Frank J. Burrell, Jr. DDS
Meet Dr. Burrell
Dentistry has given me the opportunity to impact the lives of literally thousands of people in an extremely personal way. I have practiced orthodontics for over 30 years. As such, I have taken people who may have low self-esteem, embarrassed because of their teeth, not wanting to smile because of the poor alignment of their teeth, and by straightening their teeth literally transform their appearance, their personality, and their life. I thought I would be treating people’s teeth when I became as dentist, but it turned out to be so much more.
The future of dentistry lies in recognizing the necessity of addressing the total well-being of the patient and not just its traditional role of caretaker of the teeth and gums. Millions of people suffer from headaches, many of whom have not been able to find relief through the traditional medical route. Because of recent advances in research and technology dentist are now in a unique position to provide a treatment solution that physicians cannot offer. TruDenta® has developed a systematic approach to the treatment headache and cranial pain that allows me to help many of these people resume normal life again that I would not have been able to treat.
Education and Continuing Education
- Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences – University of California-Davis
- Doctorate of Dental Surgery – University of California-Los Angeles School of Dentistry
I treated my first TMJ pain case in the early 1980s and occasionally treated TMJ pain cases over the next 20 years. However, it wasn’t until I attended Dr. Brock Rondeau’ course on TMJ/TMD therapy in 2007 that I became much more aware of the growing need for extending this type of therapy to include migraine headaches as well. Subsequently, I have attended multiple lectures on the subject of TMJ/TMD pain, facial pain, and headache pain given by various other speakers in the field.
Professional Affiliations
- Orange County Dental Society
- California Dental Association
- American Dental Association
Outside the Office
I was born and raised in the beautiful and world famous wine country region of Napa, CA. I attended local schools, played youth sports, and enjoyed life growing up in the small agricultural town setting in Northern California. I moved to Southern California in 1978 and to Torrance, CA in 1983 where I have resided for the last 30 years.
My wife and I have been married for 35 years, raised two girls , three boys, have five grandchildren, and currently have two Cairn Terriers named Baxter and Lotta. The dogs never cease to make me laugh!
I was an avid camper and backpacker in my younger days having hiked vast portions of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, Desolation Wilderness, John Muir Wilderness, and the John Muir Trail. In addition to the mountains, I have also camped and hiked extensively in the Southern California deserts, and have done the world famous 4-wheel drive Jamboree Trail four times, as well as the Dusy Trail once.
Now, I mostly spend my leisure time walking the dogs and growing the tropical plants. I developed an interest in the tropical plants after a trip to Hawaii, so now I grow hybrid Plumeria trees and hybrid Hibiscus shrubs.
