Endodontist in Walnut Creek CA

Joanne M. Jensen, DDS, MS

Dr. Joanne Jensen has been practicing endodontics in Contra Costa County since 2005. She is a California native, growing up in Santa Cruz, CA, graduating from Santa Catalina High School for girls.

She attended the University of California, Berkeley for her undergraduate education, majoring in Biochemistry. As an undergraduate, Dr. Jensen worked part-time for Chiron Corporation helping to engineer a novel DNA sequence.

Dr. Jensen then switched to a more academic research laboratory at UC Berkeley, under the direction of Prof. Jack Kirsch, investigating rate-limiting steps of enzyme mechanisms. Upon graduation, Dr. Joanne Jensen was hired at Genencor International, an industrial enzyme research company. She worked for several years on protein engineering of proteases used in laundry detergent.

Her work resulted in 18 patents, including, a method for assaying a preferred enzyme and/or preferred detergent composition. This patent was for a novel detection method of enzymatic activity. Working on this project has only strengthened Dr. Jensen’s skills of meticulous and inventive thinking when working on endodontic cases.

In 1999, Dr. Jensen began her journey into the dental profession by entering the class of 2002 at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. After graduating as a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honor Society (the Phi Beta Kappa of Dentistry), Dr. Jensen completed a general practice residency (GPR) at the Ohio State University.

There, Dr. Jensen gained valuable experience in medically compromised patients, complex restorative cases, treating patients in active cancer treatment, and advanced care of pediatric cases. Dr. Jensen was on staff at Columbus Children’s Hospital, helping in the clinics and emergency room with children.

Dr. Jensen quickly realized that endodontics was her passion and continued her education at Ohio State University. She earned her endodontic certificate and a Masters of Science in Oral Biology in 2005. The endodontic program at Ohio State takes pride in being the leader in pain management and local anesthetic research.  The title of her thesis was The anesthetic efficacy of a repeated intraosseous injection given 30 minutes following a primary intraosseous injection.  Her research ultimately leads to publication in the Journal of Endodontics.

Dr. Jensen’s thesis project enabled her to gain extensive experience in local anesthesia administration and pain management. Dr. Jensen has also taken continuing education courses furthering her education regarding oral sedation. She feels her technical training with anesthetic administration combined with her education in oral sedation is paramount to her practice of endodontics so she can provide a comfortable, compassionate, and understanding approach to root canal treatment.

Dr. Joanne Jensen is proud to share that she is a Diplomate of the Board of Endodontics. To become a Board Certified Endodontist, Dr. Jensen successfully completed a series of steps, including a comprehensive oral and written exam, and submission of cases from her practice demonstrating an exceptional level of knowledge. Earning board certification shows the highest level of education in the field of endodontics which translates to a commitment to providing the highest quality of patient care. In addition to being Board Certified, Dr. Jensen is also on the Scientific Advisory Board for The Journal of Endodontics. 

Dr. Jensen has been living in Moraga with her husband, Derek, and three children, Peter, Evan, and Adelyn since 2005. She is very active in the St. Perpetua school community as well as on the sidelines of the many sports her children play. She loves cooking, traveling, and being with her huge family (she is one of 8 siblings).

---