For most, a smile is simply a unique definition of the human condition.
However, for Dr. Katherine Ahn Wallace, the smile and its associated human biology have become the center of a new medical discipline in which breathing and the body’s utilization of oxygen are keys to life, longevity, and even regeneration.
Five years after establishing the groundbreaking Aviara Center in Los Alamitos (Holistic Health & Regenerative Center), Dr. Ahn, her staff, and patients recently celebrated its 5th anniversary.
“We’re celebrating the fact that this has become not just a dental office; it’s not just a medical office or a chiropractic office,” she said. “It’s one of the very few, if not the only, centers that’s actually integrating and bridging the gap between dentistry and medicine, and which also includes physical medicine,” she said.
Dr. Ahn describes herself as “an airway aesthetic dentist who specializes in smile restorations that enhance facial aesthetics and overall health.”
“Breathing,” she claims, “is the foundation of everything. Oxygen is the missing link to health and regeneration. Because how we breathe actually affects your health more than you know.”
Her innovative work with oxygen and breathing has appeared in magazines and health-related journals around the country. She has been invited to present her findings at health conferences in the U.S. and abroad.
In addition to the Aviara Center in Los Alamitos, she is opening a second location in Beverly Hills, and Dr. Ahn has founded the Aviara Institute with the mission of bridging medicine and dentistry.
She’s not just running a business; Dr. Ahn is attempting to establish an entirely new discipline of medicine.
“We don’t simply treat symptoms. We uncover the story behind your health, and we’re tapping into your own body’s ability to regenerate,” she told customers and supporters gathered for the event.
“At Aviara Aesthetic, we believe true beauty begins beneath the surface in how we breathe, how you nourish your body, and how you manage stress,” she says. “Rather than chasing trends, we treat the whole person, restoring the systems that keep you healthy, radiant, and resilient over time,” she said.
While the Aviara Center offers laser-based new-age dentistry with only biodegradable materials, their work goes far beyond cavities and into the holistic world of whole-body health.
The Aviara Center in Los Al is one of the few places in the U.S., if not the only one, bridging the gap between dentistry and medicine, including physical medicine. She said the concept will be in same in Beverly Hills, however it will have a focus on aesthetics.
Dr. Ahn identified the “key pillars of health,” which she claims are airway and lifestyle.
“Lifestyle could be just the environment, what you do with your life, what you eat, especially. So, oxygen in food is what our cells need to heal and we need the right nutrients to create the right oxygen,” said Dr. Ahn.
“These two pillars, I’ve identified them. I categorize them as part of structural medicine. Really, it has to do with our breathing mechanism, tongue function, jaw function, teeth, TMJ, orthodontic posture, and retraining of all those muscles and releasing the fascial constraints,” according to Dr. Ahn.
She identifies emotional balance as the third pillar, linking sleep and airway function to reduced sympathetic activation and better stress regulation, arguing that improved breathing and physiology support emotional/mental resilience.
Dr. Ahn’s Aviara Centers are staffed with a medical spa an on-staff chiropractor, a pediatric dentist, specialty physicians and trained therapists who evaluate patients and offer a variety of medical assessments to provide holistic health.
The Regenerative Aesthetic Medicine side of the clinic offers “Signature Protocols,” like Aviara Glow, Aviara “Restore,” and “Bio Transform” skin treatments, as well as skin rejuvenation, advanced laser therapy, and hair restoration.
The services include BioAesthetic Blueprints, smile and facial analysis, airway aesthetic dentistry, airway orthodontics, regenerative TMJ Therapy, and functional sleep health.
Dr. Ahn acknowledges that while most of her treatments are covered by insurance, some are not, but dozens of happy customers were on hand to thank Dr. Ahn on the Aviara anniversary.
A Los Alamitos customer who has been with Dr. Ahn from the start, has high praise for the approach.
“I love it,” said Amanda Baltz of Los Alamitos. “She really is who she says she is,” said Baltz, referring to Dr. Ahn, adding that “she is all about your health.”
Baltz, a five-year patient of Dr. Ahn’s, said originally, she came to the clinic for treatment TMJ (Temporomandibular (tem-puh-roe-man-DIB-u-lur) joint, which acts like a sliding hinge. It connects the jawbone to the skull).
Following the TMJ treatment, said Baltz, “Dr. Ahn suggested modern braces for her teeth. “Because I had braces as a kid, they had removed some of my teeth, so Dr. Ahn helped me expand my palate,” she said, showing off what is today a beautiful smile.
“I like the holistic approach. It’s been good for me,” said Baltz.
Dr. Marshall Chey, a board-certified pediatric dentist with more than 15 years of experience and a lifelong dedication to children’s health, emphasizes prevention and integrative oral and airway care to lifelong wellness.
“Oral health is the first visible sign of a deeper imbalance in the whole body,” he said. “When I catch it early, we loop in the rest of the team and children get ahead of their problems,” he said.
Even in pediatric dentistry, he said, there is “no one size fits all,” and it is critical to have a holistic, root-cause perspective so that kids get airway exams, myofascial screening, ozone therapy, nutrition training and biocompatible (mercury-free) care.
Dr. Jean-Pierre Khreich, a noted sports medicine chiropractor with more than two decades of experience, said he’s been with Dr. Ahn since Aviara was first opened.
“We started this journey together,” he said, “and I learned how I could complement her patients using three basic techniques.”
In addition, Khreich said he uses another technique, Chirodontics, to manipulate structures in the cranium so the body operates at optimum levels.
Another team member, Dr. Allison Wu, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, focuses on myofascial intervention and neural fascial tension therapy and other cranial treatments.
Brenda Pollard, an expert in physiology and oral microbiome, is Director of Holistic Health, Paula Torres, handles myofunctional therapy, sleep apnea, and an expert on the tongue, which Dr. Ahn calls “the most important muscle in your body (because it controls the airway)” and Christina Jasmer, P.A., handles lifestyle and regenerative medicine.
The Aviara Centers employ additional therapists and specialists focusing on various aspects of health (www.aviaracenters.com).
In addition, Dr. Ahn has also worked with Dr. Jeffrey Rockenmacher, a local chiropractor with over 40 years of experience, who takes a whole-body, root-cause approach.
Throughout the day, Dr. Ahn and her medical team led several informational seminars to explain how they provide “holistic health” in an entirely new way.
Beyond southern California, Dr. Ahn is considering other expansions as the success of her combined focus on oxygen as the central tenet to life and longevity is having an impact in Los Alamitos. Her planned expansion to a clinic in Beverly Hills is set to open in October.
“The key is that we don’t simply treat symptoms; we uncover the story behind your health,” she told the group. “I say breathe, live, and smile, because it is the foundation for everything.”