Originally from Chicago, Dr. Christopher is a 3rd generation dental specialist. Her grandfather, father, and 2 uncles practiced orthodontics for the US Army and in Chicago for many decades. Dr. Christopher received her undergraduate education at Wellesley College, in Massachusetts. She received her dental training at the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Dentistry where he also taught dental students as an instructor. Following dental school, Dr. Christopher served as a General Dentist for the U.S. Public Health Service serving Native Americans in New Mexico. She continued her education at The Ohio State University earning her specialty certificate in periodontics and also received a Master of Science degree in Oral Biology with her research focus on DNA fingerprinting of bacteria and peri-implantitis. Dr. Christopher was a clinical instructor at theUniversity of Maryland Dental School and was voted as a faculty of the year and selected by the 1999 graduating class as one of the 3 faculty members to award their doctoral of dental surgery degree during graduation ceremonies. Dr. Christopher has been active as an instructor as she is an examiner at the VCU Dept of Periodontics for the mock boards. Dr. Christopher is a guru in the area of gum grafting. She has developed a modification of the tunneling technique using allograft and has presented her technique in many meetings in the US and internationally in many countries. She has been invited to present her periodontal plastic surgery (gum grafting) techniques at 4 annual meetings of the American Academy of Periodontology.
Dr. Christopher and her husband Dr. Favagehi have been practicing in Falls Church since 1999. They have both been selected by their peers as the best periodontist, or 'top dentist' in multiple surveys conducted by the Washingtonian, Northern Virginia magazine, and Virginia Living magazine.
Dr. Favagehi graduated from Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry (Virginia Commonwealth University) in 1994. He completed his specialty training in periodontics & Dental implant surgery at The Ohio State University in 1997 where he also received a Master of Science degree in Oral Biology and received a research award for groundbreaking research on surgical wound healing.
Dr. Favagehi has been an adjunct faculty member (Clinical Assistant Professor) at the Dept. of Periodontics (VCU School of Dentistry). In 2011, he received a Teaching Award from the American Academy of Periodontology. He is a member of the American Dental Association, Virginia Dental Society, American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and Academy of Osseointegration (AO). He has served on various committees with AAP, and AO including chairman of Research Submissions Committees (AAP, and AO) and Editor of Academy News (Academy of Osseointegration). Dr. Favagehi is an active presenter at many dental meetings in the USA and internationally. He has presented at annual meetings of IADR, ADA, AAP, AO, AAOMFS, CAOMFS, and many state and regional dental societies, etc.
Dr. Favagehi received his undergraduate degree (BS Biology) at George Mason University in 1990. He married Dr. Christopher about 25 years ago and they both live near their office with their daughter Dana, and son Zachary.
We treat our patients as our own family. Our first and foremost focus is patient safety. We take sterilization, infection control measures and cleanliness very seriously at our office. Our infection control and sterilization includes special filters and chemicals to protect as biofilm. We use 3 autoclaves in addition to chemical and/or UV disinfection prior to sterilization. We use a 3rd party testing agency as the quality control to make sure our sterilization is effective.
We use digital x-rays and the latest 3 D cone beam CT scan technology to minimize x-ray radiation by as much as 90%. We do not use amalgam (mercury) in our office and never have used any chemicals to process traditional x-rays (we were digital from the beginning of our practice).
We started our practice in 1999. In 2010, we purchased the practice of Dr. John F Armstrong who practiced in Falls Church for over 33 years. We also merged our practice with Dr. John Deutsch- Periodontist who practiced in our office until 2012 when he retired after over 40 years of practice in periodontics.