Dr. Will and his team are very knowledgeable and caring about your health. He will do only what is best for you. I drive seven hours up from Florida to have all my dental care here. I trust his judgement one hundred percent.
Emily I. · Google review
Your mouth is connected to chronic illness.
Biological and biomimetic dentistry in Nolensville, Tennessee. Two minutes with Dr. Will on why it matters.
Apply nowSeven short screens
830+ Google reviews
The connection between oral health and whole-body health is an area of active research. The Burkitt Center provides dental care and does not diagnose, treat, or cure medical conditions.
In her words
A patient on what it was like to be heard.
She came in carrying a long history and questions no one had wanted to sit with. This is her telling it, unscripted.
Monica, a patient at The Burkitt Center, shared with permission. Individual experiences vary and are not a prediction of results.
I had consults with several different places around this area. After talking with Dr. Will I was confident I had made the correct choice. The professionalism of the entire staff is far above any experience I have had with any other dental professional in the past fifty years.
Randy D. · Google review
My experience from the very first consultation through my first two procedures has been amazing at every level. I felt at ease with their candor and concern. Two procedures in and I am well on my way to much better health and peace of mind.
Jonathan G. · Google review
Reviews from Google, shared as written. These are individual experiences shared with permission. Results are not typical or guaranteed, individual outcomes vary, and nothing here is a promise of any specific result.
When you walk in
The front door, and who is behind it.
Bodie and Milly, the practice’s two therapy dogs, are part of the team you meet. The rest of the team is right behind them.
7024 Nolensville Road, Nolensville, Tennessee
Monday to Thursday, 7:00 to 3:30
About thirty minutes from the Nashville airport
What we’re known for
Patients travel across Tennessee for our ceramic implant work.
When an implant is the answer, we lead with ceramic. Here is what that means, and where it comes from.
Why ceramic instead of titanium?
Zirconia is biocompatible and metal-free, and it is placed as a single piece. In the metal-free implantology literature, ceramic is favored for patients who prefer to avoid metal in the mouth, and that research has been building for two decades. Ceramic is not always the right call. We will tell you when it isn’t.
Descriptions of materials and technology reflect how we use them in dental care. Suitability is determined case by case, and no specific outcome is implied.
Who did the doctors train under?
Three programs. Three teachers. The doctors are credentialed by the people who built this work.
Dr. Dominik Nischwitz
Tübingen, GermanyVice president of the International Society for Metal-free Implantology. Author of It’s All In Your Mouth. Founder of Biodentistry 3.0. Dr. Will trained under Dr. Dome directly.
Dr. Shahram Ghanaati
Frankfurt, GermanyFounder of the International Curriculum in biological oral surgery. Dr. Will trains through the program.
Dr. Judson Wall
Bountiful, UtahHolistic Dental Education Series. The AGD-approved continuing-education path for biological dentists in the United States. All three doctors have trained through it.
Why do patients travel here for this work?
Patients drive in from across Tennessee. They fly in from across the country. The same pattern shows up in our Google reviews. People who consulted with several practices first, then chose to travel hours to sit in our chair. Ceramic implant cases are the kind of work patients pick a practice for. Not the kind they take to whoever is closest.
Why we work this way
Your mouth is attached to the rest of you.
Dentistry has mostly been practiced as if the mouth were its own compartment, separate from everything else going on in your health. That is the piece we do differently, and it is the reason the first visit here is a workup instead of a cleaning.
“Traditional dentistry kept our mouths compartmentalized, as if it wasn’t attached to the rest of your body. We know it is all connected. What has been there, and what the dentist puts in there, matters. There are 8 or so oral stressors. We need to help our patients connect the dots so that they can live an optimized, healthy life.”
Dr. Will
We would rather put the number in front of you than make you ask for it. Here is what the first step costs, what is in it, and what happens after.
The eight we look for
- Root canals
- Gum disease
- Metal crowns
- Metal implants
- Cavitations
- Diseased tonsils
- Infected sinuses
- Mercury fillings
What it costs
The full picture, and a plan from Dr. Will.
“Good dental care, one that is focused on systemic healing and optimization of health, is not going to be cheap. There will be not only a financial investment but a time investment as well. The patient will need to have emotional bandwidth to be able to complete treatment. It needs to be the right time in their life.”
Dr. Will
Step one · in the chair
The Biological Assessment
Your full diagnostic workup
- Calcium Calf Test
- A1C Blood Test
- HRV Testing
- Tooth Vitality Test
- Ragland’s Test
- Dental Electron Loss (RITA Meter)
- Vitamin D Testing
- Oral Cancer Screening
- Phase Contrast Microscopy
- Oral pH
- Oral DNA Test
Representative of what an assessment may include. Testing is tailored to each patient and updates with the research.
Any health readings gathered during your assessment are provided to you to share with your physician. They are not a medical diagnosis, and we do not manage or treat medical conditions.
Step two · the payoff
Your Case Presentation with Dr. Will
This visit is more than the time you spend with Dr. Will. Between your assessment and this appointment, he is the one in your file. Every test, every reading, every note from your workup. He sits with it. He builds your plan around it. By the time you meet, he already knows your case, and the conversation is what comes out of that work.
The investment
The biological assessment$600
- 10+ tests with the data that comes with them. That’s yours no matter what.
- If you skipped the line with a $100 deposit, it is applied to your next appointment.
Your case presentation with Dr. Will$300
- One-on-one time with Dr. Will to walk through your full case.
- This is time dedicated to you. Ask whatever questions you have. We prepared everything in between your visits.
Your biological consult with Dr. Will$250
- Goes toward your treatment.
Two visits, one complete picture of where you stand and what to do next. Every appointment is scheduled with a 25% down payment. Any treatment is quoted in full at your case presentation first.
Apply for the assessmentSeven short screens
Skip the line with a $100 deposit, or submit without one.
Just want a great regular dentist? Start here.
Who are we?
Dr. Will
Dr. Will comes from a family of dentists. His father built the original practice in Nolensville. Biological dentistry is where Dr. Will has taken it. He trains under Dr. Nischwitz (Tübingen, Germany), Dr. Ghanaati (Frankfurt, Germany), and Dr. Wall (Bountiful, Utah). He brings what he learns back to the practice he grew up in.
Training and affiliations
Training
Dr. Judson Wall (Bountiful, Utah). Biological dentist who runs the Holistic Dental Education Series, an AGD-approved continuing-education program covering zirconia implants, ozone, laser dentistry, and the oral-systemic connection.
Dr. Dominik Nischwitz (Tübingen, Germany). Vice president of the International Society for Metal-free Implantology. Author of It’s All In Your Mouth. Founder of the Biodentistry 3.0 program.
Dr. Shahram Ghanaati (Frankfurt, Germany). His International Curriculum is a multi-level training program in biological oral surgery. Dr. Will trains through it.
The Six Lessons Approach. The Alleman Center protocol Dr. Hayden trains in through the Biomimetic Mastership.
Fotona LightWalker MAX. Dr. Will has trained on the LightWalker MAX, the laser the practice uses for soft-tissue and laser-assisted procedures.
Affiliations
IAOMT. International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. Founded 1984. Researches the biocompatibility of dental materials.
IABDM. International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine. Founded 1985. Credentials progress from Certified to Fellow to Master.
Institute of Biological Dentistry / BGS Institute. Dr. Nischwitz’s Biodentistry 3.0 credentialing body.
Dr. Hayden
Dr. Hayden is in the year-long Biomimetic Mastership at the Alleman Center under Dr. David Alleman. The Alleman family wrote the modern playbook for restoring teeth without cutting away what is left of them. Dr. Hayden is also working through Dr. Judson Wall’s Holistic Dental Education Series for the biological protocols.
Training and affiliations
Training
The Six Lessons Approach. The Alleman Center’s restorative protocol, taught through their Biomimetic Mastership. Biomimetics is the discipline of restoring teeth in a way that preserves natural structure and avoids the cycle of repeated intervention.
Dr. Judson Wall (Bountiful, Utah). Dr. Hayden has completed coursework through Dr. Wall’s Holistic Dental Education Series, the same biological continuing-education path Dr. Will trains in.
Fotona LightWalker MAX. Dr. Hayden has trained on the LightWalker MAX, the laser the practice uses for soft-tissue and laser-assisted procedures.
Affiliations
Alleman Center of Biomimetic Dentistry. Founded 2019 by Dr. David Alleman and family. The Alleman family built the modern framework for biomimetic dentistry. The Six Lessons Approach is the protocol most practitioners in the field trace their training back to. Dr. Hayden is enrolled in their year-long Biomimetic Mastership, an intensive credential combining online coursework with in-person mentorship under the doctors who wrote the curriculum.
Dr. Ellie
Dr. Ellie carries the bulk of the day-to-day restorative and biomimetic dentistry at the practice. Most patients who come in for that work are seen by her. She follows the same biomimetic protocols Dr. Hayden is bringing back from the Alleman Mastership and the biological principles Dr. Will trains in. The framework is consistent across the team, and she’s the one running most of it day to day.
Training and affiliations
Training
Dr. Judson Wall (Bountiful, Utah). Dr. Ellie has completed coursework with Dr. Wall, the biological continuing-education program Dr. Will and Dr. Hayden both train in.
Fotona LightWalker MAX. Dr. Ellie has trained on the LightWalker MAX, the laser the practice uses for soft-tissue and laser-assisted procedures.
In-practice mentorship under Dr. Will and Dr. Hayden. The biomimetic and biological protocols at the practice are taught directly. Dr. Ellie works the same casework framework Dr. Will and Dr. Hayden run their own cases through.
Affiliations
IABDM. International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine. Founded 1985. Dr. Ellie is a member.
The space
Inside the practice.
The room patients arrive in, the operatories where the work happens, and the quiet moments in between. Click any photo to expand.
Traveling in Coming from out of town? Here is what a treatment trip looks like. Open the itinerary
Traveling in
Patients fly in from across the country and the world.
Nashville is closer than you think. Here is what a treatment trip at The Burkitt Center looks like.
NashvilleA city worth building a trip around.
The biological assessment
Three hours in the chair. The full diagnostic workup runs. We sit with you, we run the tests, and we collect the data your case will be built around.
Case presentation with Dr. Will
Two hours with Dr. Will. He has been in your file between visits, and he walks you through what every reading means and the plan he has built for you.
Treatment and follow-up
Any in-trip work happens here. We sequence the appointments around your flights so the travel earns the trip. Follow-up the next morning before you head home.
Getting here, where to stay, and Nashville
Downtown NashvilleMusic City Center, river district, the works.
Getting here
Nashville International (BNA) is about thirty minutes from the practice. We help you time appointments around your flights.
Where to stay
We share a working list of hotels patients have used, walkable to the practice through to a short drive away.
While you’re here
Live music every night. Neighborhoods worth walking. Food that has earned national press. Many patients build a short stay around the trip.
Nashville, TN
30 min from BNA
The full visit guide: three days, what to bring, where to stay →
Questions
If you’re still weighing it.
Is there a cost to apply?
No card is needed to apply. The Discovery Conversation is a call with the team to find the right first visit for you, and that visit is booked like every appointment, with a 25% down payment. A $100 deposit is optional: it moves your application to the front of the line and is applied to your next appointment.
Do you take my insurance?
We are in network. Coverage still varies by plan, so our team reviews your benefits, prepares and submits the paperwork, and walks you through what yours is likely to cover before you commit to anything.
Can I just call?
Yes. (615) 941-3368, Monday to Thursday, 7:00 to 3:30 Central. Outside those hours you can apply any time and the team will reach out. Just want regular care? Book a new-patient visit here.
How do I know this isn’t just expensive holistic woo?
Every protocol we use comes out of peer-reviewed research and named training under specific teachers. The names and the institutions are in the section above. We coordinate directly with your physicians, and we walk through the reasoning behind every recommendation before any work begins. The welcome video at the top of this page goes deeper on a few of the protocols if you want to pressure-test them.
What if I get there and I just need a regular cleaning?
Then you have spent three hours with a doctor who actually worked through your case, and you leave knowing exactly where you stand. The $600 assessment covers the three hours, the workup and the results. The case presentation with Dr. Will is a separate $300 visit that comes after it. It is not a sales pitch for treatment. If the answer is “everything looks good,” that is the answer, and you keep your results.
Is this really different from a normal dental visit?
A typical exam runs 20 to 30 minutes and focuses on what is happening in your mouth right now. The biological assessment runs about three hours, with a two-hour case presentation after it, and asks how what is in your mouth is connecting to the rest of your body, through specific tests (vitality, electron loss, oral DNA, Vitamin D, oral pH) and a full review with Dr. Will of what each result means for you. That is the difference.
What if I cannot afford the treatment plan after the assessment?
The $600 assessment is the only thing you commit to today. The $300 case presentation is booked after it, and only if you want it. After the assessment we present a treatment plan with a written estimate. You decide what to do with it, on your timeline. We will not pressure you, and your results are yours whether you treat with us or take them elsewhere.
I am out of state. How does travel actually work?
Plan on three to four working days in Nashville. We sequence the assessment, the case presentation, and any in-trip work back to back so the travel earns the trip. BNA is about thirty minutes from the practice. Once you connect with the team, they send you what you need to plan the trip, including hotels we recommend, before you book.
Why now? I could keep researching.
You could. Researching is what brought you here. At some point the research has to meet a chair and a real conversation. If what you read above tracks, the assessment is the next step. Slots fill ahead of treatment booking, so the only timeline we work to is yours.
Not what you came for?
These are the other places to start. You can also say so at your first visit and we will point you to the right one.