Veterinary Dental Practitioner
Program Members

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.

Dr. Lariviere takes a personal and careful approach with each patient and treats them as if they were her own pet. She puts herself in the shoes of her clients so that they can work together to find a solution for the patient in need so that the best possible results can be achieved.

In 2007 he became interested in small animal dentistry after seeing so many patients benefit and improve after having dental procedures done. 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.

Dr. Calderwood has been married to his wife June for 40 years now. Their oldest son Matthew lives in Vancouver, B.C, and works for a company called Eclipse One. Their daughter Nichole is a physical therapist and lives in Bismark with her husband Scott and their two children Hartly, who is 4, and Harper, who is 2. The grandkids help keep Dr. Dave and June feeling young!

Dr. Michelle Stephenson has wanted to be a vet since she was 3 years old. Her parents even recall some of her first words being “doggie” and “doctor.”

Her first job at the age of 14 was cleaning pet kennels for free because she loved being around veterinary medicine.

In 1992 she married her high school sweetheart and together they have 2 adult sons. One in law enforcement and the other a soon to be UWF student!

Born and raised in eastern Kentucky, Dr. Stephenson attended Auburn for her Veterinary education and went on to practice in West Virginia from 1998-2001 and then Kentucky from 2001-2005 and most recently in Pace, Florida from 2005-2020.

She is the proud pet momma of 5 dogs, 2 cats, and several chickens.

Dr. Stephenson has a special interest in dentistry and surgery and brings over 22 years of experience to the team.

mstephensondvm@hotmail.com

850-313-1224

Davis Animal Hospital

Pensacola, Florida

www.davispetvet.com

Things have changed a lot since I graduated with my veterinary degree from Oregon State University in 1993. These days we can have a sick pet diagnosed with full lab work, radiographs and ultrasound within a couple hours of presentation to my practice. Years ago we’d have to send lab samples out and bring radiologists in… A diagnosis could take days. Digital radiology and modern technology make it genuinely fun to practice veterinary medicine these days. I particularly enjoy surgery and dentistry, and I sincerely appreciate that Dr Beckman strives to elevate the standard of care of veterinary dentistry through education.

I am the happiest veterinarian I know. I believe I enjoy our profession so much because I’ve been involved in many aspects of medicine over the years. I spent my first 8 years as an emergency / critical care vet in Portland, Oregon. I was the founder of a small animal blood bank in the 1990s. I’ve been an associate veterinarian at several practices. I’ve started 2 house call practices. I was a relief vet for many years when I did my international work. I performed surgeries at Guide Dogs for the Blind for several years. I spent a dozen winters out of the country in undeveloped areas of the world, running spay/neuter campaigns.

Dr. Katie Anderson has lived in Michigan her entire life. She enjoys the beautiful seasons and the great lakes. She graduated from Michigan State University in 2008 with both an undergraduate degree in Zoology and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree. She purchased Westarbor Animal Hospital in Ann Arbor Michigan in 2019 after working there for 10 years an associate veterinarian. Westarbor Animal Hospital has been a referral dentistry practice for many years and she plans to continue in that legacy.

Dr. Joanie Myracle received her D.V.M. from the University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine in 1998. Following graduation, she became an associate veterinarian at Ansley Animal Clinic in Atlanta, GA where she continues to practice today. During veterinary school, Dr. Myracle developed a special interest in soft tissue surgery and veterinary dentistry. Over the last 10-12 years, her interest in veterinary dentistry has dramatically increased and she has focused most of her continuing education work in this field. Veterinary dentistry has become her passion because of the huge impact it has on her patients’ overall health and well being. Observing an animal's health and quality of life dramatically improve with the treatment of dental disease has been truly rewarding for her.

Dr. Myracle lives in Decatur, GA with her husband, 2 children, 2 dogs, and 3 cats. She enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, the outdoors, and sports – especially Gator football.

Dr. Houghton grew up in Huntington, Indiana. After graduating from Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, she worked in Miami, Florida, for 5 years at a surgical referral hospital before returning to Huntington to start her own small animal hospital which she sold in 2004. While in Huntington, she served in many leadership roles including Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Huntington Co. Chamber of Commerce, Huntington Co. United Way Campaign Chairman, and President of the Huntington Co. Humane Society.

She is a past president of the Northeast Indiana Veterinary Medical Association and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Houghton’s area of special interest is dentistry. She is a member of the Foundation for Veterinary Dentistry, a group that is passionate about veterinary dentistry and educating about oral health in animals.

Not ever having had children, her pets have served in that role. She is married to attorney, Theodore Bendall, and together they enjoy travel, theater, golf, and entertaining.

Dr. Sherrie was born and raised in the Northwest and completed her Bachelor of Science and DVM degree at Washington State University in 1993. She added acupuncture to her therapy skillset becoming a licensed veterinary acupuncturist in 2011. After working in a busy urban practice for more than two decades, Dr. Sherrie moved to the rural Methow Valley in Washington's North Cascades in 2020. This move inspired her to delve further into the study of veterinary dentistry because the nearest board-certified veterinary dentist is more than 200 miles away. Although it is not the equivalent of board training, the IVDI VDP program has helped to enhance her ability to provide essential dental care for her patients. Dr. Sherrie finds it deeply satisfying to help clients appreciate the benefits of dental therapy and enhance the comfort and quality of life of her patients by addressing their dental disease.

Maja Spiljak-Pakkanen graduated in veterinary sciences from the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2007. She continued her postgraduate studies at the Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, where she took her PhD in 2011. In the same year she moved to Finland and took a break from her professional career, became a mother of two and dedicated her time to the children and learning the Finnish language.

In 2017, she started to work as a general practitioner at a small animal clinic in Nastola, Southern Finland, where she immediately found a passion for small animal dentistry. She has continuously educated herself. Her mission is to educate the pet owners about the importance of good oral health of their pets and to provide the best possible dental care to cats and dogs at a general practice level.

viiksistahannanpaahan@gmail.com

+35850 407 2766

Eläinlääkäriasema Viiksistä Hännänpäähän

Nastola, Finland

www.viiksistahannanpaahan.fi

Dr. Tonya Hardy attended Louisiana State University where she received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine degree in 1996, Go Tigers!! After completing an internship in equine surgery, in Opelousas, La she then moved to Park City, Utah, where she began her career in a mixed animal practice. Dr. Hardy soon realized her goals in surgery were best served in the small animal field and began her transition to strictly small animal practice. She got a lot of her education and experience through Banfield pet hospital. Dr. Hardy was a Chief of staff, a partner, an associate doctor, and Medical Director while employed with Banfield. She expanded her mentor, managerial and leadership skills along with medical skills. Expanding on her love of teaching she began teaching classes at Broadview Veterinary technician school. This also inspired her to go back to school and achieve her Master of Business Administration in leadership in 2016. Dr. Hardy is proficient in soft tissue surgery, orthopedics and now has expanded her oral and dental surgical skills.

I graduated with my Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan with a special interest in mixed practice and small animal dentistry in 2017. I then moved to a rural, mixed practice in Northern BC where I treated all creatures big and small. The thrill of large animal medicine, including performing equine floats, many late-night calvings and dystocias, was plentiful! After 3 years enduring the northern chill, I moved down south to the Okanagan region where I currently practice as an associate at our local companion animal emergency hospital and perform elective and dental surgeries at a day practice.

Throughout my career, I have seen first hand the benefits of providing dental care. My own feline beast, Sol, suffered from painful feline resorptive lesions. Before diagnosis, Sol's only presenting sign was overgrooming, which quickly resolved after extraction of the problem teeth. He became a lot more comfortable and his beautiful haircoat grew back. Oral health can be an unseen cause of discomfort, and with the VDP program, I am confident I can continue to provide the highest quality of dental care possible.

Native to Norway, Dr. Sørbo started his veterinary journey working at a dairy farm, far north of the arctic circle when he was only a teenager. His interest in animal work took him to Scotland, where he earned his degree as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Edinburgh in 2011.

After five years as a general practitioner and emergency veterinarian in the UK, Dr. Sørbo and his family moved to the United States – first on the West Coast, then the East Coast. It was during this time his interest in dentistry started to grow, which led to him successfully finishing the extensive Veterinary Dental Practitioners course to be regarded as one of the top General Practitioners in Veterinary Dentistry. Beyond veterinary dentistry and oral surgery, Dr. Sørbo’s interests include general and critical medicine, surgery, and sonography.

Dr. Sørbo and his family reside in the Boston metro area, and he practices as the Clinical Director of Mill Brook Animal Clinic in Arlington, Massachusetts. Dr. Sørbo has a cat named Sophie Spitfire, who has been the family cat since his first year of practice in the UK.

We had minimal dentistry training in school. At my first job we had 1 elevator and gigli wire for extractions. I hated dentistry but on the bright side – the RVT's did them – extractions and all.

Later in my career I was sent to a remote satellite clinic twice a week to deal with whatever came in the door and did not have an RVT to do the “dentals”. I flailed through a number of procedures with no radiographs and poor equipment. I shudder to think what I did to those poor animals. Feeling I was doing a disservice to my patients, I started spending my CE time on dentistry starting with an extraction weekend with Loic Legendre. However the equipment I had available as an associate was minimal.

When I bought that remote satellite clinic in 2010, my first purchase was a dental x-ray unit and a selection of dental tools. Since then I have attended the VDF a number of times and participated in a handful of the wet labs. My techs and myself attended a 2 day radiology seminar with Loic Legendre and I did another extraction weekend, this time with Ira Luskin – then I purchased one of his lift tables!

Dentistry is now the part of practice that I find the most rewarding. I am quite comfortable with general extractions but I also know my limits and when to refer. I still break a few roots, but am better at predicting when to expect it and how to deal with them. I now feel I am providing quality service to my patients and clients. My goal is to streamline my dentistry cases to minimize anesthetic time and to increase my availability.

Dr. Andrea Wernham graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 2005. Her interest in practicing a higher quality of dentistry began after taking a week-long intensive dentistry course with Dr. Beckman in Orlando, Florida. She then committed to taking her dentistry skills to the next level by enrolling in the Veterinary Dental Practitioner’s Program.

In 2021 Dr. Andrea became owner of Presqu’ile Animal Hospital in Brighton, Ontario. A complete renovation plus expansion of the clinic was completed in 2022. A focus of the renovation was updating the dental suite with brand-new equipment to allow a high level of dental surgery to be practiced.

Dr. Andrea participates in frequent continuing education, with an interest in advanced dental procedures, pain management and anesthesia. She enjoys preventative medicine, and the ability to significantly improve the quality of life of her patients by addressing their dental disease.

Outside of work Dr. Andrea enjoys baking delicious treats, art, sports, and hiking with her Golden Retriever. She is an avid reader, enjoys photography, and has plans to travel with her husband and children.

Stella Bult has graduated from from University of Bern, Switzerland in 2015. After returning to Basel, her home town, she started working at a GP office where she eventually became the leading and managing vet. She took her first online classes with Dr. Brett in 2018 and soon became passionate about all things dentistry.

In 2020 she opened her own independent vet practice and continuously expanded her knowledge and skills in dentistry whenever the time allowed. Together with an amazing team and a licensed dental nurse, their shared passion became a major part of their daily business.

Besides dentistry Stella enjoys conversations with her international clients in various languages and loves running, skiing, practicing yoga and is very fond of her morning walks with her own dog, “Happy”.

Dr. Jen graduated from Beloit College with a Bachelor's of Science, then headed out west to Washington and Idaho where she began her career in the veterinary field. After working as a veterinary assistant for 3 years, she decided to pursue a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Iowa State University. After graduating with her DVM in 2015, she has worked with all species large, small, and exotic. Dr. Jen became the owner of Spartan Animal Hospital in 2019. She has particular interests in dentistry, surgery, exotics, and pain management. In her free time, Dr. Jen enjoys backpacking and kayaking.

contact@spartananimalhospital.com

(608) 838-6115

Spartan Animal Hospital

McFarland, WI

spartananimalhospital.com