STEPHANIE PALMER, BA, DA

Stephanie Palmer is Dental Education Partners Chief Operating Officer and Instructor. Her passion for dentistry, training, and driving results-based growth is a trademark of her career and helped build the foundation for Dental Education Partners, an approved AGD PACE Program Provider. 

Stephanie had a unique pathway to dentistry. After skiing internationally for the United States Alpine Ski Team, she attended Whitman College earning her Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She began her professional career first as a financial advisor, followed by managing educational events in the technology sector overseeing as many as 300 events per year. As a natural leader, she continued her career managing operations for a PGA Tour tournament as well as managing events and marketing for a business startup accelerator. With a breadth of experience guiding successful businesses, Stephanie fell in love with dentistry while managing the continuing education department for a dental manufacturer. In that role she further developed her skills as a public speaker and dental educator.

With over a decade in dentistry, Stephanie went on to graduate from the South Florida Dental Assisting School and helped start, manage, and grow Dental Education Partners. She is experienced delivering lectures, webinars, and team trainings. Her first step when consulting with dental offices and professionals is to "start with the end in mind". Understanding baseline performance metrics and goals, together with a “patients first” philosophy allows her to guide and provide customized training to help them achieve those goals. She prides herself on being a partner for growth for the practices and professionals with which she works.

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Meet us

Experienced Leadership

The Dental Education Partners (DEP) owners, consultants, and instructors are experienced dental professionals dedicated to improving the dental industry through consulting, customized training, and continuing education.

MaryHughes

MARY K. HUGHES, RDH, BS

CEO, Founder, and Instructor

MARY K. HUGHES, RDH, BS

Mary Hughes, RDH is Dental Education Partners CEO, Founder, and Instructor. Her passion for dentistry, sales training, and helping individuals achieve their full potential is a hallmark of her career and is the foundation of Dental Education Partners. With a proven track record of coaching dental teams to immediate success, Mary inspires owner dentists and their dental teams to achieve the highest standard of comprehensive patient care that translates in both the hygiene and the restorative sides of the practice.

She began her career as a Registered Dental Assistant. She fell in love with dentistry and continued her education as a clinical Dental Hygienist after graduating from the State University of New York with a bachelor’s degree in Health Science. Mary became an expert in team training and effective patient communication coaching methods, which tripled daily hygiene production for her office and all the operatories of the colleagues she coached.

Mary’s career transitioned from private practices to corporate dentistry, and she began to professionally consult with dental offices across North America. Since that time, Mary was promoted within the corporate dental industry to roles including International Training Manager, Senior Director of North American Sales, and Senior Director of Professional Relations. Most recently, Mary had the privilege of becoming the Vice President of Clinical Affairs for a large DSO.

Mary has the unique credential of being certified as a Professional Selling Skills Trainer by Achieve Global® – a prestigious and widely recognized leader in sales training, communication, and personnel development. This certification enabled Mary to train dental teams on using an influential solution-based approach for significantly increasing treatment acceptance. She is a member of the American Dental Hygienist’s Association and has been published in peer reviewed dental journals. Mary is an internationally recognized lecturer and educator known for her fun and interactive teaching style.

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STEPHANIE PALMER, BA, DA​

COO and Instructor - Dental Education Partners
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DR. STEVEN WINGFIELD

Advisory Board Member, Consultant, Keynote Speaker​

DR. STEVEN WINGFIELD

Dr. Steven Wingfield is a practicing dentist and owner/operator of multiple dental practices. He is also the Chief Clinical Officer for a DSO.  He is an Advisory Board Member for multiple organizations, including Dental Education Partners. He is a recognized key opinion leader and lectures and consults regularly within the dental industry.

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Lisa Turner RDH

LISA TURNER, RDH

Advisory Board Member, Hygiene Consultant, Content Development

LISA TURNER, RDH

Lisa Turner entered the dental world while a junior in high school, by enrolling in a vocational program to learn and train in the Dental Assisting profession. Inspired and impassioned by her
studies there, she pursued an Associates of Applied Science degree in Dental Hygiene from the State University of New York at Monroe Community College. Lisa felt that her professional calling was to provide exemplary dental care for patients in a comprehensive and compassionate manner. Among her many specialized attributes, is her natural ability to clearly explain to patients their dental health conditions and the treatments needed to achieve optimal oral health. Lisa’s career journey led her to become a Dental Hygiene Coach and Educational Content Creator where she can share her extensive expertise and knowledge, helping dental hygienists on their continuum of life-long learning and professional growth.

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RITA WEAVER, JD, CHC

Advisory Board Member and Compliance Expert

RITA WEAVER, JD, CHC

Rita Chernyak Weaver, JD CHC, serves as the Deputy Compliance Officer for Lincare Holdings LLC, one of the nation’s largest durable medical equipment suppliers.As the Deputy Compliance Officer, Rita is responsible for ensuring that all Lincare employees (nearly 12,000) comply with the various Federal and State Healthcare regulations and the Company’s policies and procedures. Before joining Lincare, Rita worked as the director of Compliance at Dental Whale LLC. In her role at Dental Whale, Rita was in charge of implementing a robust compliance program both on the company’s corporate level and at its owned dental practices throughout the country. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Rita successfully led and delivered protocols to meet health care provider, patient, and corporate needs at a time where creative, practical and effective solutions were needed, with no established precedent. Rita attended college at the University of Florida, where she graduated Cum Laude, earning a double major in Public Relations (BS) and Russian Studies (BA). She then attended law school at the Florida International University (FIU) College of Law and earned her Juris Doctorate in May 2013. Rita is a Florida-barred attorney, who, prior to transitioning out of private practice and into heath care and corporate compliance, worked as a litigator for nearly six years. Her practice focused on general liability litigation with an emphasis on cases involving catastrophic injuries, wrongful deaths, motor vehicle accidents, and premises liability. As part of this work, Rita defended incidents that could have been prevented (or significantly mitigated) if better compliance and risk management practices were in existence. Rita has completed additional education to specialize in the ever-evolving field of Health Care Compliance. She earned a Graduate Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Care Compliance from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Rita also recently obtained the Certified in Health Care Compliance (CHC)® designation, which is granted by the Compliance Certification Board (CCB) to individuals with expertise in compliance processes specific to organizations in the healthcare industry.

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