In October 2002, when the Internet Archive first captured the website of Balboa Dental Care, the whole thing fit on a few framed pages: a welcome line, a list of services, office hours and a short biography. It said that Dr. Dan Stragier had graduated from the University of Southern California’s dental school in 1985 and had run a private practice in San Diego ever since, and that when he was not working he could be found sailing, scuba diving, backpacking, motorcycling, gardening, or supervising his four dogs.
Twenty-four years later the site is glossier, but the central fact has not changed. Stragier, now about four decades into practice, is still the only dentist at Balboa Dental Care, in a second-floor suite at Liberty Park Plaza on Genesee Avenue in Clairemont. The practice says every patient is treated by him personally and that he places dental implants himself. That makes his office a small piece of living history: in 1999 about two in three American dentists worked in solo practice, and by 2019, according to the American Dental Association, only one in two did. This is a portrait of a practice that has stayed the old shape while the profession around it changed.
This feature is based on public records, archived web pages and published sources. Dentist News Today did not interview Dr. Stragier or his staff, and coverage is never paid.
The Village Within a City
Clairemont was itself a bet on a new way of living. In 1950 builders Carlos Tavares and Lou Burgener began what became San Diego’s largest post-war subdivision on the mesas north of Mission Bay. The first map bearing the name Clairemont, after Tavares’s wife, Claire, was recorded on October 16, 1950, and the first residents moved in during May 1951. The developers marketed it as “The Village Within a City,” with shopping and services planned alongside thousands of houses, duplexes and apartments. When NBC 7 marked the neighborhood’s 75th anniversary in March 2025, it noted that about 82,000 people live there and that Clairemont has become a hotspot for backyard granny flats.
The layout still shapes daily life. Clairemont covers about 13 square miles bounded by Interstate 5, Interstate 805 and State Route 52, with Tecolote Canyon running down its middle; the 903-acre Tecolote Canyon Natural Park was dedicated in 1977. The neighborhood has its own retail lore, too: the first Price Club, the warehouse chain that later merged into Costco, opened on Morena Boulevard in 1976.
The Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey counts about 52,300 people in ZIP code 92117, which covers much of Clairemont. The median household income is about $103,700, the median age is about 39.5, and the median home in the ZIP was built in 1965, a reminder of how much of the housing stock dates from the original building boom. About 8 percent of adults are veterans.
June 1985: a license and a practice
California’s license lookup shows dentist license 33381 issued to Daniel Edward Stragier on June 4, 1985. It is current and active, and the record shows no public disciplinary actions. The same file preserves the practice’s movements over the years through a series of fictitious-name permits, the state registrations that let a dental office operate under a trade name. One, now cancelled, lists “Balboa Dental Care Dental Practices James P Boyd Daniel Stragier” at 5222 Balboa Avenue, Suite 53. Another, also cancelled, lists Balboa Dental Care at the same Balboa Avenue address; a third places it at 4223 Genesee Avenue, Suite 109. The active permit is at 4340 Genesee Avenue, Suite 202, the current office. We could not determine from public records when each move happened or what became of the partnership with Dr. Boyd.
The archive also shows how the office’s week has shifted. In October 2003 the site listed hours of 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays. Today the practice is closed on Fridays, but it still keeps the pattern of two long days and two early ones, now opening at 7 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and staying until 6 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, which it pitches to families juggling school and work.
The name, in other words, is a fossil. Balboa Dental Care was named for the avenue where it began, and it kept the name after moving to Genesee. A 2011 version of the practice website described Stragier as a USC graduate who had maintained a private practice in Clairemont since 1985, and as a 20-year resident of Ocean Beach. The current site says he still lives in Ocean Beach and spends time off hiking, motorcycling, sailing, scuba diving and gardening, and walking his rescue dogs on the dog beach.
The one-dentist model
Most of what distinguishes Balboa Dental Care follows from one decision: there is one dentist, and he does as much as he can in-house. The practice says Stragier surgically places implants himself, and its implant page says he has placed them at his San Diego office for more than four decades, that he belongs to the San Diego Implant Study Club and the Academy of General Dentistry, and that for complex surgical, gum or orthodontic cases he refers to San Diego colleagues he has worked with for years. Its 2011 site made the same pitch in fewer words: most dental services without referrals, in a low-stress office.
His training fits that approach. USC’s dental school, now the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, was founded in 1897, according to the practice, which describes it as among the top-ranked programs in the world. Stragier’s archived biographies from 2002 and 2011 both stress the same habit: hundreds of hours of continuing education to keep up with new techniques, equipment and materials. The 2011 version added membership in the San Diego Implant Study Club, which the 2002 version did not mention.
That model has become the exception. In a December 2021 summary of its research, the ADA’s Health Policy Institute reported that 85 percent of dentists owned their practices in 2005 but 76 percent did in 2019, and that among dentists under 35, ownership fell from 49 percent to 31 percent. About one in ten dentists, and one in five younger dentists, was affiliated with a dental service organization in 2019. Group practices, specialist referrals and corporate management are the direction of travel; a general dentist who places his own implants in a one-doctor office is swimming the other way.
Time is the other pressure. The HPI found that the average U.S. dentist retired at 68.9 in 2023, up from 64.7 in 2001, and that only about a fifth retire before 65. Dentists who began practicing in the mid-1980s are now in the years when the profession decides what happens to its solo offices.
“Has maintained a private practice in Clairemont ever since.” Balboa Dental Care website, 2011 (archived by the Internet Archive)
The team that stayed
Continuity is the practice’s other argument. Its current biography of Stragier says many of his assistants and hygienists have been with him for upwards of a decade, and some for more than 30 years. The archived pages back that up. In 2011 the site introduced office manager Terri Wells as having worked with Stragier for 20 years and his assistant as having been with him for ten.
The practice also publishes positions that many offices leave vague. It says it offers free consultations and free second opinions for patients unsure about treatment another dentist recommended. It says its fees run below those of most San Diego practices, and its implant-cost page gives a general range of $3,000 to $6,000 for a single implant-supported crown, with the caution that each patient’s cost is set at a consultation. It accepts most insurance plans and offers payment plans and outside financing.
What the office offers
Balboa Dental Care describes itself as a one-stop office for whole families. Services listed on its website include cleanings and exams, fillings, crowns and bridges, root canal therapy, extractions, gum disease treatment, dentures and implant dentures, single implants and All-on-4 full-arch implants, bone grafts and sinus lifts, full-mouth reconstruction, Invisalign, porcelain veneers, whitening and smile makeovers, and treatment for TMJ disorders. The office lists 3D cone beam CT imaging, digital X-rays and diode lasers, and offers sedation for anxious patients. It says it uses titanium or zirconia implants.
Questions patients ask
What are Balboa Dental Care’s hours?
The practice’s location page lists Monday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and closed Friday through Sunday. It says the early and late slots are meant to fit around school and work. A third-party listing shows a later Monday start, so confirm by phone at (858) 541-1844.
Will I see the same dentist every time?
Yes, according to the practice: Dr. Stragier is its only dentist and treats every patient personally, referring out only complex cases.
Does the office take insurance or Medi-Cal?
The practice says it accepts most dental insurance plans and offers payment plans and third-party financing. It does not say whether it accepts Medi-Cal Dental, so ask before booking.
Where do I park?
The office is at 4340 Genesee Ave., Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92117, in Liberty Park Plaza. The practice says the plaza has plenty of parking.
Does the office speak languages other than English?
The practice website does not list languages. A Demandforce directory listing names English, Farsi and Spanish; ask when you call.
Sources
- Dentist in San Diego, CA | Balboa Dental Care, Balboa Dental Care
- Daniel E. Stragier, DDS, Balboa Dental Care
- San Diego Dentist Office, Balboa Dental Care
- Dental Technology, Balboa Dental Care
- Dental Implants Cost in San Diego, Balboa Dental Care
- About the Dentist (archived), Balboa Dental Care via Internet Archive, Oct 17, 2002
- Office Hours (archived), Balboa Dental Care via Internet Archive, Oct 2, 2003
- About Balboa Dental Care (archived), Balboa Dental Care via Internet Archive, Oct 13, 2011
- Daniel E. Stragier, D.D.S./Balboa Dental Care, Demandforce
- License details: Stragier, Daniel Edward (Dentist 33381) and related fictitious-name permits, California Department of Consumer Affairs
- NPI 1285779934: Daniel Edward Stragier, D.D.S., CMS NPI Registry
- HPI: Shifting practice patterns, ADA News, Dec 3, 2021
- US dentists retiring later, Dental Tribune, Jan 3, 2025
- Clairemont, 'The Village within a City,' celebrates 75 years, NBC 7 San Diego, Mar 19, 2025
- Clairemont, San Diego, Wikipedia
- ZIP 92117: ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates (B01003, B19013, B01002, B25035, B21001), U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Census Geocoder: 4340 Genesee Ave, San Diego, CA 92117, U.S. Census Bureau
- Clairemont Drive (photo, CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons, 2016
- Clairemont 1950 Chevrolet (photo, CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons
