Speaker Information
Dr. Patrick Battista
Patrick J. Battista, DDS is Director of Predoctoral Endodontics at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, School of Dental Medicine where he is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Periodontics and Endodontics. Dr. Battista is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, Past President of the Lambda Lambda chapter of Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, and current Vice President of the Voting Faculty. He has received several awards in teaching and pedagogy on both the local and national level including two Educator of the Year awards. He also maintains a private practice limited to Endodontics in Buffalo, NY.
Brooke Crouch, RDH
Brooke Crouch is a Public Health Dental Hygienist, Outreach Coordinator, Advocate, Educator, and Oral Health Champion. Currently Brooke is working under remote supervision, building a mobile dentistry program, which includes teledentistry, at a Federally Qualified Health Center to serve her community. Brooke is the Vice President of the American Mobile Teledentistry Alliance and is focused on increasing awareness of teledentistry. She also chairs and sits on several clinical advisory, oral health action, and community-based boards and committees throughout Virginia. Brooke is an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Western Community College’s Dental Hygiene Program. Brooke serves on both the VDHA Public Health Committee and the Remote Supervision Ad Hoc Committee.
Dr. Joseph DeLuca
Dr. DeLuca graduated for the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine in 2007 and completed his residency at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in 2008. After 9 years in private practice in a suburb of Buffalo, NY, he accepted a full-time position as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Buffalo Dental School. His research includes using 3D imaging to study the comparative anatomy of contralateral teeth and the effectiveness of 3D imaging as an educational tool in pre-doctoral dental studies. He is the current Director of dental anatomy at the school and teaches is variety of pre-clinical and clinical courses including serving as the Director of the Pre-clinical Simulation Center.
Frank Licht, RDH
Originally from Michigan, Frank now resides in Nashville, TN. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene from The University of Michigan in 2004. He earned Master's Degree from The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis in May of 2015. His teaching and research niche is in Diode Lasers and Periodontal Therapy. In his spare time, he sings for The Southern Ground Band in and around Nashville.
Dr. Joseph Salamon
Dr. Joe Salamon graduated from the University at the Buffalo School of Dental Medicine in 2006 and joined the Seneca Nation Health System in 2009. Since 2013 he has served as Dental Director, earning the 2013 and 2014 Indian Health Service Clinical Excellence Award. He was named Nashville Area Dentist of the year in 2012 and 2015. Dr. Salamon is an Expanded Function Dental Assistant instructor and the faculty moderator of the University at Buffalo’s Student Chapter of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry. He currently serves as an Executive Council member of the Western New York district of the New York State Dental Association.
Crystal Spring, RDH
Crystal Spring grew up on the Ft. Peck Reservation and has over 23 years of experience practicing clinical dental hygiene. She has a diverse resume including starting her own mobile dental hygiene business, non-profit, mentorship program, grant writing, and interprofessional education. Crystal is passionate about public health, access to care and has spent the majority of her career working to improve oral health disparities in vulnerable populations. Her unique experience caring for patients in varying public health settings has empowered her vision to help others to take the leap into untraditional preventative dental settings. She is an ADHA Trustee, 2017 ADHA/HuFriedy Master Clinician, 2019 Sunstar RDH Award of Distinction recipient, 2020 Todays RDH Honor Award recipient and a recipient of the Dimensions Six Dental Hygienists You Want To Know.
Dr. Kelly Tanner
Dr. Kelly Tanner, RDH, is an industry educator, certified executive coach, and has doctoral education in business and organizational leadership. Kelly’s Ph.D. focused on organizational metacognition, in-depth study of group dynamics, and how to elicit permanent organizational change. Through measured assessments and interaction, Kelly can help teams of any size create sustainable systems for personal and professional accountability by increasing ownership and synergy within the organization. Kelly’s proven methods will enhance team interaction, case acceptance, digital adoption, and workflow efficiencies. Want to know how I can help your team thrive? For more information about leadership development or executive coaching, visit www.nextleveldentalhygiene.com
Dr. Jenna Middlebrooks
Jenna Middlebrooks is a former dental hygienist with both a Master’s and Doctorate in Public Health from East Tennessee State University, where she focused on rural and global health issues. Dr. Middlebrooks is the former USET Dental Support Center Director and served as the Director of Dental Operations for a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Diego, CA where she opened 2 dental clinics in her first year. She is a guest lecturer at Buffalo University’s AAPHD student chapter and co-founded the Native American Dental Pipeline program which aims to expose AIAN students to dental school programs. Dr Middlebrooks is the Manager of Tribal Telehealth Services at WithHealth.
Dr. Carrie Wanamaker
Dr. Carrie Wanamaker is a graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine where she completed both her Doctorate of Dental Surgery and her specialty training in pediatric dentistry. After graduating, she joined University Pediatric Dentistry, became board certified in 2012 and accepted the role of Residency Program Director for the post-graduate residency program in 2018. In addition to teaching at the post-doctoral level, Dr. Carrie serves as the course director for several pre-doctoral pediatric dentistry courses for D4 dental students. She is the faculty advisor for the Pediatric Education and Dental Outreach student organization and works with students on programs such as outreaches to the Amish community, maternal infant oral health programs, and local outreaches to underserved people in the Buffalo community. Dr. Carrie’s passions are teaching, encouraging dental residents to be the best that they can be, and hosting epic social events such as Halloween parties and ice cream socials during non-pandemic times. She loves spending time with her awesome husband and sassy 2 year-old daughter.
