Welcome to our office! It has been designed for your comfort as our team is fully dedicated to the proposition that dentistry can be a relatively pleasant experience. We usually take patients by referral only, so this website is mainly informational...
Dr. Tanisawa has been an active clinical dentist practicing in this same location for over forty years... Our team will educate you how to personally control any dental disease and help you maintain a healthy, functional and attractive mouth and smile.
Except for emergencies, our new patients will first be seen for a thorough dental examination and diagnosis. Our Complete Initial Examination (CIE) will not just detect dental decay but will include a complete evaluation of periodontal (gum and bone) conditions, occlusal (bite) and T.M.J. (Temporo-Mandibular Joint) analysis including muscles of the jaw and face, possible obstructive sleep apnea, defective or leaky amalgam fillings, oral pathologies, etc. Our CIE will usually take an hour and require recent Xrays. If you have had Xrays already taken within past 1-2 yrs... inform our staff so we can have them forwarded (requires your written permission please fill out form provided). We encourage your concerns and your questions...
Dr. Tanisawa and our office is about PREVENTION. After we take care of your existing problems, we will help identify other problems before they become dental tragedies. Prevention is learning how to control disease before it causes irreparable more damages or losses that would then require even more extensive treatments... Prevention provides an attitude of success rather than despair of more problems.
Soon after our Complete Initial Examination, a Tentative Treatment Plan (TTP) will be prepared that will provide you a plan to achieve dental treatment goals. No further treatments need be entered into until you, the patient, feel confident in the continuing success of these treatments. In short, our ultimate goal is to educate and motivate you to achieve dental health through your own daily efforts, minimizing the need for constant dental repairs. We can make your mouth more comfortable, functional and attractive, but only you can keep it healthy...
Dr. T. was born Alan S. Tanisawa in the Gila River Relocation Camp during World War II on the Pima Indian reservation in the middle of the Arizona desert. Returning from camp, he grew up in the San Francisco East Bay Area, attending Fairmont Grammar, Edendale Jr. and San Lorenzo High schools. Higher education included fifteen consecutive years at U.C. Berkeley - undergraduate and graduate programs, including all summer sessions - receiving a B.A. ('65) and a Ph.D. ('71) in Cell Physiology.
Dr. T.'s first graduate professor at UCB was Dr. Herbert M. Evans, co-discoverer of vitamin E. He died in 1971 of a stroke. Dr. T. was one of his last students. Many of his peers believe he should have received a Nobel Prize for his lifetime's work. Dr. T.'s first academic position was provided by Prof. Nello Pace, Dept. Chairman and world famous environmental physiologist, who directed Dr. T. to the remote U.C. White Mountain Research Station, to study the effects of high altitude on man - specifically, the effects of hypoxia (low oxygen), high radiation exposure due to the low atmospheric shielding at high altitude and the effects of free radicals (oxidative stress) produced by harsh environmental conditions.
His doctoral thesis supervisor was Prof. John G. Forte, an expert in gastric acid secretion, energy metabolism, membrane transport. Other professors included Dr. Lester Packer, expert in network antioxidants, mitochondria, membrane transport, and alpha lipoic acid; Dr. Robert Macy, expert on cellular transport; Dr. Paola S. Timiras, expert on aging and stress hormones; Dr. Walter J. Freeman, on the brain and nervous systems; Dr. Hisashi Sanui, on cell transport; Dr. Kozo Utsumi, on mitochondrial energy; Dr. Dinkar Kasbekar, on gastric acid secretion/membrane transport; and many pre- and post- Doctoral colleagues and Research Fellows from all over the world. Incredibly, we were all neighbors as our laboratories occupied the first floor of Life Science Building. Most fortunately, Dr. T. arrived in Berkeley soon after Dr. Denham Harman introduced his world famous Free Radical Theory of Aging (FRTA) at the U.C. Donner Laboratory in 1955. His theory has survived over 60 yrs of scrutiny and remains the predominant theory of why man gets old and suffers from chronic diseases. Free radicals are unstable molecules that attack our body and are fought by Anti-Oxidants. Dr. Lester Packer was the first scientist to introduce his network of anti-oxidants and has often been referred to as Dr. Antioxidant. Dr. T. was blessed to be at the right place at the right time. Now it is Dr. T.'s remaining lifetime's goal to share what was given to him by so many...
After U.C. Berkeley, Dr. T. attended the U.C.S.F. School of Dentistry receiving a Master's Degree in Dental Sciences ('73) and the Doctor of Dental Surgery ('75). Memorable teachers included: Dr. Ronald Coleman (Anatomy), Dr. Ernie Newbrun (Biochemistry), Dr. Hajime Hamaguchi (Morphology), Drs. Al Schuhart & Charles Watkins (Restorative), Drs. Ellsworth Kelly & Arthur Krol (Removeable), Drs. Nguyen T. Nguyen & John Sapone (Endodontics), Drs. Verne Tueller & Fred Wong (Fixed), Drs. Richard Smith and Edward Stoddard (Oral Surgery), Dr. Troy Daniels (Oral Pathology), and so many others... I apologize to those that I may have forgotten at this time...
Dr. Tanisawa is a lifetime member of the ADA (American Dental Association), CDA (California Dental Association) and SACDS (Southern Alameda County Dental Society). He is also a member of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, Caifornia Sleep Society, OKU (Omicron Kappa Upsilon), and several other dental and civic organizations..
Dr. T. is a living product of the University of California educational system for which he will always be thankful. He sincerely wishes to thank the Regents of the University of Calfornia and the Awards Committee at UCSF who bestowed upon him a Regent's Scholarship - that allowed him the funds and the opportunity to continue his eduational pursuits and goals...
Dr. T. hopes to help repay this blessed opportunity with the newly discovered Vitamin E Delta-Tocotrienol isomer which is being extensively studied by many scientists around the world. Many published scientific reports are now revealing Delta-Tocotrienol having some amazing and incredible benefits for mankind... much more to come on this amazing molecule... time will tell... Stay tuned!