The Dentist Who Curled at the Olympics: Team USA & Milan Cortina 2026 | Dr. Tara Peterson

What's it like to be a dentist and an Olympian? Dr. Tara Peterson, a general dentist from Minnesota, curled for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, her second Olympics, with a one-year-old at home. She tells us how a kid who only went for the snacks ended up on Olympic ice, what a month in Italy was like, why the village dentist is the busiest medical service there, and what happened with the double-touch controversy.

In this episode:
- From hating Saturday junior curling to the Olympics
- The test event at the Vancouver Olympic venue that made her believe
- A month in Switzerland, Milan and Cortina with her husband and baby
- The Olympic village dentist, and why athletes line up to see him
- Why every curling rock comes from one Scottish island, and what a rock costs
- The double-touch controversy and handling the media zone
- Staying sharp through three-hour games and long tournaments
- Practicing dentistry three days a week while training like a pro
- Beat Canada or win a medal?

📰 Plus dental news: new CDT codes for 2027 (implant restoration removal, healing caps, neuromodulators and trigger point injections), Kentucky's sweeping new dental practice law, and the ADA's licensure exam alliance with ADEX. Chad also shares his visit to Bisco and remembers Bisco founder Dr. Byoung Suh.

Dr. Tara Peterson is a general dentist in a four-doctor private practice in Minnesota and a two-time Olympian (Beijing 2022 and Milan Cortina 2026), curling for Team USA alongside her sister. She graduated from dental school in 2018 and comes from a dental family: her father is a dentist and her mother a hygienist.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:10 Welcome: an Olympian on the show
2:53 Breaking your jaw with a hammer?
3:55 The wrong organ, and a full moon week
6:13 Chad at Bisco: testing bond strength
8:46 Remembering Bisco founder Dr. Byoung Suh
9:33 Favorite Bisco products
11:25 News
11:31 News: new CDT codes for 2027
13:56 News: Kentucky's new dental practice law
14:27 News: the ADA and ADEX licensure alliance
15:08 Kentucky: everyone moves up
16:47 Meet Dr. Tara Peterson
19:35 How she got into curling
23:51 Junior worlds at the Vancouver Olympic venue
26:18 A month in Italy
27:11 Team USA scrubs at work
27:53 Is there a Team USA dentist?
29:53 Cortina
30:52 The history of curling and the Scottish granite
32:10 What does a curling rock cost?
33:05 Every rock is different
34:07 The double-touch controversy
37:09 What winter sport would the hosts pick?
40:11 What really happened
41:46 Handling the media zone
43:10 Staying sharp in long tournaments
45:18 Beat Canada or win a medal?
45:57 Practicing dentistry three days a week
46:47 Her training schedule
47:47 The curling beer tradition
49:26 Does curling ever feel like a job?
50:43 How curling teams form
51:38 Smack talk in curling
53:57 Will she go for 2030?
55:02 Thank you, Tara
55:53 What's an ideal bond strength?
57:28 Find a curling club near you
58:02 Closing

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