Meet Dr. Sanders/Cosmetic Dentist in St. Johns, FL

Tyler M. Sanders, DDS, is a cosmetic dentist and the founder of Vivere Meliora Dentistry in St. Johns, Florida. He built it from a blank page. No inherited practice, no patient list handed down, no equipment somebody else had already chosen. He picked the scanner and the chairs himself.

How did Dr. Sanders end up in St. Johns County?

He came to Florida alone. He was practicing in and around Orange County, California, when his family relocated to Jacksonville, and he’d always wanted to be near them, “to take care of each other.” He met Megan after he got here. He rides his motorcycle year-round now, and Florida has yet to hand him a month where he can’t be outside.

He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC in 2018. The Orange County years settled something he still practices by. Take the conservative path when there is one. Work with the tooth, not against it.

Why is the practice called Vivere Meliora?

Vivere Meliora is Latin for “to live better,” and the motto that came with it, “In the Pursuit of Better,” reads more like an instruction than a slogan. He chose both before there was a practice to put them on.

In his hands, better usually means less. The cosmetic work centers on no-prep and minimal-prep porcelain veneers, designed to preserve as much natural tooth structure as possible while changing how a smile looks. Every plan gets measured against the same standard: the least invasive route that still gets the patient where they want to go. The practice also handles dental implants, Invisalign clear aligners, and general dentistry, so patients can keep their care in one place.

What is it like to be Dr. Sanders’ patient?

The office runs a fully digital workflow, from scanning through design, and its centerpiece is the practice’s Digital Artistry treatment planning. Before anything starts, you see a digital design of the proposed smile rendered on your own face rather than on a shade tab or a stranger’s photos. It’s a planning tool, not a guarantee of the finished result. It does change the conversation, though. You stop describing what you’re hoping for and start pointing at it, and the two of you adjust the design until you agree on where this is going. Then treatment begins.

He talks in plain words and he’s slow to close. If a patient isn’t sure, he’d rather they take the information home and think about it than say yes in the chair. That holds for a single filling and for a full smile design.

Before dental school he studied biochemistry and vocal performance at Point Loma Nazarene University, and the ear came with him. These days he sings for Megan and the kids. He misses opera; the music is beautiful.

Vivere Meliora Dentistry is located at 3735 Longleaf Pine Pkwy, Suite 223-224, St. Johns, FL 32259, serving St. Johns County and the greater Jacksonville area. To schedule a visit with Tyler M. Sanders, DDS, call 904.769.5848.