Meet Dr. Douglas Desatnik
Dentist in Beachwood, OH

Dr. Douglas Desatnik grew up in Beachwood where he played 4-years of basketball and baseball for Beachwood High School and graduated in 1994. Following High School graduation, Dr. Desatnik attended The Ohio State University where he was a sportswriter for the The Lantern, the Ohio State University student run newspaper. While at OSU, Dr. Desatnik covered the hockey teams’ miraculous run to the 1997-98 Frozen Four (NCAA Division-I Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament). Dr. Desatnik completed his undergraduate study at The Ohio State University in 1998 and earned a BA in Journalism.
Dr. Desatnik moved back to Cleveland to work for a small software company in Shaker Heights where he worked in general tech support while he taught himself coding and Web design in his spare time. Dr. Desatnik grew those talents into a full-fledged web services department within the company. His team was responsible for Web site development and maintenance and for integrating his company’s legacy software (made for distribution-style businesses) to the Web so the client outside sales force could access inventory and customer sales data in real-time – this was during the pioneering days of e-commerce back in the late 1990’s – we take for granted today what he and others in those days had to develop from scratch. It was at this time that Dr. Desatnik met and married Kelly, and together raised their first Golden Retriever, Zoe.
Dr. Desatnik then decided that the technology world was not a good fit for his lifelong career aspirations and chose Dentistry to fulfill his high-reaching personal and professional goals. Dr. Desatnik enrolled at Cleveland State University to complete his pre-requisite science coursework in the evenings while working for the software company during the daytime. Dr. Desatnik was once again accepted to the The Ohio State University and moved his family (which now included his daughter, Sophie) to Columbus in 2006.
Dr. Desatnik and Kelly affectionately refer to 2006-2010 as the “forgotten years” as Dental School was a mesmerizing Starbucks-infused blur. During his second year at OSU, Dr. Desatnik completed a periodontal mini-residency program and helped to start a limited care dental clinic – a sub-clinic within the Dental school that still exists to this day. Highlights (not dental-related) included Buckeye football games, making lifelong friends and it was during third year of Dental School that he and Kelly welcomed their second daughter, Katie.
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We look forward to introducing you to the next level of dental care.Dr. Douglas Desatnik graduated Cum Laude from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry in 2010 and again moved back to Cleveland. He worked as an associate Dentist for a number of different practices – some private and some corporate and took all of the negative aspects of these experiences and promised to never practice like that. It was during this time that Dr. Desatnik and Kelly welcomed their third (and final) daughter, Naomi.
Dr. Desatnik purchased a practice in Beachwood and founded Chagrin Highlands Dental Group in 2014. He wanted complete freedom to practice how he wanted, free of corporate oversight, to ALWAYS do the clinical right thing for the patient and to NEVER compromise on quality of care – use the labs he wanted to use and use the materials and supplies that work best for him. He wanted to practice in an environment and work with like-minded specialists who all subscribe to a comprehensive philosophy of care. Dr. Desatnik wanted billing and financial transparency and wanted to hire smart people – allow them to do their jobs without having to become a micromanager.
Dr. Desatnik is a BIG believer in the concept of lifelong learning and has earned thousands of hours of accredited continuing education since graduation. He has received advanced education in comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, occlusal disease, adult orthodontics, dental implants, cosmetic dentistry and sleep apnea. It was his interest in Sleep Apnea that drove Dr. Desatnik to establish the first dedicated dental practice for the treatment of sleep apnea with oral appliance therapy in the Northeast Ohio region. The Northeast Ohio Center for Dental Sleep Medicine was established in 2017 and runs as a sub-practice within Chagrin Highlands Dental Group.
Dr. Desatniks’ love for technology is evident in the office as Dr. Desatnik has made the investment in a cone-beam dental CT scan, CAD/CAM digital scanner, same day crown milling unit and an acoustic pharyngometer to visually map the patient airway. Dr. Desatnik is an active member of the American Dental Association, the Ohio Dental Association, the Greater Cleveland Dental Society, Spear, the International Dental Implant Association and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Desatnik and his family of Girls currently reside in Solon with their now third Golden Retriever, Millie (also a girl). In his spare time Dr. Desatnik is a competitive weightlifter and ranked nationally in his age and weight class.
Dr. Desatnik is proud to be a member of the following associations:
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If you’re in need of restorative or cosmetic dental treatments, Dr. Desatnik and their team have the expertise to provide these services with the highest level of care.