Alexander is a young, quirky and entrepreneurial endodontist.

Andrés Torres is at his best when others struggle.

Alexander Schryvers

“A toothache can be unbearable. I’ve had patients — innocent little kids, powerful women, and fierce men alike — crying their eyes out when they walked into my dental clinic. The pain is killing them. And then I pull out my instruments to offer them relief. Isn’t that wonderful? In my teens I came across a documentary on microsurgery and I was immediately hooked. To be able to perform a medical procedure with such an astonishing amount of precision? Wow! Even today, after all these years, it still feels amazing to be working meticulously on just a few square millimeters, with a lens that magnifies everything 15 times. Our job requires maniacal focus and tremendously well-developed fine motoric skills. And yes, I admit it’s a bit of a kick, the monomania.

Sometimes my friends mock me. They claim one must be a bit odd if one wants to become an endodontist. But that depends on the perspective you take. Here’s how I see things: I use my tools to drill to the very heart of a tooth — which is the hardest part of the human body — and I remove something that has died a long time ago. Some find that a gross and appalling idea. It is. Sometimes I see pus gushing from a tooth on the rhythm of a beating heart. And I love it. Removing filthiness from a human body — providing relief from a dirty, smelly liquid that causes pain — has a certain beauty to it, too.”

KU Leuven

Alexander Schryvers kan ook de juiste adelbrieven voorleggen. Alexander obtained his degree as a general dentist at KU Leuven (2015) and graduated summa cum laude for his postgraduate degree in endodontics (2018). He combines a somewhat blunt, idiosyncratic mind with a rigorous discipline.

Professor dr. Andrés Torres

The more complex the case, the calmer Andrés Torres becomes. Where others see difficulty, he sees structure. A challenging retreatment, a surgical revision after a failed procedure, an extensive bone defect, or a situation where precision down to fractions of a millimeter is non-negotiable: that is exactly where he feels at home.
Endodontics is not a routine discipline for him. It is precision work at the highest level. Operating under magnification, with micro-instruments that reach spaces where there seems to be barely any room to move, while maintaining complete control over every single movement, that is what continues to fascinate him.
His career began in Chile, at the Universidad de los Andes, before taking shape in Belgium, where he completed several specialised programmes at KU Leuven in medical imaging, endodontics and biomedical research. What started as clinical deepening grew into a doctorate in guided endodontics: a field where digital technology and precision treatment converge to make complex cases safer and more predictable. That research led to international publications and brought him to congresses, universities and lecture halls well beyond the clinic. Today, he combines that academic background with daily practice and teaching as a Professor in the postgraduate endodontics programme at KU Leuven, training the next generation of specialists while continuing to refine his own craft.
The essence, for him, remains simple: stay calm when it gets technically demanding, think clearly when the details matter, and work efficiently without ever compromising on precision. Those who end up in Andrés’ chair quickly sense that behind the composed exterior lies a sharp technical drive, and a distinct preference for the cases where experience, insight and precision genuinely make the difference.