Berkeley Hills Dentistry is one of the oldest dental practices in Berkeley, tracingits roots to a practice established by Dr. James Brown in 1926 on 2140 Shattuck Avenue in the Wells Fargo Chamber of Commerce Building. The practicerelocated in 1976 to its current location on 1760 Solano Avenue. Currently in its fifth generation, the practice was passed on from Dr. Roger Koppel DDSto Dr. Vagan Tapaltsyan DDS PhD in 2017. This transition allowed for an expansion of treatments offered, including Invisalign, Implants, and Sleep Dentistry.
At Berkeley Hills Dentistry we have one of the only PHD's practicing at a dental office in the Bay Area. From our doctors, to our front office staff, everyone is highly trained and educated in the field of dentistry.
A Berkeley resident since 2010, Dr. Tapaltsyan spent the first part of his childhood in Europe, attending a foreign language immersion preparatory school before moving to the US for high school. He went on to graduateSumma Cum Laudewith a BS in Biology from the University of Central Oklahoma, where he was also a member of the sailing team. Continuing on his lifelong path of going West, Dr Tapaltsyan moved to California for graduate studies and received both his DDS and PhD in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine from UCSF, where he currently holds the rank of Assistant Professor and is the Director of Evidence-Based Dentistry Program and an instructor for the UCSF Dental Implantology Training Program.
In addition to practicing dentistry and teaching, Dr. Tapaltsyan's research interests include dental implantology and dental stem cells biology, which can one day help us regenerate new teeth and bone. He has authored many research articles and book chapters on this subject and lectures internationally.
Dr. Tapaltsyan is a member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, American Association of Endodontists, American Academy of Sports Dentistry, and American Academy of Laser Dentistry. In his spare time, he enjoys occasional crewing for sailboat races, drawing, hiking, reading, and exploring the great outdoors with his German shorthair pointer Duke.