Meet Dr. Stephen Hansen

[Dr. Hansen did NOT write this profile. An actual patient wrote it, because Dr. Hansen and Dr. Miller both take this patient-centered practice stuff seriously.]

How to describe Dr. Stephen Hansen as a dentist? Clever, creative, committed and compulsive immediately leap to mind, especially the compulsive part. Come to think of it, is there a quality that you’d like to see in your dentist more than that?

He is a proud Zag (Gonzaga undergraduate degree in 2003) and Husky (dental degree from University of Washington School of Dentistry in 2007). He’s also a proud Hansen, his father having started the practice almost 35 years ago.

Dr. Hansen reserves a portion of his practice for charitable cancer care outreach. Working closely with various oncology specialists, his mission has been to reduce cancer treatment start times to ensure that people with cancer can begin their life-saving therapy without delay and minimize dental-oral related complications.

He’s won awards (Pierre Fauchard Academy Award, the American Association of Oral Biology award, and the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Award), lectured (the International Academy of Dental Research, the American Dental Association Conference, the Pacific Northwest Dental Conference, and various local study clubs), been published (Journal of Immunology for his research exploring the host-pathogen interface) and won prestigious dental competitions (while in dental school, he earned first place in the UWSOD Dentsply Research competition and the National Harvard School of Dental Medicine Research Academy abstract competition).

Dr. Hansen lives in University Place with his wife Carly and their two young children. For fun you'll find him spending time with his family or at Crystal Mountain chasing powder or enjoying a craft brew when he’s not compulsively thinking, researching and planning for your next dental procedure.