Group Dentistry Now's Editorial Board

At Group Dentistry Now, we pride ourselves on keeping our finger on the pulse of the dental support organization industry and bringing relevant, engaging news and analysis to our audience.

Working together with all members of the industry, we are determined to increase access to care, enlighten naysayers of the benefits of the dental support model, and advocate to increase acceptance of this proven concept in the broader dental landscape.

We are honored to have such well-respected and experienced industry leaders sit on the board. Our Editorial Board is listed here in alphabetical order:

Aziza Abed, Founder & CEO, Pure Health Dental Partners
Aziza Abed recently founded a DSO. Her plans are to grow it to $50 million in annual revenues over the next three years. Aziza began her career in dentistry as an RDH and rapidly progressed into operational and clinical management. Aziza has worked for two large DSOs where she implemented clinical compliance programs, as well as operational efficiencies. She is recognized for her leadership and expertise in the DSO industry.

Heidi Ardnt, VP, Clinical Operations, Strive Dental Management
Heidi Arndt is an RDH and has been working in the DSO industry for the past 20 years. She served as the Director of Dental Hygiene at American Dental Partners and was the founder of Enhanced Hygiene & the Dental Group Evolution conferences. She is currently Vice President of Clinical Operations at a DSO based in Austin, Texas.

Dmitry Burshteyn, Co-Founder & CEO, Perfect Dental Management
Dmitry is an experienced healthcare entrepreneur with a strong focus on startup ventures. He has developed businesses within the Adult Day Health Care, Group Adult Forster Care, Suboxone sectors. He enjoys the ability to cultivate a consumer centric culture that connects great people with great service and support to unlock value. Perfect Dental Management’s practices have all been DeNovo with a strong focus on New England.

Mark Hodge, DMD
Throughout his 30+ year dental career Dr. Hodge has worked exclusively in a group practice, including 26 harmonious years with the same dental partner. Eight of those group practice years included working in a DSO environment, supported by Heartland Dental. Upon affiliating with Heartland Dental, Dr. Hodge served as Clinical Director of Clear Aligner Therapy (2011-2018). During his tenure, Heartland’s Clear Aligner Therapy volume grew tenfold. As a nationally recognized speaker on topics of patient communications & team engagement, Dr. Hodge helps doctors and teams navigate healthy relationships and futures in a group dentistry environment. Additionally, he is an active member of Align Technology’s Global and Special Markets teaching faculties.

Steven W. Jones, DPh, MBA, Co-Founder & CDO, CORDENTAL Group
Steven is an accomplished healthcare executive with a passion for bringing people and businesses together to form dynamic and successful partnerships. His proven ability to foster and nurture relationships has led to successful affiliations and acquisitions within the dental practice, dental laboratory, and home infusion industries. His dental group is a fast growing DSO with a focus in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southeastern U.S.

Jerry Lanier, DDS, Executive MBA, The Entrepreneur Dentist
Dr. Jerry Lanier is an Entrepreneur Dentist who founded Kids Dental Kare, which he sold in 2017. He built 26 DeNovo offices as 100% owner. His emphasis is on dentists building a franchise-like brand and devising an exit strategy focusing on EBITDA. As an investor, he is now involved in TKO Dental Properties, LLC, and MKTGdocs.com. Dr. Lanier has dedicated many hours to clinical dentistry, mostly in underserved areas. Mentoring and simplifying business for dentists is his mission.

Gary Pickard, Sr. Dir., Government & Industry Affairs, Pacific Dental Services
Gary has over two decades of dental industry experience, most of that at one of the largest, most respected and fastest growing DSOs in the space. He holds a bachelor of science business degree from Azusa Pacific University in Organizational Leadership. His background includes banking, insurance and serving in the United States Navy. He’s represented the organization and industry in multiple capacities, from organized dentistry leadership forums and conferences to legislative committee hearings. Gary also sits on several advisory boards, including the Pacific Dental Services Foundation

Ryan Torresan, Chief Marketing Officer at Benevis Dental Practice Management Services
Prior to Benevis, Ryan was a dental marketing executive who steered a very successful career to reach the executive level at one of the largest dental support organizations (DSOs) in the US. During his 5 year tenure at Great Expressions Dental Centers (GEDC), he earned promotions and awards after tremendous success in digital marketing, traditional marketing, content strategy, social media, event marketing, office design, brand positioning and public relations. He played a crucial role on the executive team that sold the company to a private equity firm while generating five years of positive ROI in marketing.

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