Your experience at Susan Gross D.D.S. is specifically designed to benefit your entire lifestyle. Together, we achieve and maintain optimal dental health, natural beauty, comfort, and confidence. We are honored to be considered by you as both a care provider and trusted resource for information.
I am an Iowa girl, raised by an energetic Ecuadorian woman and a calm American farm boy who taught me to love the game of tennis. My passion for tennis led me to play competitively at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where I met my lovely husband, Dr. Joseph Rinaldi. We have been married for 17 years and together we manage our crazy, fun, and emotional household of four boys: Joseph, Rasmus, Vedder and Enzo. We love to travel around the world to explore the beauty and adventure nature has to offer. We enjoy family road trips, rock climbing, listening to vinyl records, karaoking, biking, playing basketball in our driveway and throwing the football in the backyard. Instead of trying for a girl, my family bought a cute, female Lhasa Bichon named Emry.
Since I graduated in 2004, my dental journey has been filled with very different and wonderful opportunities ranging from the United States Air Force, a large corporate company, small private group practice, and finally landing at Dr. Susan Grosss practice.
Over the past 5 years, I have reshaped my practice philosophy by diving deep into the why things happen to patients after seeing years of declining oral and systemic health. My push for constant learning and questioning arose from my four boys. I wasnt getting the answers from experts that I needed. I knew there had to be a better way to practice if I opened my eyes and mind. I started out by learning how a patients bite is affected by the muscle habits and the TMJ position, which allowed me to rehabilitate their bite. This led me to ask the question why does a bite get out of whack in the first place? I found the most compelling research and evidence out there. I completed continuing education courses, traveled, and read as much as possible in all areas to become an airway-centric focused dentist. I started practicing the newly learned concepts on my four boys. I heavily pursued learning about the evolution of humans, epigenetics, and nasal breathing. This brought me to the complete understanding of how our whole body is truly connected and affected by the lifestyles we live each day.
Professional training and certificates: University of Iowa: College of Dentistry (Iowa) 2004 United States Air Force AEGD (Scott AF base, Illinois) 2004-2005 Intravenous Sedation certificate (2005) United State Air Force (Mountain Home, Idaho) 2005-2007 The Dawson Academy Core Curriculum 2014-2106 The International Airway Symposium 2019 Orthotropic Early Intervention 2020 The Breathe Institute Core Curriculum 2021
Memberships: The American Association of Oral and Systemic Health (AAOSH) member The American Academy of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry (AAPMD) member The Dawson Academy Ambassador The Breathe Institute Ambassador