Wellness Centered Dentistry is committed to helping our patients achieve optimal dental health for a lifetime. This goal requires a different approach to dental care, one that involves treating people as individuals and spending the time necessary to understand each persons priorities and unique dental challenges.
Historically dentists were trained to be dental repairmen who would fix things when they broke. This model was based on treating the effects of disease and had little to do with controlling the causes of disease and preventing future problems.
Patients receiving this type of care usually experienced a general decline in their dental health over time and often lost their teeth and spent the rest of theirlives struggling with a denture. This approach lacks planning, prevention, and predictability and unfortunately is the model still used by most dental practices today.
At Wellness Centered Dentistry we work more like investigators who identify the underlying causes of dental destruction unique to each individual. Once we have identified these risk factors we can develop a lifetime strategy to restore dental health and control these sources of damage. This approach helps to prevent dental destruction in the future, maximizes longevity of teeth and dental restorations, and helps create a lifetime of healthy smiles.
Our state of the art dental facility was built in 2011, and was designed to create a warm and comforting environment. When you come to see us we want you to feel at home. You can stop in early and enjoy a cup of soothing herbal tea and relax in our inviting reception area.
The comfortable and open treatment rooms are outfitted with the most advanced dental equipment available including comfortable ergonomic patient chairs, Digital dental X-rays, Digital photography, Dental Lasers, and electric hand-pieces. This technology makes dental treatment safer, more comfortable, more precise, and more efficient.
At Wellness Centered Dentistry, our primary focus is developing personalized relationships with each of our patients. Our motto is Individual Care for Individual People. This means that our agenda in providing dentistry is to give you all the information you need about your dental conditions, risk factors, and treatment options so that you can make an informed decision, find out what your agenda is, and help you to accomplish it.
Dr. Rob Whicker is a 2002 graduate of the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry (Magna Cum Laude). He went on to complete an advanced training fellowship in Tacoma Washington where he worked closely with board certified dentists in each of the specialty areas of dentistry. Dr. Whicker has completed hundreds of hours of continuing education in all aspects of comprehensive and cosmetic dentistry. Rob was born in Roswell, New Mexico and has lived all over the United States. He and his wife Lark are the parents of 3 children. Away from the office, Rob enjoys taking road trips with his wife and kids, reading, hiking, and learning to cook.
Lizzie is a Eugene Oregon native, and a graduate of North Eugene High School where she was very involved in athletics. She attended college in Idaho and received her associate degree in 2000. She has worked in the Dental field for over 18 years and loves being part of an extended dental family. Lizzie and her husband Ivan are the parents of 3 beautiful daughters and Tucker, an adorable black and white Boston Terrier. In her free time she enjoys running, hiking, gardening, cooking and designing craft projects.
Christie has been working within the medical field for over 26 years, beginning with her work in long term care. As a Graduate of Oregon State University, with a degree in Nutrition and Management, she began her professional career as the dietary director of a long term care facility. After several years working in the field, she decided to expand on her belief and passion for preventive care and returned to higher education to pursue a degree in dental hygiene from Lane Community College. For the past 16 years, she has enjoyed providing comprehensive oral hygiene for the diverse members of our community. Christie strives to stay current in her field by participating in numerous hours of continuing education through a local study group. She has been married for 26 years and has two daughters who attend Northwest Christian University. Her husband, Dan, is a retired Deputy Sheriff, who worked for Lane County for 25 years. She is also a small business owner and is the proud owner of Moose a 5-year- old English Bulldog. In her free time, Christie enjoys spending time with family, gardening, biking and other outdoor activities.
Angie is a native of the Willamette Valley and has worked in dentistry for over 25 years. She received her training at the Linn Benton Community College. Her favorite aspects of dental practice are building relationships with people and care giving throughout the treatment process. She loves seeing how a new smile can change someones life. Angie and her husband Mark are the parents of two children. Her life, outside the office, is busy with school activities, camping, fishing, biking, crafting, and supporting the Ducks.
Sometimes a beautiful smile is as simple as reshaping the edges of your front teeth. Chipping or wear from parafunction or grinding your teeth can create an irregular smile line. Carefully reshaping the edges can dramatically improve cosmetics. Sometimes recontouring is done in conjunction with Invisalign or dental bonding.
Dental bonding involves reshaping teeth with white filling material. This is done to close gaps or idealize the shape or contour of teeth, or to replace portions of the tooth that have been lost to wear, chipping, or decay.
Veneers replace damaged or discolored enamel on front teeth and are similar to cosmetic crowns. They can be done for cosmetic reasons if for example the teeth are too small and need to be larger to fill available spaces or are discolored or pitted or the alignment or shape of the teeth need to be corrected. Veneers are made of porcelain and are bonded or fused permanently to the teeth.
Crowns are similar to veneers in that they are like new enamel for the teeth. Unlike veneers crowns cover the entire tooth not just the front and are therefore the option of choice when the entire tooth needs to be reshaped. Cosmetic crowns are made entirely of porcelain and mimic natural tooth structure in such a way as to be completely undetectable. Often the edges of the crown are placed slightly below the gum resulting in an invisible natural look.
In cosmetic dentistry, the gum tissue acts like the frame around a picture; when the gums are properly contoured the overall cosmetic appearance of your smile is significantly improved. Sometimes the gum tissue covers too much of the tooth and needs to be trimmed to proper contour. Other situations include recession where the roots of the teeth are exposed and need to be recovered or the gums are unevenly or irregularly positioned around teeth and need to be corrected. When the gum tissue is properly shaped and positioned the appearance of your smile can be dramatically improved.