Dr. Stephen Wagner
Stephen A. Wagner, DDS, FACP. Board-certified prosthodontist and maxillofacial prosthodontist, in private practice in Albuquerque since 1978.
Training
Dr. Wagner received his dental degree from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry in 1975. He completed his prosthodontic residency at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration hospital in Los Angeles and his fellowship in maxillofacial prosthodontics at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, finishing in 1978. He opened his practice in Albuquerque the same year.
He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics and a Fellow of the Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics, the American College of Prosthodontists, and the Academy of Prosthodontics.
Practice
The practice is limited to prosthodontics: complete and partial dentures, implant-supported dentures and bridges, full-mouth reconstruction, and maxillofacial prosthetics. In the maxillofacial work he restores chewing and speech for patients who have lost part of the mouth, palate, or face to cancer surgery, trauma, or congenital conditions.
Dentures are made in the laboratory inside the office by a technician Dr. Wagner trained himself.
Teaching, editing, and research
Dr. Wagner is a Clinical Professor at the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso. He is the editor of the American College of Prosthodontists' Board Study Guide, the text prosthodontists use to prepare for their certification exam, and he serves on the review board of the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants.
His clinical interest is work simplification in removable and maxillofacial prosthodontics and the clinical use of digitally made dentures. He has been the Chief Clinical Officer for AvaDent digital dentures and speaks on digital denture technique to dentists and technicians.
The Wagner Universal Impression Tray
A good denture starts with a good impression, and the best impressions are made in a custom tray, which normally means a preliminary impression, a plaster model, a lab-made tray, and a second appointment. Dr. Wagner designed a tray that a dentist can reshape chairside in a few minutes to fit any patient, complete denture, overdenture, or implant case. It was granted US Patent 8,376,738 in 2013 and is sold to dentists through his company, bigjawbone.
Recognition
The American College of Prosthodontists named him Private Practitioner of the Year in 2014. Albuquerque The Magazine has listed him among the city's top dentists in prosthodontics, as voted by other dentists, in 2008, 2014, and 2016.
His dental photography has been published by The New York Times, Newsweek, ABC News, the Discovery Channel, the Journal of the American Dental Association, and in medical and dental textbooks.
- Degrees
- DDS, University of Southern California, 1975
- Residency
- Prosthodontics, Wadsworth VA Hospital, Los Angeles
- Fellowship
- Maxillofacial prosthodontics, MD Anderson Hospital, Houston, 1978
- Board certification
- Diplomate, American Board of Prosthodontics
- Fellowships
- Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics; American College of Prosthodontists; Academy of Prosthodontics
- Appointments
- Clinical Professor, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso; Editor, ACP Board Study Guide; Review Board, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants
- Award
- Private Practitioner of the Year, American College of Prosthodontists, 2014
- Patent
- US 8,376,738, Universal impression trays and method of use
