Born in New York City, Dr. Heck spent most of her childhood dancing. She also developed a love and appreciation of the wide array of cultures and communities in the city. After taking a year off before college to teach English in Ethiopia, Dr. Heck attended Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated with a B.A. in International Studies and Chinese. However, after realizing that she did not want to make a career out of any of her endeavors thus far, Dr. Heck made a 180° and dove into a post-baccalaureate program at NYU. She then attended Harvard University where she received her Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry with honors. During her years in dental school, Dr. Heck continued to volunteer in under-served communities the way she had throughout her life, primarily focusing on homeless and runaway youth in Boston. It was during this time that she discovered her passion for Endodontics, a specialty that allowed her to directly relieve patients’ discomfortwhile also preserving their natural teeth. Dr. Heck completed her specialty training in Endodontics at Tufts University. Dr. Heck believes in treating not just teeth, but patients as a whole, with emphasis on relationships and maximizing the potential for positivity during all patient encounters. She loves to bring that level of attentiveness and personal touch while comforting each and every one of her patients. Outside of her passion for patient care, Dr. Heck still loves dancing, and also traveling, great restaurants and the beach. She also enjoys hiking and skiing in the mountains, independent films, animals and the numerous avenues to explore and learn about contemporary art in NYC. Dr. Heck is multilingual: in Spanish, basic Mandarin Chinese, elementary French and Amharic. We are privileged to offer our patients the exceptional talent, skill, and empathy of Dr. Heck at Upper East Side Endodontists.