Laura Sheppard, CDT

Summing up her approach to her career as an advocate for raising the level of education and quality among dental labs, Laura Sheppard is guided by a simple principle.

“If something can be made better, I’m all in,” said Laura, who is director of Quality and Compliance for Dental Services Group, a national network of full-service dental laboratories.

Laura’s commitment to excellence is reflected in the fact that of the about 10,000 dental labs in the U.S., only 30 of them are DAMAS-certified; 20 of those labs are DSG laboratories.

Laura began her long career by earning degrees in Dental Technology and Allied Health Teaching. She is certified in Orthodontics, Dentures and Crown & Bridge. She’s been in the industry since 1979 and owned her own full-service lab for seven years before joining DSG. At DSG, she developed an orthodontic and sleep therapy department, and became one of the leading technical authorities on dental sleep devices.

Next, she became Director of Training and Education. “In our industry, there is a serious lack of training materials,” she said. Committed to providing better educational tools, she took up a five year challenge to write more than 30 technical training manuals.

She serves as chair of the National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology, chair of the education committee on the Foundation for Dental Technology and is a board trustee for the NADL.

“I’m really proud of the work I’ve done because it comes from the heart. I can’t expect quality from others without demanding the same from myself.”