Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast

Chuck Cohen interviews Dr. Jackie Johnson, Preston Dental Care, West Virginia

Dr. Johnson left behind her aspirations to become an actress to pursue an unexpected career in dentistry. (She does, however, keep her interest in theater alive via her office’s humorous YouTube and Facebook videos.) She dedicates her time and practice to helping her hometown, including special assistance for veterans during the local Smile for Heroes initiative each November.

Incisal Edge 40 Under 40 honoree Kianor Shah, DMD, MBA, is never one to rest on his laurels.

Within three years of dental school, Dr. Shah was leading six dental offices and a staff of over 80. Prior to establishing his full-service private practice in Palm Desert, California, Dr. Shah was a traveling dentist who practiced in more than 300 offices.

After earning an MBA and completing several fellowships, he has built numerous co-brand, private-label, peer-to-peer and educational health-care organizations.

A seasoned public speaker and educator in office-based oral surgery and implantology, Dr. Shah has organized several large symposia. The Global Summits Institute that he founded brings together renowned speakers from more than 70 countries and all the continents to teach, learn, share, support and provide a unified resource in every discipline and specialty in the profession of dentistry.

He’s proficient in prosthodontics, periodontics, endodontics, oral surgery and more—no surprise, then, that he was recently chosen 2020 Dentist of the Year by Top Doctor magazine, as well as one of the year’s top dentists by Palm Springs Life magazine.

Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast #14. An interview with 40 Under 40 honoree, Dr. Blake Warner of Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Warner specializes in Oral and maxillofacial pathology and is employed at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health.

“There are often setbacks in research and academics. You must be mentally and emotionally prepared to persist in achieving your goals while sharpening your patient-care skills. I think it’s also important to equally develop your empathy, competence and confidence—not only for yourself and family but for your patients too.” - Dr. Blake Warner

Dr. Andrew Lyons

40 Under 40 Honoree

Smile Savvy Cosmetic Dentistry, Charlotte NC

In 2020 Dr. Andrew Lyons and his partner in business and life, Dr. Joya Lyons, earned recognition from two national magazines, and successfully rebranded their independent dental practice in the midst of a pandemic. How did the Incisal Edge 40 Under 40 honorees and Dentaltown’s first cover couple triple their Charlotte practice’s bottom line in one month while turning a year of obstacles into opportunities?

For dentists wondering how highly-driven innovators embrace the future and move the profession forward, this new series will provide the questions – and the answers. This fall, Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine celebrates 10 years of recognizing brilliant achievers in dentistry, ages 40 and under. Fewer than 500 of America’s best young dentists have earned this prestigious designation, including the alumni featured in each installment here. Prepare to be motivated.

Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast - Episode 12 - Dr. Dimple Desai by Benco Dental

Chuck Cohen interviews one of Incisal Edge's 32 Most influential People in Dentistry, Greg Minzenmayer, Chief Operating Officer at Glidewell Dental

FOR FIVE DECADES, Glidewell Laboratories has been the leading provider of dental lab products and professional services. With its founder, Jim Glidewell, at the helm, it has innovated in every aspect of dentistry—specializing in crowns and bridges, ceramics, implants, prosthetics and more, becoming the largest privately held dental laboratory on earth.

Glidewell, 75, is a titanic industry figure, and still the company’s CEO. But no triumph is ever fully secured alone, and COO Minzenmayer, Glidewell’s trusted aide-de-camp, has been second in command to the master for nearly 15 years. He joined the company in 2006 as director of implant business development, bringing more than a decade of industry experience with him. He became COO in 2010 and is responsible for Glidewell Labs’ daily operations and system improvements. His focus, Minzenmayer says, is on “efficiency and quality. We not only operate a large dental lab; we also manufacture zirconia, glass ceramics, composite resins, implants, mills, cutting tools, bench-top lab scanners, industrial-grade CT scanners and our own CAD/CAM software. This allows us to meet the changing demands of a dynamic market.”

Minzenmayer managed the 2010 launch of Glidewell’s popular BruxZir solid zirconia crowns and recently unveiled the Zeramex XT, a two-piece metal-free ceramic implant that provides highly lifelike esthetics for anterior and thin tissues. He notes that Glidewell had planned to launch a digital, fully automated BruxZir crown-milling center by mid-2020—an innovation that would use artificial intelligence to reduce errors. Like so much else, that timetable is now very much in corona-flux. Still, Minzenmayer is bullish on Glidewell’s future. “Thanks to a visionary CEO, an incredibly talented group of CDTs, engineers, research scientists, software developers, dentists and manufacturers,” he exults, “I have the most fun job in dentistry.”

Driving Dentistry Forward, Episode 9: Chuck Cohen interviews Mike Graham, Senior VP, Government and Public Affairs for the ADA

Mike Graham has fought on Capitol Hill for issues important to organized dentistry for 25 years – serving in various positions in the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Washington Office. Currently, he is the ADA’s Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, representing over 163,000 ADA dentist members. In total he has 40 years of government affairs experience in the Federal and state legislative arenas. He has represented two other Associations; served as a gubernatorial appointee for two Maryland governors; worked for a U.S. Senator from Maryland; a Maryland Congressman; and a Maryland state representative. Mike has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and a B.A. from The Catholic University of America. Mike retired as a Commander in the United States Navy, following his service in Iraq.

Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast, Episode 8: Rick Cohen interviews Marko Vujicic – Chief Economist and Vice President, ADA and one of Incisal Edge's 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry.

Marko Vujicic, PhD currently serves as Chief Economist and Vice President of the Health Policy Institute at the American Dental Association. Previously, he was Senior Economist with The World Bank in Washington, D.C. where he focused on health systems reform in developing countries and directed the global health workforce policy program. He was also a Health Economist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In all of these roles, Dr. Vujicic led large-scale strategic initiatives focused on bringing cutting edge data and research to specific health policy challenges.

Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast, Episode 7: Chuck Cohen interviews Amir Aghdaei - President & CEO of Envista Holdings Corporation

As Envista’s founding President and CEO, Amir Aghdaei drives the company’s overall vision, drawing on more than a decade of leadership experience at Danaher.

Amir originally joined Danaher in October 2008 as Multi-Brand GM and VP of Fluke. He was named President of Tektronix in 2009, Group Executive in 2011, President of the Danaher Communications Platform and Danaher Russia in 2014, President of Dental Technologies in 2015, and President of Danaher’s Dental Platform in 2018.

Prior to joining Danaher, Amir served as VP of Credence, and as GM and VP of the Measurement Systems Divisions of Agilent Technologies.

Amir holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the Technology and Science University of Iran, an MS in Applied Mathematics and an MS in Computer Science from Georgia State University, and an MBA from the University of Delaware.

Dr. Michael Apa has been named one of Incisal Edge's Magazine "32 Most Influential People in Dentistry".

With offices in New York, Dubai, and Los Angeles, and a line of luxury oral care cosmetics, Dr. Apa is fulfilling his vision to bring the very best in aesthetic dentistry to a global clientele.