About Our Periodontist Serving San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Other Areas of Texas

Upon graduation from Granite Hills High School, Ben attended the La Sierra Campus of Loma Linda University in Riverside, California (It is now La Sierra University, but he states he had nothing to do with this). He majored in English, because he reasoned that being a Pre-Dent student would provide him enough science classes. English, he thought, would provide a more balanced college experience. After a little more than two years, Ben was accepted to the dental school at Loma Linda, and so never earned his English degree. He has no plans to go back and get it now.

In 1985 Ben and the family moved to San Antonio, Texas where he began a three-year periodontics residency at Wilford Hall. As part of this training, he spent one full year at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio taking classes and doing research. The second two years were spent at Wilford Hall in clinical training. He graduated in 1988 with a master's degree from this combined program. His thesis had to do with the utilization of a flow cytometer to detect plaque colonies (don't ask).

Their next move was to Wichita Falls, Texas and Sheppard Air Force Base, where Ben was one of two clinical periodontists on staff in the clinic and as a part of an Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) program. This was a wonderful experience because Ben could now teach other young dentists in the same way he was trained at Barksdale. While in this assignment, Ben became a diplomate (board certified) of the American Board of Periodontics.

In 1993, the Youngs moved back to San Antonio, where Ben went on staff as a periodontist in the department that trained him. His unique duty assignment during this time was to oversee the Air Force equivalent to a dental hygiene program for enlisted personnel. In addition to this, he was the dental infection control officer overseeing three clinics and about 150 dentists.

In 1996 Ben was offered an early (15 year) retirement because the Air Force was attempting to thin the LTC ranks in order to improve the rank structure within the dental corps. Because his two daughters by then were in high school, Ben and Linda decided it was best for the family that he retire rather than be moved another time.

In 1997 Ben went into private practice as a periodontist in San Antonio. From 1997-1999 he was part-time faculty at the dental school. When his daughters started college, he had to give this up.

In 2006, Ben became reacquainted with Stephen Schmitt. They met in the Air Force when Steve was chairman of the prosthodontic department and Ben was on staff in the periodontics department. Steve had been working on a research project funded by a National Science Foundation grant for a number of years and was now interested in investigating how his work might help solve some clinical problems having to do with immediate delivery of dental implants and new teeth for patients with failing dentitions. This began the work which resulted in what is now known as the NeXsmile procedure.

Using his many years of experience as a periodontist, Ben now works with general dentists throughout San Antonio, New Braunfels, and other areas of Texas to provide patients with dental implants and periodontal surgery.