Meet Our Pediatric Dentist
Dr. Tyrone Rodriguez - Pediatric Dentist
Victoria Kid’s Dentistry is excited to welcome our new long-term provider, Dr. Tyrone Rodriguez. Dr. Rodriguez, a board-certified pediatric dentist, and Dental Fellow brings vast qualifications from over two decades of experience in helping children with their oral health needs. Before his dental career, Dr. R, as he likes to be called, was a molecular physiology and biophysics researcher for two years at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston using his Neuroscience Degree from Brown University and a Master of Arts in Teaching alum of Rice University. Then, he was an award-winning high school science teacher for five years in the Houston Independent School District.
Wanting to serve others with his in-depth Science training, he accidentally discovered dentistry as a crossroads for art, humanity, engineering, and science. Starting in 2000, he received multiple accolades as a dental student, taking top honors at the Star of The South Dental Meeting, the Texas Dental Association Meeting, and the ADA Annual Meeting. He became a (SCADA) Student Clinician of the American Dental Association Fellow. He created a newsletter at his dental school, “La Sonrisa,” to help with recruitment and diversity of applicants. While he was at the University of Texas Dental Branch, he served as the President of the Student InterCouncil (SIC) of the Texas Medical Center, serving the over 19,000 health profession students of the World’s Largest Medical center and working to develop the future home of the present UT Houston Dental School in 2004. During his pediatric dental residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, he founded and served as the first president of the Greater San Antonio Hispanic Dental Association and won the prestigious American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Samuel D. Harris National Fellowship.
Dr. R has served as an AEGD residency director for the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest residency from 2006-2009. He served on the national board of the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) for 11 years, serving as the national president of the HDA in 2014, and has spoken at the White House for the development of the Affordable Care Act. Program Director for Yale Pediatric Dentistry and Pediatric Dental Lead of the Yale Craniofacial Team from 2018-2019. As an international lecturer and author, Dr. R has trained numerous dental students, residents, and providers. Dr. R is trained in craniofacial orthopedics for cleft lip and palate and laser techniques to help newborns with lip and tongue ties. He has published multiple articles in various dental publications and served as editor and founder for others, including the Journal of the Hispanic Dental Association (JHDA), the nation’s first bilingual (English/Spanish) oral health journal recognized by the United States Library of Congress and read in over 50 countries.
He is the chief editor of the San Antonio District Dental Society Journal and one of the few bilingual ADA Spokespersons. He is humbled at the opportunity to serve such a wonderful community as Victoria, TX, and help raise his two children with his wife, Dr. Denisse Estrada, a former professor, pediatric dentist, and lecturer trained at la Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM).
In his personal life, Dr. R. enjoys Saturday morning cartoons, gourmet cooking with his family, watching sports with his wife, performing international mission work with her, and Bible reading, which is a must. Dr. R. anticipates a remarkable legacy helping to grow healthy smiles in Victoria, Texas, for years to come.
