The Burkitt Center for Comprehensive Dentistry

05/30/2026

05/27/2026

We asked Dr. Ellie some of the most common questions we see and hear about biomimetic dentistry.

05/17/2026

05/15/2026

One of the most common oral stressors that destroy our body is what's called a cavitation: areas of unhealed jaw bone after an extraction wasn't done properly. The only way to fix this is to go back in, remove the disease, and get the blood flowing back in that area.

It's a controversial topic. Dr. Will knew he had them after seeing a CT of his jaw. So he's letting his mentor remove them to see what changes occur in his body.

05/07/2026

We don't do root canals at The Burkitt Center.

Conventional dentistry treats a root canal as the standard fix for an infected or dying tooth. Drill out the nerve, fill the chamber, crown it, move on. The tooth stays in the mouth. The tooth is also dead.

We made a different call. A tooth is a living organ. Vascular, neural, connected to the rest of the body. Mummifying it and sealing it back into the jaw doesn't preserve the tooth. It parks a non-sterile object in living tissue.

When a tooth can't be saved alive, we extract it cleanly, clear the surrounding bone, and rebuild with a biocompatible replacement. Ceramic implant, bridge, or guided regeneration depending on the case. The mouth heals. The body integrates.

That's why we walked away from root canals. It's the same reason we built around biological dentistry: every clinical decision has to answer to the whole body. The tooth is part of a system.

Save this if root canal came up at your last appointment and you want to know what the alternatives are.

Want to learn more? Check out these PMIDs to learn more about the studies: 28190585, 35888650, 31202516, 11023956, 32765044, 19654253, 19828883, 33270246.

05/04/2026

We get this question a lot: what's the blue thing?

It shows up in almost every close-up photo we post, and it's worth explaining because it's one of the small details that makes a big difference in how a filling actually holds up.

It's called a rubber dam. When Dr. Ellie places a tooth-colored filling, she isolates the tooth completely. No saliva. No moisture. No bacteria sneaking in during the bond. That clean, dry field is what lets the composite material lock onto your tooth the way it's supposed to. Skip the rubber dam and you're rolling the dice on whether that filling lasts five years or fifteen.

This is biomimetic dentistry: tooth-colored fillings, mercury-free materials, and a focus on saving as much of your natural tooth as possible. An alternative to a crown when a crown isn't needed yet.

If you've been searching for a biomimetic dentist in Nashville, we'd love to meet you. Check out our bio for more information.

04/28/2026

Searching "full mouth dental implants near me" pulls up a wall of ads, before-and-afters, and price ranges that don't match each other.

The honest answer: full mouth implants isn't one procedure. It's a category. All-on-4, All-on-X, zirconia vs. metal — different choices, different costs, different outcomes.

What actually matters when you're searching:
- A full treatment plan before you commit.
- An explanation of why their number is their number.
- The materials, the lab, and the doctor doing the work.

The right practice will tell you the truth about what you're getting, line by line.

Save this for when you're ready to compare.

04/26/2026

The first time most people meet Bodie or Milly, they aren’t expecting a dog at the dentist.

They’re a small part of how we run things, and somehow always the part patients remember. Shoulders drop when a dog walks into the room. Hands unclench from the armrest. Dental anxiety quiets down before a single tool gets picked up.

Some of what makes a practice feel calm shows up in moments you can’t put on a website.

If you’re looking for a biological dentist in Nashville and the phrase “therapy dogs at dentist” sounds like a stretch, come see. Bodie and Milly will be here.