Lance comes to Signature Dental Partners with nearly 30 years of business leadership experience in multi-site executive level roles, including 14 years in dental practice support. Prior to joining SDP, Lance served as the CEO at Elite Dental Partners and SVP at The Aspen Group. As a field operating executive, he oversaw 500+ practices across 32 states. Throughout his career, his focus has been supporting doctors, creating access to care for local communities, building strong cultures, and driving team development. Lance graduated with a BA in Business Management from Virginia Wesleyan University, Virginia Beach, VA.

Dr. Jenkins has over 20 years of experience both as a clinician and dental management executive. After founding his first practice immediately after dental school, Dr. Jenkins spent his career growing and building a network of dental practices in the Mountain and Southwest regions while maintaining his work as a practicing clinician. Dr. Jenkins received his BS in Medical Biology from the University of Utah and his DDS from The Ohio State University, where he graduated at the top of his class.

Mrs. McCrady has more than 35 years of experience in the dental industry. Beginning her career as a clinical assistant and later becoming a Registered Dental Hygienist, she has deep experience working across all operating roles in the dental office. Over time she has transitioned into her senior operation roles within Signature Dental Partners, offering extensive support work for our hygienists. Mrs. McCrady graduated with an AS from Salt Lake Community College and a BA in Psychology from Ottawa University.

Mr. Harden has over 15 years of experience in accounting, finance and M&A transactions. He has worked at one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing private equity backed eye care platforms where he was focused on driving growth through new partnerships and affiliations. Prior to that, he worked at Ernst & Young where he advised clients on a wide array of M&A transactions, including a focus on private equity buy-side acquisitions of physician practice management companies and multi-site healthcare M&A transactions. Mr. Harden is a CPA and holds a Masters of Accountancy from the W.P. Carey School of Business and a BS in Finance and Accounting with honors from Arizona State University.

Laura Bell has over 15 years of healthcare leadership experience, including clinical laboratory, blood services and most recently women’s health prior to joining Signature Dental Partners. Previously she was the Chief Financial Officer at Women’s Health Arizona, Arizona’s largest independent OB/GYN group with over 120 providers across 25+ locations.

Laura is a strategic financial executive with a proven track record of optimizing processes, implementing cost reduction initiatives, enhancing revenue streams and driving business growth. She holds a Master’s of Business Administration with a Finance emphasis from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

Mr. Longfield has 30 years of Operations Leadership experience. Most recently he was with Imagen Dental Partners as a Regional Chief Operations Officer. He studied business at Arizona State University.

Dr. Nelson has over 10 years of experience with Signature Dental, including experience as a senior manager to a multi-office dental group. Dr. Nelson received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and his DDS from The Ohio State University.

Mr. Bersch has over 15 years of business development, banking, and wealth management experience. Most recently he was with a top tier wealth manager as an advisor and banker. His prior experience includes consulting with middle market companies on capital raising strategies. He holds a Masters of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Arizona State University.

Mr. Frost has over 7 years of experience in M&A transaction advisory, valuations, and business development. Most recently he worked in the Outdoor Advertising Sector advising privately-held business owners on the acquisition and disposition of their outdoor advertising portfolios. He also has experience in business valuation, commercial lease negotiation, and public-private infrastructure partnership value creation. Mr. Frost graduated from Benedictine University summa cum laude with a BBA in Management and Organizational Behavior. 

Mrs. Bennion has over 13 years of Dental Administration experience and over 4 years of experience in Integrations. Most recently she was with Provinces Dental Care as an Administration Manager. She holds an Associates in Fine Arts from Rick’s College.

Mr. Sanchez has over 12 years of dental experience and an area of focus for 7 years as an operations manager. Most recently he was with Family Dental Phoenix as a Business Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey the School of Business.

Ethan Meeks has over 5 years of Marketing experience. Most recently, he was with BEMER Group North America as a Communications Specialist. He holds a Bachelor’s in Business Management and Psychology from Grand Canyon University.

Ms. Ascencio has over 8 years of Dental Operations experience. Most Recently she was an Operations Manager for Care Dentistry Group. She has over 13 years of experience in Dentistry.

Bio coming soon.

Ms. Moura has over 10 years of experience in Dental Operations for both general and specialty management. Most recently she was with American Dental Partners as a Multisite Manager and Affiliate Trainer. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Merchandising and Consumer Studies from the University of Arizona and a Master’s in Applied Leadership and Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Ms. Johnson has over 20 years of Operations experience. Most recently she was with Pacific Dental Services as a Regional Front Office Specialty Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Indiana University.

Mrs. Ackerman has over 20 years of experience in dental practice management and consulting. Most recently she was with Spear Education as a practice management consultant and colleague mentor. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University. 

Ms. Mitchell has over 15 years of Dental Operations experience. Most recently she was a Business Manager at another DSO. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Business and a Masters Degree in Education from Washington State University.

Mrs. Aasved has over 15 years of Operations experience. She has held management roles in both smaller corporations and larger DSO’s, including multi-unit management. She also has over 16 years of experience in Dentistry.

Ms. Hussey has over 10 years of operations experience. Most recently she was with Pacific Dental Services as an Operations Manager and Team Trainer. She holds a BA in Political Science from Oregon State University and is currently working on her Masters from WGU.

Mr. Guthrie has over 14 years of Dental Recruiting experience. Most recently he was with ETS Dental as the Regional Director of Recruiting. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing and Legal Studies from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Ms. Laehn has over 14 years of Recruiting experience. Most recently she was with AMN Healthcare – Merritt Hawkins as a Senior Consultant.

With nearly 13 years of extensive experience in the dental field, Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our team. She began her career as a dedicated Dental Hygienist, providing exceptional patient care for 8 years. Driven by a passion for connecting talented professionals with the perfect opportunities, Sarah transitioned into dental recruiting. Over the past 5 years, she has excelled as a recruiter for two other DSOs, prior to joining SDP.

Mr. Harvey has over 15 years of experience in performance-based marketing, branding and lead generation.

He spent 6 years helping lead one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing private equity backed eye care platforms where he was focused on driving new patient growth and patient retention.

Prior to that he worked agency side managing digital search engine marketing campaigns after leading a field production and postproduction team in Las Angeles, CA.

Mr. Harvey attended Business school at the University of South Florida and explored the field of engineering at the Arizona State University.

JJ Nace is an IT leader with over 15 years of experience specializing in service leadership, cybersecurity, and infrastructure modernization. He has dedicated the majority of his career to optimizing operations and enhancing security postures for multi-location organizations, ensuring scalable and resilient IT environments.

JJ holds bachelor’s degrees in Computer Information Systems and Business Administration from Arizona State University, equipping him with both technical expertise and strategic business acumen.

Outside of work, he stays active and is always looking to refine his golf game.