Dr. Keiko Watanabe, DDS

Ala Moana, HI Family Dentist - Dr. Keiko Watanabe - Ala Moana Dentistry
Keiko Watanabe, DDS, PhD - General, Cosmetic and Family Dentistry
As young girl,  Dr. Watanabe saw her grandfather remove what she thought were his permanent, natural teeth. Witnessing the shocked expression on his granddaughter’s face, he tried to comfort her. However, his toothless grin only frightened her more. Once young Dr. Watanabe was mollified, her grandfather proceeded to explain that his father (Dr. Watanabe’s great-grandfather) owned a factory which produced sweets. As a mischievous youngster, her grandfather sunk countless pieces of candy that eventually caused tooth decay.  At that time, dentures were the necessary remedy.  Dr. Watanabe found this whole situation ironic.  Her grandfather, after all, was a dentist- a dentist who needed false teeth due to eating excessive amounts of sweets from his father’s business. Given she was only 5 years old at the time, her grandfather may have exaggerated this …story in an attempt to convince Dr. Watanabe to care for her own teeth. However, he was not exaggerating when he told her that it was his lifelong dental problems that inspired him to become a dentist.
Dr. Watanabe’s grandfather must have had an impact on her father too, as her father became a prominent oral surgeon in Osaka, Japan. Although Dr. Watanabe had various career aspirations, one of which was to be an English teacher or translator, she was easily persuaded to enter the dental profession as she witnessed the relief and joy her family brought to their patients. After 3 generations of dentists, it is safe to say that dentistry runs in the Watanabe genes. No one knows what this means for Dr. Watanabe`s son.
 An English-speaking native of Japan, Dr. Watanabe earned her D.D.S. and Ph.D. from OsakaDentalUniversity in 1995 and
2004 respectively and supervised her father’s dental offices for about 10 years.  Feeling the need for another challenge, she planned to attain a Masters degree in endodontics in the US and eventually return to Japan. However, while living in San Diego preparing to enter a graduate program at Columbia University in Manhattan NYC, she met her American husband.  Once they decided to get married and reside in the US, Dr. Watanabe realized that before she could attend a specialty program, she first needed to attend an ADA approved dental school in order to become licensed in the U.S.  Dr. Watanabe was accepted, and graduated from, one-of-the-top dental schools in the world, University of the Pacific in San Francisco. This is the same dental school that produced Dr. Watanabe's colleague, the famous Beverly Hills Dentist, Dr. Bill Dorfman, from the hit ABC show, Extreme Makeover. After attending dental school in Japan and in the US, Dr. Watanabe realized that she enjoyed the variety of procedures that a general dentist performs and decided not to specialize in just one area.
Dr. Watanabe was fortunate to be inducted into University of the Pacific’s honor society, Tau Kappa Omega.   In addition, she became a member of the National Dental Honor Society, Omicron Kappa Upsilon (OKU) and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. Upon graduation, University of the Pacific bestowed to Dr. W
atanabe their highest honor, Dean’s Valedictorian Award.  Dr. Watanabe has also published several articles in professional, respected dental journals. Most recently, Dr. Watanabe was voted as one-of-the Top Dentist`s in the US for 2009 by and independent research council.  The selection process is based on a system that awards points for education, years in practice, affiliations with professional associations and board certifications.  No fees, sponsorships, donations or advertising are acceptable from dentists, dental treatment facilities or dental referral organizations to insure unbiased selection.  As a result of her accomplishment Dr. Watanabe is now consider an adjunct faculty at her former university in Japa