problem, it really makes me feel good”, Smith explained.
The success Smith has had in helping people regain proper oral health reinforces the mission of helping people smile she had all those years ago while volunteering with the University of Southern California.
“I want them to get the treatment they’re seeking. I want them to get their confidence back. I want them to get their oral health back because your oral health is a gateway to your general health; and if I can restore their oral health, I’ve gone a long way in helping them maintain their general health”, said Smith.
The one-piece dental implant procedure is not the only specialized procedure Smith offers her patients that are in need of pioneering dental solutions. After successfully adding one-piece implants to her list of services, in 2017, Smith embarked on learning how to use Botox to treat muscle-related TMJ orofacial pain.
At the time, Smith was invested in doing full-mouth reconstructions and replacing missing teeth with one-piece dental implants. It was then that she realized a separate issue: patients who suffered from bruxism could not only damage their natural teeth, but could also have a negative impact on the dental implants that they were investing in.
Full Article: A Full Guide to Botox For Dentists
“I set out to find a solution that would help to preserve not only their natural teeth, but if implants were involved, I wanted to be able to protect the investment they were making into their implants”, Smith explained.
Preserving oral structures was not the only benefit that administering botox has, it also serves as an instant pain reliever to the muscles related to bruxism.
“The muscles that are associated with bruxism, which are the muscles of mastication and eight or nine other head and neck muscles, cause intense pain. As I was treating the bruxism problem, the patients were also getting relief from the muscle pain”, said Smith.
These reasons are what prompted Smith to seek out additional education in order to achieve proficiency in administering botox as a dentist.
“I did a mini residency in TMJ and orofacial pain at The University of Southern California. I also took some more advanced classes at The American Academy of Facial Aesthetics, taking their entire TMJ curriculum. I also attended the Aesthetic Learning Center at Buffalo New York and later became an instructor at the Aesthetic Learning Center teaching other dentists how to administer botox for TMJ-related muscle pain”, Smith said, passionately explaining her joy for learning and spreading the word about this innovative procedure.
Patients suffering from TMJ-related muscle pain is a common issue that arises in the oral health industry and occurs when patients have muscles that are overused. In these cases, the jaw muscles are constantly in a state of being contracted. With these patients, the jaw pain often comes with other pain points like headaches, shoulder aches and pain in the entire head and neck region. When patients experience this issue, the jaw muscles grow to sizes larger than normal and often bulge out of the face.
“Botox relaxes those muscles to stop that over contraction. When the muscles are not over contracting, they can elongate, they can be free of pain, and they can slenderize back to their normal size and shape. Oftentimes patients feel relief instantly, though it usually takes about three days for the botox to propagate the entire muscle. The relief lasts up to three months”, explained Smith.
Relieving patients of pain in this manner is right up Smith’s alley of being the light in their lives. It’s common for patients to have been walking around with head and neck pain for years before seeking a solution like Botox.
Over the years, Smith has also put together a full-scope of orofacial pain treatment remedies that she uses in conjunction with the Botox injections so patients can experience noticeable relief as soon as possible.
“Not only am I using Botox which provides long term relief, but I use other treatment modalities like ethyl chloride, lidocaine trigger point injections, and the pain relief tip of my diode laser to provide immediate relief”, said Smith.
Though results may vary, Smith has been able to deliver immediate relief to many patients, freeing them of symptoms they have of been experiencing for a long time.
“Even though it takes three full days for it to spread through the entire muscle, the part of the muscle that is affected with the immediate injection starts to relax right away. Then, over the next three days, the entire muscle relaxes. So I have seen immediate relief on the same day of botox treatment”, Smith explained.
Botox is a considered progressive way to treat TMJ-related muscle pain because in the oral health field, there has never been a simple answer for it. Traditional treatments such as night guards and recommending a soft food diet sometimes come with patient compliance challenges.
“In dentistry, TMJ treatment has been pretty elusive. We would typically prescribe things like night guards for patiets to wear to keep the teeth apart and allow them to contract less forcefully. Years ago, doctors would do surgery on the TMJ, but it was later found that it did more harm than good. Even by the time I went to dental school 35 years ago, routine TMJ surgery had stopped. Before botox was shown to have a relaxing effect on muscles, the only solutions we could offer were palliative options like some type of an oral appliance, hot and cold compresses, jaw rest, and a soft food diet”, said Smith.
Between Botox treatments, transforming smiles with one-piece dental implants, and her multitude of services, Smith’s practice is full of patients who receive the benefits of her efforts to help those in need of oral health solutions.
Smith’s passion and enthusiasm for dentistry undeniably radiates from her, so, naturally, training other doctors on how to perform these procedures has become the next phase of her career. Though her practice that has beautifully blossomed into a trusted place to help those in her immediate community, educating and mentoring doctors has expanded her reach and impact to an international scale. Smith now mentors doctors all over the world on how to implement modern dentistry practices into their dental offices.
“When I got really good at dental implantology, the company who I purchased implants from would invite me to tell my experience about using their implant. I started putting all my cases together and presenting them to doctors that were attending the course on how to use this particular implants”, Smith explained.
Oftentimes, after her presentations, doctors would approach her with more questions and Smith took a liking to being able to help them based on her own lived experience.
“The experience of having my colleagues seek my advice on something that I felt very confident doing sparked the desire to teach more colleagues”, said Smith.
From 2013 until now, Smith has been lecturing to doctors who are interested in learning the procedures she has mastered over the years. When she was approached by Dental Practice Mastery to create courses for doctors interested in learning her specialized Botox and One-Piece Dental Implant techniques, she was eager to jump on board.
“The programs I provide for Dental Practice Mastery are not just standalone courses, they’re also mentorship programs where the participants have access to all the recorded educational videos that I have developed… they also have ongoing access to ask me questions, have me help them plan their cases, they have access to me on a monthly coaching call, in addition to that, when they watch the videos, they are able to write questions under my videos which I’m able to respond to”, explained Smith.
Over the past year, Smith’s online presence has become a more prominent piece of her business. She recently launched her brand new website www.DrAndreaJoySmith.com to help educate doctors on her modern methods to help patients fix their oral health issues.
“I recently launched a website so that more dentists could find out about these innovative treatments. I want to broaden my reach in that regard and have a place for dentists to go to learn about these cutting-edge procedures. My website not only provides that landing place for dentists, but also, patients can have access to my dental practice website as well as learn about all the services I provide. They can also use the site to make an appointment to come see me”, Smith said.
Smith’s website includes links to her online courses, a clinical blog for dentists, links to her social media accounts, and a full breakdown of her awards and accolades.
On top of her website, Smith has also launched a podcast called “The One-Piece Implant Mentor Podcast”, where she interviews dentists about their experience with the One-Piece Dental Implant Procedure. The interviews include testimonials of how they were able to add the technique to their practice and offers advice for doctors interested in doing the same. Smith is devoted to educating and advising dentists on the procedure because of how many people she knows it can help.
Smith encourages aspiring dentists to ensure their work is rooted in patient care.
“Everything you do should be driven by a patient’s needs. From there, put time into developing your skills and if you want, find an area you’re passionate about and become an expert at that. You can have the same impact whether you own your own practice, work at a community health clinic, or work in corporate dentistry. Either way, you can make yourself stand out in dentistry”, Smith said.
For Smith, going the route of owning her own practice resonated most with her because of the significant difference she felt she’s been able to make in her patient’s lives.
“Owning your practice allows you to serve and give in greater proportions. One of the main reasons why I opened my practice is because I was working for other dentists and when I had the urge to give a service away versus having someone pay for it, my ability to give was limited. Of course, the main goal is to be able to support yourself and make a living, but there are times when you want to just give and you can’t do that to your full satisfaction unless you own your own practice”, Smith explained.
For the dentists looking to get started with treating orofacial pain with Botox, Smith recommends to start by analyzing their current patients’ needs.
“Start looking for patients who come in with a fractured tooth or jaw pain, tooth wear, larger facial muscles, and broken teeth, gum recession. Start paying attention. You see these signs more often than you think. While patients may not realize that Botox can help them, it could be your opportunity to help educate them and to also provide a service to relieve issues that they did not know were related to over contraction of their muscles and TMJ problems”, said Smith.
For dentists interested in learning One-Piece Dental Implants, Smith’s advice is to take the path she took which included educating herself on all types of dental implantology. That way, they are able to gain a well-rounded perspective on the procedure itself.
“Open your mind to all types of dental implantology whether its one-piece or conventional, then ask yourself what would you prefer for yourself and your family”, Smith suggests.
From an experiential perspective, Smith has truly seen all sides of the One-Piece Implant procedure. Not only has she become an expert at placing them and teaching others, she, herself has placed them on her own family members. She has also had one of her own natural teeth replaced with a one-piece implant-supported restoration. Today, Smith currently lives with the appliance in her mouth, so she can personally attest to the effectiveness of the procedure.
“35 years ago, right before dental school, I had a root canal done and all these years later it broke”, Smith recalls.
Last year, her niece, dentist Dr. Melanie Marshall, who she helped train to perform the One-Piece Implant Procedure, placed the implant in her mouth.
Dr. Andrea Joy Smith is truly a testament to what happens after years of putting in the work to achieve your dreams. From an eager student in Los Angeles to a renowned expert in her field, Smith has come a long way and stands as a beacon of inspiration for all. Thanks to all her hard work, the city of Sacramento smiles brighter every day.
Her final words for oral health professionals looking to embark on a career full of passion, purpose, and fulfillment as she has is to “do what you love and love what you do”.
