Driving Dentistry Forward Podcast Benco Dental

Dr. A. Ross Kerr is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine, and the Director of Special Patient Care and Hospital Dentistry at NYU College of Dentistry. Dr. Kerr received his D.D.S.degree from McGill University, and a Master of Science in Dentistry and a Certificate in Oral Medicine from the University of Washington. He also completed a general practice dental residency program at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. His research interests include aphthous stomatitis (canker sores) and oral cancer. His clinical practice focuses on the dental management of medically complex patients and the diagnosis and treatment of patients with oral mucosal disease, salivary gland dysfunction and oral-facial pain.

On February 27, Dr. Miguel Stanley drove a van packed with medical supplies, baby formula, and diapers 2,500 miles (from Lisbon, Portugal to Poland). He contacted with a friend and colleague of his (located in Kiev), who then connected him with a dental distributor to provide and organize immediate care for Ukrainians.

Chuck Cohen interviews Lucy Hobbs Award winner Dr. Kady Rawal.

Former recipient of The Lucy Hobbs project Woman-to-Watch award,
Dr. Rawal earned her BDS degree from D.Y. Patil University School of Dentistry in Mumbai, India, and later joined Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (BUGSDM), where she graduated from the AEGD residency program and where she currently serves as Clinical Assistant Professor. She is the faculty mentor for the American Association of Women Dentists’ Chapter at BUGSDM, represents the Women in Dentistry Committee on the board of the Boston District Dental Society and joined the faculty at Harvard in 2019. As an advocate for BUGSDM’s Women-to-Women program, she conducts monthly oral screenings for homeless, abused women in Boston and has also conducted dental outreach programs women living within the red light districts of India.

Chuck Cohen interviews Lucy Hobbs Award winner Rella Christensen, PhD.

Recipient of the Industry Icon award, Rella shares her inspirational level of knowledge as a clinical researcher in numerous capacities, without any monetary compensation. Within her purview: Expanded Function Dental Hygiene, for which she founded and directed the Bachelor of Science Program at the University of Colorado in Denver. Dr. Christensen’s competencies in the areas of Physiology and Microbiology power the team at Technologies in Restoratives and Caries Research (TRAC Research), a nonprofit institute she established in Provo, Utah. At its core: in-depth studies of restorative materials, preventive dentistry, and dental caries. During her lifelong commitment to the betterment of patient treatment, Dr. Christensen also dedicated 27 years to Clinical Research Associates, a dental product testing institute that she founded and directed. She has presented over 1,040 dental continuing education programs, totaling over 5,200 hours, at U.S. and international locations and has published 121 abstracts. She is a member of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry and the International and American Associations for Dental Research. As a non-dentist, Dr. Christensen has been inducted into the International College of Dentists, Academy of General Dentistry and the Academy of Dentistry International as an Honorary Member. In 2001 she was selected as the Distinguished Alumnus of Brigham Young University’s School of Life Sciences, and now serves on its National Advisory Board.

Chuck Cohen interviews Lucy Hobbs Award winner Stephenie Goddard, Chief Experience Officer with Glidewell Dental.


Fourteen years ago, when she started at Glidewell Dental, Stephenie Goddard was not exactly an industry lifer. Indeed, she’s no dentist at all—instead, she’s the resident organizational psychologist at Glidewell, with influence that extends well beyond supply-chain management and corporate strategy into leadership and mentoring.



Under Goddard’s guidance over the last decade and a half, the Southern California manufacturing giant launched Glidewell University, a 10-month leadership development program—an internal mini-MBA, in essence—for midlevel managers, as well as a six-month version for senior management. “I get personal joy and satisfaction watching people and their careers grow,” she says. “When I came to Glidewell, we didn’t have a learning program at all. We had 1,100 employees, and we kept hiring leaders from outside, while we had this amazing talent inside that just needed to be developed.” (Glidewell today has some 5,000 employees.)

Rick Cohen interviews 40 Under 40 Honoree Dr. Michelle Farnoush

For Dr. Farnoush, the world of dentistry is a perfect fit for her high standards and continuous strive for excellence. Helping patients build confidence over time and enjoy a higher quality of life is extremely rewarding for her, and it’s hard for her to imagine having any other career.