Dr. Gouldin is your Northern Virginia, Washington DC Area periodontist dedicated to your health

Dr. A. Garrett Gouldin grew up just south of Richmond, Virginia, in the small town of Chester. When he was ten years old, he expressed interest in dentistry to his parents, so his mother took him to the local dentist regularly to observe. From that moment forward, Dr. Gouldin was clear regarding his vocation.

The doctor went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1988. He earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond in 1992, and subsequently completed his periodontal certification and Master’s degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 1995 with the highest honors. (In 1993, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio was ranked the top dental school in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.) The doctor’s subject of study for his Master’s thesis was periodontal guided tissue regeneration. Dr. Gouldin was the lead author of an article generated from this thesis which was published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology in 1996.

Dr. Gouldin has been practicing periodontics with an emphasis on complex dental implant techniques in downtown Falls Church since 1995. In November 2000, Dr. Gouldin became a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, a title which denotes periodontics highest status.

It is Dr. Gouldin’s ongoing goal to stay completely informed on all periodontal and dental implant related procedures and topics of study through continuing education. The doctor is qualified to treat patients with a number of periodontal and dental implant needs, and he is certified in the S.M.A.R.T. Minimally Invasive Bone Grafting Procedure, the Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure (LANAP®), the Chao Pinhole® Surgical Technique, and the Wilckodontics® Procedure (Accelerated Osteogenic Orthodontics™).

Dr. Gouldin was recognized in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023 in Washingtonian Magazine as one of the top periodontists in the Washington area, as determined by his peers. In 2024, Dr. Gouldin was voted into Washingtonian’s First Ever Top Dentists Hall of Fame – which Washingtonian called “a list of the best of the best in the region”. The doctor was also recognized as a top periodontist in the Virginia Living Magazine, the Northern Virginia Magazine, and the Arlington Magazine since each magazine started their ongoing surveys. Finally, in the 2016 Washington Consumer’s Checkbook Top Dental Specialist article, Dr. Gouldin received the most mentions among all Northern Virginia, Maryland and D.C. periodontists. He consistently ranks extremely high in this respected publication.

Dr. Gouldin is the co-founder and co-leader of the Northern Virginia Periodontics Synergy Study Series, the Northern Virginia Periodontics Spear Study Club, and the Northern Virginia Periodontics Hygiene Study Series.

As part of the executive board of the Northern Virginia Dental Society (NVDS), Dr. Gouldin has served as Community Charity Events Chair, Parliamentarian, Secretary/Treasurer, Programs Chair, Vice-President, President (2007-2008), Executive Committee Chair (2008-2009), and he served as the Ethics Committee Chair for the NVDS and the state level Ethics Committee Chair for the Virginia Dental Association for 4 years. Dr. Gouldin is honored to be a Fellow of both The Virginia Dental Association and The American College of Dentists. The doctor was inducted into the American College of Dentists in 2008 — only 3.5% of dentists in the nation are fellows of the American College of Dentists.

Dr. Gouldin met his wife, Liz, while they were both attending Virginia Tech. They live in Great Falls, Virginia, and have three children, Ashton, Katherine and Jack, and two female German Shepherds, Brynn and Kaia.

The doctor enjoys family time, regular exercise, golfing and snow skiing, as well as spiritual/church activities. An avocation of Dr. Gouldin’s is all aspects of psychology, especially the field of Positive Psychology.