Raised in Dayton, Ohio by an engineer and homemaker with a medical background, I was one of five children. We all had summer jobs and were diligent in school. I graduated from Ohio State University in 1987 with a Bachelors in Fine Art – Sculptor then headed out to California. Shortly after that in 1990, I was hired out of the dental chair by my local dentist to run and manage one of his four offices. Looking for someone with a mid-western work-ethic and a fiery personality, they could tell I would pick it all up quickly.
Before I knew it, a new and unexpected career in dentistry was born. From there only a year later, one of Dr. K’s dental associates hired me to start a new office for him. He trained me to assist chair-side, and I moved from front office business assistant to clinical dental assistant. I later worked for a world-class prosthodontist for four years and spent four more years working for a few different orthodontists. When they stopped answering my questions, I decided it was time to go to dental school.
I returned to night school to take the necessary sciences to prepare for dental school. After joining the U.S. Navy during my first year of dental school, I graduated from the University of Florida College of Dentistry in 2001. My first tour of duty was in Okinawa, Japan where I completed my AEGD residency. I was then transferred to Kings Bay, Georgia to complete my obligation to the U.S. Navy Dental Corp.
After my separation from service, I moved to Tampa, Florida in the middle of a four-hurricane season to begin my professional dental career. I worked as an associate dentist until opening my own private practice, “Impeccable Smiles” in 2010.
My mission is to provide every patient with comprehensive dental care in a compassionate, home-like setting. I take a natural, holistic approach to dentistry. I believe you must focus on improving oral health to improve the overall health of the body — they go hand in hand. By finding the root causes of patients’ dental problems, often medical in nature, I help create long-term, sustainable solutions and help to improve their overall physical and oral health.
What I do every day combines my background in art and the health sciences to help patients solve their dental problems — big and small. As a trained artist, I recreate what disease has destroyed. As a scientist, I find the source and solutions for patients’ diseases and state of disrepair. As an innate caregiver, I help my patients cope with anxiety and fear that are common with dental issues help them to achieve their very own impeccable smile.