About Dr. Hwangpo
Dr. Brian Hwangpo is a pediatric dentist. His day is spent almost entirely with children, a good share of them under oral conscious sedation, and most of them nervous when they arrive.
A child who is frightened at six is an adult who avoids the dentist at thirty. The first few visits decide that.
Dr. Hwangpo
Why pediatrics
Pediatric dentistry is a separate specialty for a reason. Treating a four year old is not treating a small adult: the teeth, the doses, the behaviour and the parent in the room are all different, and it takes two to three additional years of training after dental school.
Dr. Hwangpo finished that training at New York University in 2025, and what he works hardest at is the part that does not show up on an X ray. Getting a child through a first visit without fear is the thing that determines whether they keep coming back.
Training
He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the New York University College of Dentistry in 2019, then returned to NYU for his pediatric residency from 2023 to 2025. Before dental school he completed a dual degree at Virginia Commonwealth University, a BS in Biology with a Chemistry minor alongside a BA in Spanish, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2015, with a summer at Seoul National University in between.
Four years in the Army
Between dental school and his residency he served as a commissioned officer and general dentist with the United States Army at Fort Bliss from 2019 to 2023, treating soldiers and taking on duties well beyond the chair. He built the curriculum for the Fort Bliss Red Cross Dental Assistant Program from scratch, taught its lectures, and interviewed and selected twelve to fourteen candidates a year.
He also worked part time at Texas Kids Dental Care in El Paso through that period, which is where the pediatric work that became his specialty started in earnest.
Sedation
Some children genuinely cannot sit through treatment, and no amount of patience changes that. Dr. Hwangpo holds a Texas Level II sedation permit for pediatric patients and treats several sedation cases a day, usually children who need a lot of work done and for whom spreading it over many visits would be worse than doing it once, safely, in one.
He is also certified in nitrous oxide, and holds both Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support certification.
Spanish
He spent part of his childhood in Mexico City and speaks Spanish at native proficiency, so the whole appointment can happen in Spanish if that is easier for your family. He also speaks conversational Korean.
If your child has had a bad experience somewhere else, say so when you book. It changes how the first visit is run.
Education and credentials
Education
- Doctor of Dental SurgeryNew York University College of Dentistry, DDS, 2019
- Specialty residencyAdvanced Education in Pediatric Dentistry, New York University College of Dentistry, 2023 to 2025
- BS Biology with a Chemistry minor and BA SpanishVirginia Commonwealth University
Advanced training
- Texas Level II Sedation Provider for pediatric patients
- Nitrous oxide certification, Texas
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Invisalign certification
Licence and languages
- Texas dental licence 35616Verifiable with the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners
- Speaks English, Spanish, Korean
What Dr. Hwangpo treats
Booking an appointment
New patients are seen the same day. Walk-ins are welcome, we are open Saturdays, and the whole appointment can be in Spanish if you prefer.