Dr. Abigail Schmidt, DDS, MS

From general dentistry to specialty pain care.

Dr. Schmidt began her career as a general dentist in the United States Navy, serving Sailors and Marines around the world. In clinic, she kept seeing patients living with chronic head, face, and jaw pain that didn't fit a tooth-or-cavity diagnosis — and she recognized a gap in how dentists are trained to evaluate complex pain.

That recognition led her to complete a 3-year orofacial pain residency at the Naval Postgraduate Dental School and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, with award-winning research focused on oral appliance therapy for obstructive sleep apnea. After 11 years of active-duty service, she returned to Michigan to practice — continuing in the Navy Reserve — and founded the Michigan Center for Facial Pain & Sleep to bring this specialty care to the patients who need it most.

How we treat differently.

Most of our patients arrive having already seen multiple providers. So we don't rush. First visits are extensive one-on-one conversations — not 15-minute slots — followed by a thorough physical evaluation that considers the muscles, joints, cranial nerves, and the full upper body, alongside the physical, mental, and emotional factors that often perpetuate chronic pain.

From there, treatment is individualized, reversible, and minimally invasive whenever possible. The goal isn't to mask the pain — it's to find what's actually driving it.

Beyond the practice.

When she's not in clinic, Dr. Schmidt is on a yoga mat, hiking with family, or exploring some new corner of Michigan she hasn't been to yet. She believes patients deserve a provider who treats them like people — not problem sets.