Dr. Tina Olsson

Education and Specialty Training

Dr. Olsson earned her DMD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, one of the oldest dental schools in the country. After dental school, she did something most endodontists do not. She practiced general dentistry for almost ten years before deciding to specialize.

That decade matters to her patients. It means she understands what a crown looks like under the gumline, how a filling fails, why a tooth that has been worked on three times behaves differently than a virgin tooth, and how the work she does fits into the larger plan your regular dentist is building for your mouth. When she talks to your general dentist about your case, she is speaking a language she lived in for years.

She returned to school and completed her Certificate in Endodontics and Master of Science in Dentistry at the University of Washington, one of the most respected endodontic training programs in the country. She has remained connected to that program as adjunct faculty since 2015, teaching residents the same techniques she uses every day in our office.

Board Certified Diplomate

Dr. Olsson is a Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. That title gets used loosely in dental marketing, so it is worth explaining what it actually means.

For you, it means the doctor treating your tooth has had her clinical judgment, treatment planning, and surgical skill formally evaluated and verified by a national board of her peers.

Military Service

Before her career in endodontics, Dr. Olsson served four years as a dental officer in the United States Army, including a deployment to Iraq with the 93rd Medical Battalion. She was the dentist soldiers came to when they were in pain in the middle of a deployment, often without the equipment, comfort, or follow-up that civilian dentistry takes for granted.

That experience shapes how she works now. She is calm under pressure, fast when the situation calls for it, and unflappable when a case turns out to be more complicated than the X-ray suggested. Patients who are anxious tend to feel that steadiness within the first few minutes.

How She Practices

Endodontics is a quiet specialty. There is no sales pitch, no upgrade package, no cosmetic before-and-after. The job is to save a tooth that is in trouble and send the patient back to their general dentist for the final restoration. Dr. Olsson approaches every appointment with that focus.

She uses the same technology our entire team relies on, including dental operating microscopes that magnify the tooth up to 20 times and CBCT 3D imaging that lets her see the root canal anatomy in three dimensions before she ever picks up an instrument. For complex cases, retreatments, and cracked teeth, that level of visibility is the difference between a good outcome and a guess.

She also spends real time talking to patients before treatment begins. If you have a question about what is going to happen, why it is happening, or what the tooth will feel like next week, she will answer it in plain language before you sit back in the chair.

Professional Leadership

In Washington, Dr. Olsson co-founded a four-location endodontic group and served as President of the Pierce County Dental Society. She is a published author and a continuing education instructor, which means she is teaching other dentists the techniques she will use on your tooth.

She also brings a working knowledge of how a great endodontic practice runs from the front desk to the operatory, which is part of why she fit so naturally with the team Dr. Sturgill has built here in Johnson City.

Outside the Office

Dr. Olsson recently relocated to Tennessee with her husband Adam and their children Isabella and Viggo. They are settling into the Tri-Cities and getting to know the area the way most newcomers do, one weekend hike, restaurant, and small-town festival at a time.

If you would like to learn more about the full scope of endodontic care we provide, or read about Dr. Sturgill and Dr. Fischer, the rest of the site has you covered. When you are ready to schedule, our team can usually get you in quickly, often within a day or two for urgent cases.