Dr. Douglas Sandquist graduated from Loma Linda University School of Dentistry in 1997 and joined Sandquist Dentistry in 1998, continuing the practice his father, David B. Sandquist, DDS, founded in Las Vegas in 1968. Nearly three decades in, he’s built his own reputation around restorative and cosmetic dentistry: the cases that need real problem-solving, not just routine care.
Where It Started
When he joined his father’s practice as a young dentist, he joined a conviction along with it. His father believed dentistry should be done as well as it could be done, and that it had to make sense. A beautiful set of veneers on a bad bite was bound to fail. So from the beginning, the job wasn’t just making a tooth look right. It was learning how to make everything work together: the teeth, the bite and the jaw. That’s still how he plans a case.
A Focus on the Complicated Cases
Some of the most rewarding work in dentistry is putting a difficult case back together: a full mouth rehabilitation, a bite that’s been out of alignment for years, or a smile that needs more than a single procedure to get right. Dr. Sandquist focuses on exactly this kind of comprehensive, restorative work, often taking on patients that other offices have referred out.
What Changed Along the Way
In 2000, the practice bought the first CEREC machine in Las Vegas, and for years Dr. Sandquist designed and milled crowns in the office and placed them the same day. He eventually went back to having a skilled lab make his crowns. The reason was the bite. A lab can match the material to the tooth, and a well-made temporary lets a patient test the new chewing surface before anything is cemented for good. For his patients, that has meant fewer bite and jaw problems. The full story is on our crowns page.
He also used to place implants himself. He stopped once it was clear that a straightforward implant can turn into a bone grafting case, or a harder surgery than the X-ray suggested, without much warning, and that kind of surgery belongs with surgeons who do it every day. What he kept is the understanding of it. He plans each implant together with the surgeon, starting from where the finished tooth needs to sit, and then builds the tooth that goes on it. How implant planning works here.
Training and Teaching
For more than 15 years, Dr. Sandquist has been Visiting Faculty at Spear Education in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he teaches other dentists. His own postgraduate training has been extensive, including:
- Spear Education
- Misch International Implant Institute, in implant dentistry
- The Texas Center for Occlusal Studies and Minimally Invasive Dentistry
Closer to home, he is a member of the Las Vegas Study Club.
The Jaw and the Bite
He has done extensive postgraduate education in the jaw and the bite, including at Spear Education and The Texas Center for Occlusal Studies and Minimally Invasive Dentistry, and that work runs through a large part of the practice: TMJ and TMD, worn and collapsing bites, and full mouth reconstruction. He is not an orofacial pain specialist and does not describe himself as one. What he brings is the diagnostic ability to work a jaw problem through with a patient, often to resolution, and a willingness to refer when a case looks beyond what he should be treating.
Why He Pays Attention to Sleep and Light
Dr. Sandquist was a mouth breather for most of his life, because of a deviated septum. Looking back, he probably should have had his upper jaw expanded. He did have the septum repaired, but his sleep didn’t really change until he looked beyond his airway. His circadian rhythm was a mess, and his metabolic health was poor. Once he started managing the light he was exposed to, day and night, and eating better, his sleep improved dramatically.
It’s a big part of why sleep and breathing come up here at all, and why myofunctional therapy is part of the practice. His short version: the light matters.
Philosophy of Care
- Every treatment plan starts with genuinely getting to know the patient, not just the tooth.
- Care decisions belong to the patient and their dentist, not an insurance company.
- Start with the reversible option. Anything that cannot be undone should be the conclusion of a diagnosis, not the way of arriving at one.
- Technology and technique should serve an individualized plan, built around your pace and your budget.
“I wish Sandquist Dentistry could run every company, or government function, I deal with.”
Patient review
Services
Full mouth rehabilitation, restorative and esthetic dentistry, crowns, veneers, dentures, implant and full-arch restorations, and treatment for jaw and bite problems including TMJ/TMD therapy.
Beyond the Practice
Outside the office, Dr. Sandquist is an avid landscape photographer, and the same patience and eye for detail that goes into a full mouth rehabilitation shows up on location too, chasing the right light across some of the world’s more remote places. See his photography or browse available prints, including the sunset print hanging in our Zen Room.