ABOUT MOUNTAIN DENTAL
A family dental practice with a different idea about what dentistry should do.
We’ve been in Placerville for over 20 years. We see kids, teens, and adults from across the El Dorado County foothills. Our work is built on a clinical conviction that the mouth is connected to the rest of the body, and that a dentist’s job is to treat both.
THE STORY
The reason this practice exists the way it does.
Dr. Alex Keith grew up in the Bay Area, working construction for his dad’s company. He knew he wanted to work with his hands and run his own business. Dentistry checked both. He chose it for practical reasons, not philosophical ones.
That changed in dental school.
Before applying, he had to shadow a few dentists. One of them, working a few miles from where Dr. Keith grew up, was making dentures for an older woman who’d been waiting on the appointment a long time. The dentist asked her to bring in a photograph from her high school graduation. She did. Her front teeth tipped slightly inward in the picture, the way they had her whole life. Most dentures get built to give a patient a smile other people would consider perfect. He built hers to look like the smile she had at eighteen.
When she saw it in the mirror, she cried.
"That was the moment I understood what this work could actually do." — Dr. Alex Keith
Dr. Keith took over the practice in Placerville in 2017. The patients he was treating as children grew up, and their parents started asking if he’d see them too. The practice became a family practice almost by accident.
The philosophy held: treat the patient like a person who can handle the truth about their own body, give them options instead of orders, and pay attention to how the work in the mouth affects the rest of them.
That last commitment is the one that defines the practice today.
HOW WE PRACTICE
Three commitments that shape every appointment.
Oral infection and inflammation don’t stay in the mouth. They add to the body’s overall inflammatory load, and that load is part of the picture in a range of chronic conditions. The dental profession has spent a century treating teeth as if they had nothing to do with the body they live in. We don’t.
Our approach is built on three commitments.
Materials matter.
We don’t place mercury-based silver amalgam fillings. Our composites are biocompatible, our crowns are metal-free ceramic or zirconia, and we use ozone where it makes clinical sense. This is the floor of how we practice.
Airway-centered orthodontics with chiropractic care.
We treat orthodontics as airway and structural work, not just tooth alignment: tongue position, breathing, cranial balance, and tooth movement as one system, in children and adults. For the cases that need it, we coordinate directly with Dr. Malori Tinsley at Well Balanced Body, same building and same day.
Honest dentistry that treats the whole body.
We tell patients the truth about what we find and give them options instead of orders. We don’t recommend procedures you don’t need, and we explain the reasoning behind the ones we do. The mouth is connected to the rest of the body, and we treat it that way.
THE PRACTICE IN PLACERVILLE
Built for the foothills, in downtown Placerville.
Mountain Dental sits on Main Street in downtown Placerville. The practice has been here for over 20 years across two ownerships. The location, the team, and the philosophy have stayed consistent. The brand on the door has changed, because what started as a kids’ practice grew into something that needed a name big enough to hold the whole family.
Patients come to us from Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, El Dorado Hills, Folsom, Diamond Springs, Pollock Pines, Camino, and the surrounding communities. Some drive over an hour each way. The reason is rarely a specific procedure. It’s usually that they couldn’t find another practice that practiced this way.
Placerville is part of why the practice works the way it does. The patients here read labels. They ask questions about what’s in their food and their water and their fillings. They expect a dentist to answer those questions without condescension. The practice was built for that kind of patient because it’s also the kind of patient we treat best.
The dentist behind the practice.
Dr. Alex Keith, DMD
Owner, Mountain Dental
Dr. Keith earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology from California State University Sacramento before completing his dental training at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston. He has practiced dentistry in Placerville since 2015.
He trained conventionally and then kept going. After dental school, he continued his education in alternative therapies and restorative approaches, with a focus on the materials, methods, and structural philosophies the conventional curriculum left out. He is a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) and is certified for safe amalgam removal under its SMART protocol.
Dr. Keith lives in El Dorado County with his wife, Dr. Malori Tinsley, and their two sons.
Education and Training
- Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Tufts University School of Dental Medicine
- Bachelor of Science in Biology, California State University Sacramento
Memberships and Certifications
- International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)
- American Dental Association
- California Dental Association
- Sacramento District Dental Society
Dr. Jake Westhorpe, DMD
General Dentist, Mountain Dental
Dr. Jake Westhorpe has been part of Mountain Dental since 2023 and central to how the practice has grown. He sees kids, teens, and adults, and he’s known for being easy to talk to. He keeps appointments unhurried, so patients have the room to ask questions and understand the work before it happens.
He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Holy Names University before completing his dental training at Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine.
His focus is general dentistry, with a particular interest in restorative work: treatment that lasts, looks natural, and feels comfortable. The aim is dental work a patient doesn’t have to think about again for years.
Outside the office, he’s usually at a baseball or softball field, out on the local trails with his family on foot or by bike, at a Giants game, or stopping by Trader Joe’s.
Education and Training
- Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Western University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine
- Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, Holy Names University
Memberships and Certifications
- International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT)
- American Dental Association
- California Dental Association
- Sacramento District Dental Society
- American Society of Dentistry for Children
THE TEAM
The team behind the practice.
The hygienists, assistants, and front office staff at Mountain Dental are trained directly in the clinical philosophy and the patient-care approach the practice was built on. Some have been here for nearly twenty years. They are part of how the work gets done.
THE INTEGRATED PRACTICE
A coordinated approach with Well Balanced Body Chiropractic.
Mountain Dental and Well Balanced Body Chiropractic share a building, a philosophy, and a growing list of patients who benefit from being seen by both practices in coordination. Dr. Malori Tinsley, a chiropractor specializing in cranial work, is the practitioner on the chiropractic side. She is also Dr. Keith’s wife. The integration is intentional, and it’s the part of the practice that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the area.
How the integrated work shows up for patients.
For jaw pain (TMD), the coordination matters because Dr. Tinsley’s cranial adjustment temporarily alters the bite, and a balanced night guard needs to be made the same day to hold the new position. We schedule those appointments back-to-back, in the same building.
In orthodontic care, Dr. Keith fits a child with an appliance while Dr. Tinsley performs cranial adjustments regularly. The two treatments work together. The appliance creates space; the adjustments make sure the cranial bones move into proper alignment as the palate widens. The combined approach delivers the airway and structural benefits that orthodontic work alone rarely achieves.
Patients pursuing the integrated approach long term can enroll in the Dental Health Savings Plan here and in Well Balanced Body’s own care plan, which makes the cost and scheduling of working with two practitioners easier to manage.
WHAT WE'RE BUILDING NEXT
The practice that exists now is one step in a longer plan.
Two things are in development that will shape the practice over the next several years.
A product line.
We’re developing a small line of dental wellness products under the name Dr. Keith’s Teeth, beginning with a toothpaste formulated without the ingredients we’ve spent careers refusing to put in patients’ mouths.
A community care commitment.
Our long-term vision includes a low-cost dental and chiropractic clinic for patients who would otherwise go without care, and a teaching program to bring the integrated dental and chiropractic protocol to other practitioners. Both are years away. The practice today is being built to make them possible.
If the way we practice resonates with you, we'd love to meet you.
New patient appointments are open for kids, teens, and adults. Someone answers the phone, and appointments aren’t rushed.
OR CALL (530) 642-8614
