Meet Dr. Dall’Olmo

Fabrizio Dall’Olmo, DDS

Dr. Fabrizio Dall’Olmo has been practicing in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas since 1998 and joined Dentex Dental in 2014. As a periodontist, he specializes in the supporting structures of the teeth – like the gums and bone construction – and the diseases and conditions that affect those structures. He performs periodontal surgeries including tissue grafting, dental implants, bone grafting, complex extractions and other related procedures.

We sat down with Dr. Dall’Olmo in between patients the other day for a glimpse into his background and his journey in the field of dentistry.

How did you decide to become a dentist?

By becoming a dentist, I was fulfilling my father’s dream. In the 1980s when I was choosing my career path, being a dentist was a highly respected career in Italy, where I’m from. At the time, the good dentists in Italy would travel to Boston to learn new skills from American schools. My dad was an airline pilot and on his regular travels to Boston he met a lot of dentists and realized they had a good life. He made me promise to take the entrance test for dental school when I finished high school in exchange for allowing me to move away to England and have a fun experience on my own.

I took the test and moved to England where I worked as a shop assistant at the Bennetton store. I was in my 20s and enjoying my job, but when the news came that I was accepted into the dental program, I left England and began studying dentistry.

I had no intention of doing any graduate studies, but that changed years later I came to visit a friend in Boston. He was going through graduate school and while I was there a spot in the program opened up, and they asked me if I was interested in joining. The professor told me I had to give him an answer by the next day. I called my parents and told them what happened and they told me to do it. The rest is history – I met my wife, I took the boards and I moved from Boston to Los Angeles.

What part of your job do you like the most?

I enjoy everything I do to some degree. The thing I enjoy most about this job is the interaction with people and the ability to serve them. It gives me great pleasure when I feel like I really advance the ball for someone in a meaningful way.

How has dentistry changed in your years practicing?

I think the thing that has gotten better now are the methods we use to treat periodontal disease. People used to be in a tremendous amount of pain and now it’s no longer the case. Implants provide a wonderful rescue. Before it was “let’s try and save every tooth” and the modality was kind of brutal – often removing a lot of bone and exposing a lot of root surfaces. The post op was very painful and the teeth would be left with a lot of sensitivity. Now things are changing dramatically in terms of how we address dental treatment. People see benefits pretty rapidly with less discomfort.

You treat patients who suffer from periodontal disease, which can range from moderate to severe. Do you find that most people understand that aspect of dental health?

In Los Angeles there are a large variety of people, so some people understand it and some people don’t. It’s a fairly easy process to explain – if you neglect yourself, as a result there will be some consequences that you need to fix. It’s not a difficult message to transfer and most people understand it.

What do you like about living in Los Angeles?

The weather is the thing I really like about living in Los Angeles. You have reasonable weather 365 days a year. The ocean is close or I can be in the mountains in hours. There are hills and parks and there is generally and attitude of well-being around me.

Finally, what do you miss about living in Italy?

The soccer club Roma is the only thing I truly miss about Italy. When I lived in Italy I loved to go to the game every Sunday and feel the passion of a city for its soccer team.