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The Team

Dental-focused for decades

Steve Schultz

Co-Founder, CEO

Steve is responsible for the overall vision and operations of the combined

dental benefit plan administration and dental care practice operation. 

 

In 1992, Steve founded one of the largest benefit administration companies in the country, netBOA, serving over 10,000 employers, including many of the Fortune 100.   The company along technology with its IT team of 20 engineers and 180 administrative staff was acquired by ADP in 2000.   

 

With a 35-year history in healthcare benefits providing services for many of the country's largest employers, Steve has seen the strengths and weaknesses of current methodologies.  Traditional dental plans, based on a 50-year old design where insurance companies offer minimal financial protection, but are rewarded in high profits, needed to be changed.

 

In 2006, Steve co-founded Simple Dental Plans. 

Steve's vision is to create a better dental care model that funnels patients to a more competitive and transparent environment. 

    Rich Dest, DDS

    Director of Dental Care

    Rich obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1985.  Since then he has acquired and operated multiple dental offices, running a multi-office practice.  

     In 2001, he operated one of the first onsite dental facilities in the country  at the home office of Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, NC, serving 10,000 onsite employees. 

    In 2008, he established a Dental Service Organization (DSO), which allowed each dental office to focus only on dental care, while the DSO provided all business services.

    In 2015, he expanded onsite care to hundreds of private sector locations.

    Samantha Schmidt, MPH

    Chief Healthcare Officer

    Samantha has a 20-year history in healthcare with Johns Hopkins and Emory University. 

    She received her Masters of Public Health from Emory University in 2020.  

    Sam understands the unique healthcare needs of adults and children, often unable to obtain adequate healthcare because of financial or transportation issues. 

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    Missy Nix

    New Client Implementation Manager

    Missy coordinates every aspect of implementation and communication with employees and patients about their onsite/nearsite dental care program.  Working with internal and external staff in the Communication Department, Missy's single focus is to assure each client has a methodical, successful dental program implementation.  

    Missy has 20-year background in finance and accounting, including her involvement with the largest Simple Dental group clients.

    Jim Callan

    Chief Marketing Officer

    Jim brings a background of over 30 years of working with the largest insurers in the country to promote their benefit programs to employers and then to the employees and dependents who receive those benefits.   

     

    Jim focuses on expanding Simple Dental's presence to the broker

    and large employer market. 

    Roger Schultz, CLU

    Co-founder, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)

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    Roger has over 60 years experience in employee benefits working with clients and brokers nationwide.  For the past 35 years, Roger has focused in transforming dental care. 

     

    In the early 1990s, Roger partnered with the American Dental Association (ADA) to pioneer a new approach to providing self-funded dental coverage to employers.  The new dental plans provided far greater dental care benefits by shifting decisions to the dentist & patient, instead of the insurance company.  That philosophy was the genesis of Direct Reimbursement Dental Plans in 1992, a national administrator of dental plans.  This company later was merged into Simple Dental, the company.  Simple Dental plans have been implemented by thousands of employers nationwide through multiple third-party  administrators, using education provided by Roger.  The term "Simple Plan" is now used by dental plan administrators across the country.  

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     Roger, now in his mid-80s, is responsible for creating the business and dental care strategies for Simple Dental, 

    Mary Sisk

    Dental Office Manager

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    Mary has over 26 years of the manager of multiple, simultaneously operated dental offices.  Mary's is the lead for WorkPlace Dental, staffing and managing the remote dental offices that provide wholesale dental care for employers.   

     

    Mary coordinates both the mobile practice and the "bricks and mortar" dental office launch. 

     

    Once the office(s) have launched for a specific employer or employer-group, the management is turned over to an on-premises manager, serving under Mary's supervision. 

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    Felipe Dest, MSBA

    Dental Care COO

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    Felipe manages the Dental Service Organization (DSO) operations.  His experience began with managing onsite dental care delivered to hundreds of private sector locations, initially focused on healthcare facilities.  In 2021, Felipe expanded the DSO growth to the private employer market, leveraging knowledge and resources of Simple Dental. 

     

    Felipe has extensive education in healthcare including his Master's Degree in Healthcare Administration from Johns Hopkins.   Felipe manages the day-to-day dental care operations for each dental care entity, based on state-specific requirements. 

    Strategic Relationships

    INDUSTRY

    Dental Plan Innovation
    Dental Office Growth

    Simple Dental accomplishes it's goal by working with dental-industry businesses who bring together the best minds in each geographic area.

     

    This allows Simple Dental to set up dental plans in virtually any area of the country, by partnering with dental networks,  and acquiring existing, or building new dental practices.

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    We analyze the needs of each client and present a new dental care model based on transparency.  

    S

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    Atlanta Dental

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    Region:  Southeastern US

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    Patterson Dental

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    Region: National

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    90 Degree Benefits

    Claim Administration

    A Business Unit of

    Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama

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    Dest Dental

    National Dental Service Organization

    (DSO)

    Dental office licensing, staffing, & management 

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