1
Amber Auger
Registered dental hygienist and fractional hygiene director who created Thrive in the OP and hosts RDH Magazine's #AskAmberRDH.
Named inClinical #1
Top Dental Speakers of 2026.
The speakers named on a 2026 Index category list, placed on their full year across dentistry's major meetings.
The 2026 list.
The Dental Speaker Index 2026 names 27 top dental speakers. The five highest-placing across dentistry's major meetings are Amber Auger, Amanda Hill, David Clark, Leonard Hess and Uche Odiatu.
The speakers named on a 2026 category page of the Dental Speaker Index, placed on their full 2026 record across every meeting the Index tracks, in any topic.
This list reflects breadth of platform, not teaching quality. Clinical and hygiene educators teach at more meetings in a typical year, so they tend to place higher here.
The sessions behind these places are not yet published on this page. Every speaker here is named on a category list — linked under each name above — and each of those lists carries the sessions that counted in it, with a link to the organizer's own published program. The full record behind this list follows in the next data update.
2Amanda Hill
Dental hygienist and certified infection preventionist. Hosts the Your Dental Top 5 podcast.
3David Clark
Tacoma, Washington dentist who invented the Bioclear Matrix System and founded the Academy of Microscope Enhanced Dentistry.
Named inClinical #2
4Leonard Hess
Restorative dentist in Monroe, North Carolina and Senior Clinical Director of The Dawson Academy.
Named inClinical #3
5Uche Odiatu
Dentist, author and certified personal trainer. Speaks on energy, wellness and inflammation.
6Thomas Viola
Board-certified pharmacist and founder of Pharmacology Declassified who teaches dental pharmacology and local anesthesia.
Named inClinical #5
member7Ryan Vet
Generational futurist, keynote speaker and author. Speaks across industries; dentistry is one of them.
Named inPractice Growth #2Leadership & Culture #3AI in Dentistry watch list
8Shannon Pace Brinker
Certified dental assistant, clinical educator and founder of Chairside Assisting, a continuing education company for dental assistants.
Named inTechnology watch list
member9Lois Banta
Dental practice management consultant, founder of Banta Consulting, and owner and CEO of the Speaking Consulting Network.
member10Kevin Henry
Dental media editor and co-founder of IgniteDA. Speaks on dental assisting careers and team personalities.
Named inLeadership & Culture #1
11Karen Daw
OSHA-authorized trainer and infection control consultant known as The OSHA Lady.
Named inCompliance & Risk #2
member12Colleen Huff
Dental insurance coach and AADOM Fellow who wrote the book A Mouthful of Insurance.
Named inBusiness Operations #1
13Daniela Skeen
Dental practice consultant and founder of DentaEdge who teaches the EFDA certification course at Nova Southeastern University.
Named inPractice Growth #1
14Teresa Duncan
Founder of Odyssey Management and AADOM Fellow who speaks on dental insurance and practice management.
member15Tija Hunter
Certified dental assistant and author of the Dental Compliance Karma Calendar.
Named inCompliance & Risk #3
16Jim DiMarino
Dentist and CEO of Practice Booster who lectures on CDT dental coding, documentation and insurance administration.
Named inBusiness Operations #3
17Charles Loretto
Partner at Cain Watters & Associates and founder of NDP who speaks on dental practice transitions.
Named inBusiness Operations #5
member18Amy Wood
CEO of Copper Penny Consulting and a HIPAA compliance, cybersecurity and data-breach consultant for dental practices.
Named inCompliance & Risk #4
Tie19Kathryn Alderman
Dentist, founder of Intelligent Care Alliance and author of The AI Advantage in Dentistry.
Named inAI in Dentistry watch list
- Tie19
Brian Goodacre
Board-certified prosthodontist in Upland, California and Loma Linda University faculty member who lectures on digital dentures.
Named inTechnology watch list
member21Rita Zamora
Dental social media marketing consultant, founder of Connect90 and author of Get Found, Get Liked, Get Patients.
Named inPractice Growth #4
Tie22Gordon Barfield
Former general dentist, orthodontist and US Air Force dentist, now Senior Clinical Manager at dental AI company Overjet.
Named inAI in Dentistry watch list
Tie22Kelli Vrla
Certified Speaking Professional who speaks on employee engagement, communication and customer service to corporate, healthcare and dental audiences.
Named inPractice Growth #5
24Mark E. Hyman
Greensboro, North Carolina dentist and UNC adjunct professor. Not the physician and author Mark Hyman, MD.
Named inLeadership & Culture #5
25Kandice Swarthout
Texas registered dental hygienist, licensed professional counselor and educator who teaches human trafficking recognition for healthcare professionals.
Named inCompliance & Risk #5
- 26
Loren King
Registered dental hygienist who co-leads the allied professionals council of the American Academy of Artificial Intelligence in Dentistry.
Named inAI in Dentistry watch list
27Todd Snyder
Cosmetic dentist in Laguna Niguel, California and Las Vegas, and founder of the LEGION dental training platform.
Named inAI in Dentistry watch list
How this list works.
Every speaker here first earned a place on one of the Index's category lists. This list then places them on their full 2026 record: every counted session at the twelve tracked meetings, in any topic. It rewards breadth across meetings, and larger meetings count for more. A meeting counts once, however many sessions a speaker taught there. Sales and product sessions are excluded, as on every Index page. Speakers with equal standing share a place.
This list covers the speakers the Dental Speaker Index named on one of its 2026 category lists, placed on every counted session they taught at the meetings the Index tracks, whatever the topic. A place reflects how widely a speaker taught across dentistry's major continuing-education meetings in one calendar year.
All 27 speakers named on a 2026 category page are placed here. No one else is eligible, however widely they taught. Speakers with equal standing share a place. Being listed reflects where a speaker taught this year. It does not mean they work only in dentistry.
Updated Published by the Speaking Consulting Network, founded 1996Cite as: Dental Speaker Index 2026, Speaking Consulting Network, https://speakingconsultingnetwork.com/dental-speaker-index/top-dental-speakers
Earned on stage, not voted on.
Built from published programs.
Every appearance traces to the organizer's own program. No self-reported bios, no bureau listings, no nominations.
Breadth across the profession.
The Index rewards speakers chosen by many of dentistry's major meetings, not many sessions at one of them.
Membership changes nothing.
SCN members and non-members are ranked on the same evidence. Membership is added only after places are final.
The stages behind the Index.
Chicago Midwinter
CDA Presents
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