Meet the Faculty
Course Director
Dr. Jay Elliott received his D.D.S. from the University of Texas School of Dentistry in 1980 and opened his general practice in Houston in 1981. He placed his first implants in 1989 and in 1995 attended the AAID MaxiCourse® in Atlanta, GA.
In 1997, Dr. Elliott began a 3-year hospital based residency program in implant dentistry at the Loma Linda School of Dentistry from which he graduated in 2000.
He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry.
Jackie Martinez
Course Administrator
Jackie Elliott Martinez received her B.S. degree in Biomedical Science from Texas A&M University in 1997. She is Dr. Elliott’s oldest daughter and has been working closely with him since 2000. She currently manages Dr. Elliott’s dental practice in League City, TX.
Assistant Clinical Director
Diplomate, American Board of Oral Implantology /implant dentistry. Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry. Fellow , Academy of General Dentistry. Assistant professor at University of Texas School of Dentistry . Dr. Ahn is one of youngest to graduate from University of Texas School of Dentistry as he was early accepted and started dental school after second year of undergraduate study. One of the first implants Dr Ahn placed were plate forms, subperiosteal implants, endodontic implants and sapphire implants. Since 1986 Dr. Ahn maintains general dental practice in Houston focus on implant dentistry.
George Arvanitis, DDS, HFAAID, DABOI/ID
Diplomate, American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. Fellow, Academy of General Dentistry. Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry. A 1990 graduate from the University of Western Ontario, he maintains a full time general dental practice in Waterloo, Ontario with a special focus on implant dentistry and advanced restorative dentistry. He has served as a District Officer of the AAID and currently serves as a Trustee – AAID Board of Trustees.
Prosthodontist. Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry. Diplomate, American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. Director, AAID/India MaxiCourse®. Clinical Assistant Professor, Advanced Education Program in Prosthodontics, New York University. A 1987 graduate from Annamalai University, India and 1994 from New York University, he obtained his MDS in Prosthodontics in 1990 in Bombay (Mumbai), India and a Cert. in Prosthodontics at NYU in 2002. He has lectured extensively on Oral Implantology internationally. He is a Trustee of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry and maintains a full time dental practice in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Boyd W. Shepherd, DDS, JD
1988 graduate of the UT Health School of Dentistry and a 1992 graduate of South Texas College of Law, and has practiced law as a Texas-licensed attorney since 1994.
At the University of Texas School of Dentistry, Dr. Shepherd became an adjunct faculty member in 2005, and has been a part-time faculty member since 2007. Currently, Dr. Shepherd is a co-director of the Professional Resource Center (PRC), Vice-Chair of the Admissions Committee, and also directs 5 courses including Ethics, Communications, Law & Regulations, and two courses in Practice Management. Dr. Shepherd also presents a CE course on “Risk Management for Today’s Dental Practice” on a bi-annual basis through the UTSD Houston CE Department. Although he no longer practices dentistry, Dr. Shepherd maintains his Texas dental license. An ADA and Texas Dental Association member, he is also a member of the Greater Houston Dental Society, within which he serves as legal counsel to its Board of Directors. In November 2013, Dr. Shepherd was inducted into both the American College of Dentists, and the International College of Dentists.
In his private practice of law, Dr. Shepherd has developed a specialized practice of providing legal services and counsel to Texas dentists on a wide range of legal issues and needs, including Texas Dental Law, TSBDE issues & licensure, dental practice transitions, employment law, commercial lease review and negotiation, risk management, contracts & business transactions, and other general legal services including criminal law, family law, wills & probate, and general civil litigation.
Dr. Francine Misch-Dietsh is a Clinical Professor at Temple University Department of Periodontology and Oral Implantology, School of Dentistry, Philadelphia. She is in private practice limited to Prosthodontics and Implantology in Miami, Florida and Rome, Italy. She graduated from the University of Nice France and from the University of Detroit Mercy with a DMD, and completed her Prosthodontics Residency, Implantology Fellowship and Masters degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Misch lectures internationally and nationally and is co-author of several textbook chapters of Misch Contemporary Implant Dentistry. She has served as Associate Editor of Implant Dentistry till present.
Dr. Resnick is an Honored Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry and a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. He lectures around the world on implant prosthetics, surgical asepsis and bone grafting procedures.
Dr. Resnick, before entering dentistry, was for 10 years, a certified surgical technician that assisted in a wide variety of surgical procedures, i.e., craniotomies, vascular procedures, orthopedics (total knees and hips), ophthalmology, skin grafts for burn victims, amputations & reattachments subsequent to trauma,C-sections, organ harvesting and hundreds of oral and tempromandibular joint (TMJ) surgeries, mandible/maxilla trauma cases, LaForte Procedures and mandibular osteotomies.
Dr. Sebastiano Andreana is Director of Implant Dentistry and Associate Professor, Department of Restorative Dentistry, at the School of Dental Medicine at the University at Buffalo. Graduated in Dentistry from University of Roma La Sapienza, presenting a thesis on tooth transplants. He has obtained the Master in Sciences at the University at Buffalo, defending a thesis of the effects of Tetracycline solution on periodontal pockets.Was Visiting Scientist at the University of Connecticut Health Sciences, at the Department of Endodontics.
From 1990 until 2005 has worked as Assistant Professor at the Departments of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Periodontology and Endodontics at the University at Buffalo. During those years was Investigator at the Periodontal Disease Research Center and at the Center for Dental Studies.From 2000 to 2005 was Manager of the Applied Testing Center of Ivoclar Vivadent, Inc., subsequently Senior Manager in the Research and Development, Microbiology Oral Care Division of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and later Senior Manager of the Oral Care Microbiology Research and Development of Johnson and Johnson Consumer Products Worldwide.
Has served, as President of the American Association Dental Research, Buffalo Chapter, is reviewer for the Journal of Periodontology, Journal American Dental Association, Clinical Oral Implant Related Research, and Senior Associate Editor for Journal of Oral Implantology.Chair of the Research and Science Committee of the Academy Laser Dentistry, and Chair of the Academia and University Relationship for the Academy of Laser Dentistry where he served in the Board of Directors. In 2012 was the Recipient of the H.T. Maiman Award in Excellence in Dental Laser Research presented by the Academy Laser Dentistry.Has published over 100 articles, both nationally and internationally, and presented over 100 research abstracts.
Earned his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Alabama School of Dentistry. Completed a comprehensive residency and fellowship in anesthesiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and University Hospital. Dr. Whitmire is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the UT-Houston Dental Branch. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Whitmire is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and a Fellow in the College of Legal Medicine. He has developed teaching programs related to sedation and general anesthesia as well as medical-legal programs. Dr. Whitmire has a private practice of Dental Anesthesiology in Houston, Texas.
University of Montpellier, France 1979 Fellow, American Academy of Implant Dentistry. Diplomate, American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. Clinical Assistant Professor, Implant Center and AEGD. State University of New York, University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. A 1983 graduate of the University of Toronto, he maintains a general dental practice in Hamilton, Ontario with a focus on advanced dental reconstructive treatment. He is Chair of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID) MaxiCourse® Committee and member on the AAID Education Oversight Committee. Formerly, he has served as Trustee and District Officer of the AAID, Examiner AAID Admissions & Credentialing Board and Councillor of the Ontario Dental Association (ODA).
Dr. Dennis Flanagan is the managing partner of a two location private general dental group practice with 35 employees. He is a diplomate of the American Board of General Dentistry, International Congress of Oral Implantologists and American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. Dr. Flanagan is an Attending Dentist for the US Olympic Committee and the Windham Community Memorial Hospital where he was Chief of Dentistry for more than 8 years.
Dr. Flanagan has published over 100 articles in dentistry and holds six US patents on medical and dental devices. He has made many presentations at national and international dental conferences. Dr. Flanagan is an Honored Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, Fellow of the Academy of Osseointegration and American Board of Forensic Dentistry. He is on the editorial board of several dental journals. He is a former editorial consultant to the Academy of Osseointegration, and former editor for Oakstone Medical publishing.
He is an examining board member of the American Board of General Dentistry and American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. He is a senior associate editor for the Journal of Oral Implantology. He has been a paid consultant to Proctor and Gamble, Blue Cross, and National Medical Insurance Consultants. He is a Georgetown University School of Dentistry (DDS) graduate, has studied oral implantology at Harvard University Dental School (certificate) and at the Goethe Medical University, Frankfurt Germany (MSc).
He is an associate professor in dental medicine at Lugano University of Switzerland Malta.
Professor, Department of Periodontics and Implant Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry , University of the Andes, UANDES, Santiago , Chile. Visiting Professor Department of Oral Health Sciences / Periodontology , University Hospitals, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Founder and Chairman of the Research Center for Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, Concepcion, Chile. Leading expert on clinical applications of L-PRF in soft & hard tissue regeneration and wound healing. Active Private Practice specializing in advance Implant Dentistry . Developer of the Natural Guided Regeneration Therapy for the Management of Chronic Wounds with Leucocytes-Platelet Rich Fibrin. Best Oral Research Presentation: 4th Congress of the World Union of Wound Healing Societies Yokohama , Japan . September 2- 6 – 2012. Finalist of the JWC-WUWHS AWARD 2016, 2nd place, Best Contribution to Clinical Research period 2012 – 2016. 5th Congress of World Union of Wound Healing Societies. September 25 – 29, 2016. Florence, Italy.
Dr. Rutkowski is originally from Meadville, PA. He graduated from the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1972. He then earned a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine in 1976 and a PhD in Pharmacology from Duquesne University in 2008.
Dr. Rutkowski is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry (ABOI/ID) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID). He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Oral Implantology (JOI) and a Past-President of the ABOI/ID. He lectures internationally on bone grafting, surgical anatomy for implant dentistry, pharmacology, and sedation techniques. Dr. Rutkowski has maintained a dental implant practice in Clarion, Pennsylvania for 31 years, where he passionately restores his patients’ ability to chew and smile with confidence.
Dr. Lozada is professor and director of the Advanced Education Program in Implant Dentistry at Loma Linda University, School of Dentistry where he also received his Certificate in Implant Dentistry (87) and Prosthodontics (95). He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Implant Dentistry, past president of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Oral Implantology, past president of the American Board of Dental Specialties and Fellow of the American College of Dentists and current president of the American Board of Implant Dentistry.
Dr. Miller received his B.A. from New York University and M.A. from Hofstra University, both in biology. He graduated with honors from New York University College of Dentistry where he received the International College of Dentists Award for clinical excellence and then completed his residency at Flushing Medical Center in New York City.
Dr. Miller is a board certified Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology, Honored Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, Diplomate International Congress of Oral Implantologists, and Fellow Academy of Osseointegration, Dr. Miller is acting Chairman of the Department of Oral Implantology at the Atlantic Coast Dental Research Clinic in Palm Beach, Florida, Director of The Center for Advanced Aesthetic and Implant Dentistry in Delray Beach, Florida, and Co-Director of the Pacific Implant for Advanced Dental Education