Dentures, made by a specialist.
Dr. Stephen Wagner is a board-certified prosthodontist. He has practiced in Albuquerque since 1978, and the dentures he fits are made in the lab inside his office.
What we make
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Complete dentures
A full upper, lower, or both, shaped to your mouth and your face. Fit and appearance are checked at each stage before the final denture is finished.
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Implant-supported dentures
Dentures that snap onto or are fixed to dental implants, so they stay put when you eat and speak. Implants are placed by oral surgeons and periodontists Dr. Wagner has worked with for years.
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Partial dentures
Replacement for some teeth when others are sound, designed to protect the teeth you keep.
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Maxillofacial prosthetics
Prostheses for patients who have lost part of the mouth, palate, or face to cancer surgery, injury, or a congenital condition. This is Dr. Wagner's subspecialty.
Why a prosthodontist
Any dentist can make a denture. A prosthodontist is a dentist who spent three further years of residency learning to replace teeth and restore the mouth, and nothing else. Board certification adds a written and oral examination on top of that.
Dr. Wagner is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics. He edits the study guide the American College of Prosthodontists publishes for that exam, and he teaches prosthodontics as a Clinical Professor at Texas Tech's dental school in El Paso.
Made in the office
The laboratory is down the hall from the treatment rooms. Samuel, the technician, has made dentures here since 2001 and was trained by Dr. Wagner. Because the person who builds your denture is in the building, changes to shade, shape, or fit happen quickly and get looked at by both of them.
Dr. Wagner has also spent much of his career on digital denture design and manufacture, and the office uses digital impressions and fabrication where they give a better result.
Dr. Stephen Wagner
Dr. Wagner earned his dental degree at the University of Southern California in 1975 and completed his prosthodontic residency at the Wadsworth VA in Los Angeles and his maxillofacial training at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston. He opened his Albuquerque practice in 1978 and has run it since.
He invented the Wagner Universal Impression Tray, which is patented and sold to dentists through his company, bigjawbone, and his clinical photographs have appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, ABC News, and the Journal of the American Dental Association. In 2014 the American College of Prosthodontists named him Private Practitioner of the Year.
- Board certification
- Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
- Fellowships
- Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics; American College of Prosthodontists; Academy of Prosthodontics
- Teaching
- Clinical Professor, Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso
- Editorial
- Editor, ACP Board Study Guide; Review Board, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants
- In practice
- Albuquerque, since 1978
From patients
Really great staff who gave me their smiles and then one of my own, even better than my original teeth. Dr Wagner explained every step of the process along with his staff. Very veteran friendly too.
Steve Z., Google review
As a fine jeweler for over fifty years I can tell you that Dr. Wagner is a master craftsman, in addition to being an excellent doctor. The fit on my denture is perfect.
David Paulson, Google review
After six months of preparation and healing, he skillfully created my prostheses, and with a few adjustments, presented me with the most wonderful smile I had seen in years. It brought tears to my eyes.
Henry F. Gonzales
Visiting the office
We are at 801 Encino Place NE, Suite A-3, in the medical district east of I-25, a few blocks from Lovelace Medical Center.
New patients: please arrive thirty minutes early for paperwork and x-rays, or fill out the forms at home and send them ahead.
| Monday to Wednesday | 8:30 am to 5:00 pm |
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| Thursday | 9:00 am to 5:00 pm |
| Friday to Sunday | Closed |
| Lunch | Closed 12:00 to 1:00 |