Why She Was Nominated

One of the youngest dentists to receive a fellowship from the prestigious Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies, Dr. Dahlkemper tackles cosmetic and neuromuscular dentistry at the source. “It’s important to understand the cause of a patient’s concerns so that we can provide the best care,” she says. “Our goal is to create healthy, beautiful smiles for a lifetime.”

Philosophy

Dr. Dahlkemper worked in a corporate dental practice in Washington, D.C., for four years before setting off on her own. She wanted more autonomy to hire like-minded hygienists and an elite smile team to establish a practice focused on whole-health dental care.

Tool She Can't Live Without

Her intraoral Digital DOC IRIS camera, which enables her to show patients broken teeth or cavities projected onto a flat-screen TV. “Seeing the images enables patients to better understand what I’m explaining to them.”

Biggest Challenge

A year after buying her practice, Dr. Dahlkemper was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. A few weeks later, and only days after surgery, a leak in the X-ray processing room flooded her entire practice with three inches of water. Now her health and practice have fully recovered. She replaced everything from the baseboards to the top cabinets — and got rid of the X-ray processor altogether and went digital.