Become a Veterinary Dental Practitioner

Dr. Beckman is a well renowned international speaker and is the founder of the International Veterinary Dentistry Institute and the Veterinary Dentistry Mastermind. IVDI is an ongoing project that provides training and assessment for veterinarians to ensure they are capable of providing top-quality oral care for their patients to earn the VDP title. Through IVDI and the VDP program, veterinarians can now master the knowledge and skills required to be considered among the best general practices in the world in dentistry and oral surgery.

“Brett, your teaching, skills, passion, and commitment that we are all here for! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!! I most definitely wouldn’t be the dental practitioner I am today without you as my mentor!!”

Dr. Lariviere is the lead vet and owner of Walden Animal Hospital. Prior to ownership, she worked at Walden Animal Hospital as an associate before taking sole proprietorship five years ago. She is a graduate of the Atlantic Veterinary Clinic in Prince Edward Island and is part of the 2001 graduate class.

“I went from being physically ill at the thought of dentistry to now having a passion for it. I look forward to the challenge and ever-increasing my skills. Now I want to spread the word and help others conquer their fears, aim for higher standards, and achieve success.”

Dr. Calderwood grew up on a dairy farm in Crary, North Dakota. He went to school at NDSU for his Pre-Vet studies, then attended Veterinary School at Iowa State University and graduated in 1980. After graduating he started working with dairy cows in Wisconsin then moved back to North Dakota in 1984 and started working with mostly large animals. He since worked with large animal and small animal dentistry in Casselton, and now at Prairie Winds Veterinary Center. He is currently on the North Dakota Medical Board serving as their delegate to the American Veterinary Medical Association. He has also been awarded Veterinarian of the year by his peers.

“Thanks to Dr. Brett and Dr. Jodi for all the little pointers and support in this program!! My tech today did FM X-rays on this lab cross dog in 10 minutes and my part was 28 minutes from start to finish on the extraction of 208. The part I have enjoyed the most is seeing the excitement in my techs about taking X-rays and reaching their goals. Thanks all!”

“I struggled to learn dentistry for 15 years with lectures and labs. When I discovered Dr. Beckman my skillset took off! The coursework and support from Dr. Beckman have proved invaluable from a professional and personal standpoint. I have been able to expand my business and, in turn, dentistry capability as a result of his guidance.”

Dr. Bowden grew up in the small town of Brevard, NC. She obtained a two-year Associate degree in Medical Laboratory Science from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and later obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Clinical Laboratory Science from Western Carolina University. After working for several years, she attended UNC Wilmington to complete her pre-veterinary coursework. She was inducted into the Phi Zeta Honor Society and graduated from NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. She worked for ten years as an associate veterinarian at a small animal clinic in Cary, NC before moving to Oxford in 2008.

She and her husband have a small farm that they share with three daughters, two dogs, and four cats. She joined the team at OVH in April of 2010. Her special areas of interest include soft tissue surgery, dentistry, and shelter medicine.

Education: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Western Carolina University, NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine

I am the founder of a nonprofit called Veterinary Ventures which strives to bring sustainable health care to the less fortunate animals of the world. Running international spay/neuter campaigns in undeveloped countries was an enjoyable and interesting way to experience the world and help animals. I have set up surgery clinics in schools, churches, agricultural stations, village police huts, dive shops and other unusual venues. Dozens of vets and techs vet would follow me out of the country to help stray and owned animals. I believe I had success collecting volunteers because they figured if a nerd like me could have international adventures helping animals, so could they. For several years I wrote educational articles for pet owners on the internet. In 2013 I started my own hospital in Tequesta, Florida.

My guiding principle has always been to treat clients as I would treat my mother and to treat patients as I would treat my own pet. Starting Tequesta Vet Clinic is the pinnacle of my achievements.

She has been committed to providing the highest quality medical, surgical and dental care to her patients over the years but recently has focused even more on oral health and dental care. The surgical and dental suites are her happy place. She feels there is nothing better than the reward of seeing a cat or dog’s quality of life improve when painful oral health issues are addressed. She is committed to professional growth and completes as many hours of continuing education as possible each year to ensure she is providing the best care to her pet patients.

Dr. Anderson is married and has two children. Her family also includes two silly dogs and two wonderful cats. When Dr. Anderson is not caring for her patients, she enjoys spending time with her family. She enjoys reading, walking her dogs, rooting for her kids’ sports teams, golfing with her family and soaking up the sun during Michigan’s beautiful summers.

Dr. Elizabeth Wood received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Florida in 2004. Afterwards, she completed a one year internship in surgery, internal medicine and emergency medicine at Georgia Veterinary Specialists (GVS). She then practiced for five years in Sandy Springs before joining Ansley Animal Clinic in 2010. Her primary interests include dentistry, feline medicine, and preventative medicine. She and her husband, Patrick, live in Midtown with their two young children, Evelyn and Henry, and their black lab, Shadow.

“Completing the Veterinary Dental Practitioner program was one of my most personally and professionally rewarding accomplishments. This program will inspire and take you to a new level of skill and confidence.

The support of your colleagues and Dr. Brett's highly trained team is worth the price alone. They are non-judgmental and would do anything to help you be a better you.”

Dr. Javier M. Fuentes, originally from Colombia, attended La Salle University in Bogota where he received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine degree in 1992. After graduation, he completed a year-long internship in various veterinary specialties in the Colombian Amazon. There, he worked with the local community’s small animals and exotic pets. He also worked with larger, wild animals and pursued his interest in animal reproduction and surgery. Upon completion of the internship, Dr. Fuentes spent the next two years earning his MBA. These stepping stones of experience and education led to him establishing his own veterinary hospital in Bogota with his wife, Ana, who is also a veterinarian. Both of them were eager to work hand in hand in the fascinating world of small animal medicine. Concurrently, over the next few years, Dr. Fuentes embarked on yet another special interest which entailed pursuing his dream of reentering school to pursue a Masters Degree in Parasitology. Later, he earned his PhD in the same area.

He went on to become an associate professor at La Salle University, where he had previously studied, teaching the up and coming classes of future veterinarians.

Dr. Fuentes and Ana later decided to move to South Florida, searching for a more peaceful, tranquil environment to raise a family. They have two beautiful children, Nicholas and Emily, who share their parents’ love of animals. The Fuentes family shares their lives with 3 cats, Jeanne Marie, Perry, and Tata, and two dogs, Morgan and Charlie.

Dr. Fuentes has dedicated the last 19 years to obtaining professional specialized training in his interest of small animal dentistry. For the last few years, he has been a dental resident of Dr. Brett Beckman and working locally in South Florida practicing exclusively Veterinary Dentistry and Oral Surgery. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Foundation for Veterinary Dentistry, and the American Heartworm Association.

He spends his spare time with family, enjoys biking and volunteering at local nature centers. He has repaired the shells of injured turtles and tortoises, practiced exotic avian medicine, and other wildlife medicine.

Dr. Jennifer Graham obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology at Humboldt State University in Northern California in 2002. She earned her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine in 2007 from Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She began her career in Wyoming for 2 years, then spent 8 years in Texas and arrived in Virginia in 2017.

She joined York Veterinary Hospital in Yorktown, Virginia full-time in 2019 and reformed their dental services by introducing dental radiography and surgical extraction techniques. This strengthened her passion for dentistry and pain management, so she initiated self-study to advance her knowledge and experience in dentistry to help patients live without dental pain. She joined the International Veterinary Dental Institute soon after and earned her Veterinary Dental Practitioner Certification in November 2021.

Dr. Graham loves to cook and enjoys eating good food. She and her spouse reside in Fort Monroe, VA with their rambunctious son and three fantastic dogs: Bret, Perry, and Hiccup.

Dr. Goldburg received her veterinary degree from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 2002. She developed an interest in dentistry early on and in 2016, she discovered Dr. Beckman’s comprehensive online courses. Thus began her journey towards certification in veterinary dentistry for the general practitioner. The positive feedback from clients and the ability to dramatically improve an animal’s quality of life has inspired Dr. Goldburg to devote most of her time to general dentistry. When not performing consults and surgery she also enjoys practicing all areas of general medicine.

Her place of practice since 2005, Regency Veterinary Clinic in Boca Raton, Florida, will be doubling its square footage this year with renovations to include a new dental suite with two surgery tables.

Outside of work Dr. Goldburg has many interests including yoga, pilates, cycling, hiking, reading, doing crosswords, spending time at the beach and traveling with her husband and family. She is the proud mom of 2 almost grown daughters, 2 dogs and 2 cats.

Dr. Hardy also serves on the Utah Veterinary Medical Association and the Utah Veterinary License Board. She loves to be involved with advising on quality of medicine that pets get and making sure that standards are being met. She also volunteers her time with the American Veterinary Medical Association on the RACE committee and the CVTEA committee.

In her free time, she loves to hike, bike and camp with her husband, golden retriever, and savannah cat in the Utah mountains.

Dr. Roberto Cediel was born in Colombia, South America where he spent most of his childhood and teenage years. He relocated to Minnesota for his high school and college education where he attended St. Cloud State University for his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His Masters degree focused on studying Hawaiian waterfall climbing fishes in Hilo, Hawaii. After graduate school, he attended the University of Illinois for his degree in Veterinary Medicine.

Currently Dr. Cediel serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Primary Care Medicine at Midwestern University in Phoenix, Arizona.