Dr. Ron Austin has been in private practice in Tishomingo, OK for the past 29 years.He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1973 and then with honors from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry in 1979.He began a limited orthodontic practice in the early 1980s. In 1989 he began his Tip-Edge training and currently has over 500 cases in progress. Since 1994, he has been teaching the comprehensive hands-on course and in 2007 introduced a mini-residency course for members.He is a popular request for the Academy’s annual meeting program along with other speaking engagements.He actively served on the Academy’s Board of Directors from1992-1993. In 1993 he earned Diplomate status in the Academy’s Tier Advancement Program. In 2007, he received the Charles D.Yates Distinguished Service Award, the Academy’s highest honor. He currently serves on AGpO’s Education Committee and as a Board Examiner for the Academy’s Tier Advancement Program.He is a current member of the Academy of Gp Orthodontics, American Dental Association,Oklahoma Dental Association and local dental societies.

Dr. Bob Shirley began his orthodontic training in 1986 under the supervision and direction of Dr. Charles Yates. He has served as clinical assistant to Dr. Yates, Dr. Terry Hodges, and Dr. Paul Rocke. He is presently assisting Dr. Austin with the 12-Session Hands-on Course in Rockwall, Texas. Dr. Shirley is serving on AGpO’s Advisory Board and was the editor of the organization’s newsletter from 1989-1993. Dr. Shirley is serving on AGpO’s Advisory Board and is the editor of the organizations newsletter. From 1989-1993, Dr. Shirley attended several advanced seminars offered on the Differential Straight-Arch® Technique at the Kesling-Rocke Orthodontic Group in LaPorte, Indiana. In 1990, Dr. Shirley was the first AGpO member to receive Diplomate status. He is also a member of the Red Rock (Tip-Edge) Orthodontic Study Club in Oklahoma City.

Dr. Shirley graduated with honors from Baylor in 1962. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1962-1965 and then in the Reserves, retiring as a Captain in 1993. Dr. Shirley resides and practices in Oklahoma City. He has served as a forensic odontologist for the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Dental Foundation. He is an alumnus of the L.D. Pankey Institute; he received his Fellowship with AGD in 1981, and is a member of the ADA and component dental societies.

Roy Holexa, D.D.S., began his orthodontic training in 1985 under the direction of the late Dr. Charles Yates, utilizing the Begg method of orthodontic treatment. He served as a teaching assistant to Dr. Yates in 1989. He began using the Differential Straight-Arch¨ Technique when it was introduced in 1987. Dr. Holexa is a member of the American Orthodontic Society and past president of the Academy of Gp Orthodontics. He has actively served on the Academy’s Board of Directors and is currently serving on the Advisory Board. In September 1994 Dr. Holexa was acknowledged for his outstanding achievements as clinician and was the first recipient of the Academy’s Charles D. Yates Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Holexa has also developed courses for dental auxiliaries interested in expanding their knowledge of orthodontics and its incorporation into the general practice.

Dr. Holexa teaches the hands-on courses in McHenry, Illinois and Toronto, Canada. Dr. Holexa graduated from Loyola University School of Dentistry in 1976, where he was a member of the teaching faculty. He also served as a clinical supervising dentist at Harper College dental programs in Palatine, Illinois and was instructor for Head and Neck Anatomy in the dental hygiene program. Dr. Holexa resides in Fountain Hills, Arizona where he is currently a Comprehensive Care Unit Clinical Director at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health in Mesa. He is an alumnus of the L.D. Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education, a member of the American Dental Association and component dental societies.

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA), the organization responsible for all dental education in this country, recently honored Dr. Holexa. He was one of only 22 educators selected nationwide to participate in the ADEA Leadership Institute. Dr. Holexa will have the opportunity to interact with the leaders of dental education in the United States. The Academy of GP Orthodontics is proud to have Dr. Holexa as one of our 12- session hands-on course instructors. The training he will receive at the Institute will assist him in continuing to be one of the leaders in dental education.

Dr. Jeffery Gerhardt graduated from the University of Texas in Austin in 1988 with a degree in business management. In 1992, he graduated from Texas Health Science Center Dental Branch in San Antonio, Texas and began practicing in Victoria, Texas as an associate dentist. In 1996 he opened his own general practice in Austin, Texas (Advanced Family Dentistry) which is located in NW Austin and has three general dentists plus an oral surgeon on staff. Dr. Gerhardt is a member of the American Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and local dental societies.

Dr. Gerhardt completed the Academy’s Twelve Session Comprehensive hands-on course in orthodontics in 1998 and has hosted the clinical facility providing patients for the Austin, Texas Hands-On course site since 2001.

Dr. Robert Allen, a 1985 graduate of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has been a solo practitioner in Rockwall, Texas since 1987. He completed the Academy of Gp Orthodontics’ 12 Session Course under Dr. Ron Austin in 1994, and received his Diplomate from the Academy in 1996.

Dr. Allen has been a host dentist and clinical instructor for the Academy since 1992. He has actively practiced orthodontics since1989, completing over 500 Tip-Edge® cases, carrying a caseload of over 50 patients annually.

Although he attributes the mainstay of his orthodontic training to the Academy and more specifically to Dr. Austin, he has attended over 500 hours of orthodontic continuing education, including courses and lectures from Dr. Charlie Yates, Dr. Pete Kesling, Dr. Chris Kesling, Dr. Robert Gerety, and Dr. Tom Mulligan, among others.

He is a current member of the North Texas Dental Society, the Texas Dental Association, the American Dental Association, and the Academy of Gp Orthodontics, the Air Transport Arm of Christ, and Lakepointe Church.

Dr. Leslie Penley A general dentist residing in Carmel,California,Dr. Penley served on the faculty of the University of Texas at El Paso from 1977 to 1980.Until 2003, she represented the El Paso dental community on local televised programs regarding various dental issues.Dr. Penley began her orthodontic training in 1985 under Dr.Charles Yates and has since taken refresher courses in the Differential Straight-Arch technique from the Kesling-Rocke Orthodontic Group in LaPorte, Indiana. Having been a member of the Academy of Gp Orthodontics since its inception,Dr. Penley has served two terms as president and served on the Board of Directors from 1987 to 1996. She chaired the Academy’s Advisory Committee until 2003 and received an Academy Honorary Diplomate Award in 2006. She currently serves as a board examiner for the AGpOTier Advancement Program. From 2004-2007 Dr. Penley served as the faculty clinical supervising dentist at Cabrillo College;Aptos,California. She is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry and currently in private practice in Marina California.

Dr. Charles Young has been practicing dentistry for 36 years, the first 2 years with the United States Army, and the last 34 years in private practice. For the past 29 years, he has been located in Collierville,Tennessee.

He graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in 1971, having been inducted into the Dean Honorary Odontological Society and having received the Marion L. Fuller Award.

Under the direction of Dr. Ron Austin, he began his Tip-Edge training in 2000 and now has completed over 100 cases and has 65 active cases in progress.He has served as a host dentist for the Academy during the last 7 years and was a co-teacher with Dr. Austin for the 2004-06 doctors’ course in Collierville.

Dr.Young has throughout his career held a high interest in continuing dental education. In addition to orthodontics, he has extensive training in endodontics, implant surgery, hard and soft tissue grafting, and comprehensive restorative dentistry.

He is a current member of the Academy of Gp Orthodontics, the Academy of General Dentistry, the American Dental Association, the Tennessee Dental Association, the Memphis Dental Study Group, the MidSouth Orthodontic Study Club and local dental societies.

Dr. Bert Vasut graduated from the University of Texas in Austin in 1981 with a degree in Biology. In 1987, he graduated from the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, with his DDS specializing in Pediatric Dentistry. In 1987 he opened a private practice of pediatric dentistry and orthodontics in Cedar Park, Texas.

Dr. Vasut received his hands-on orthodontic training under AGpO instructor, Dr. Ron Austin and has been a clinical instructor at the Cedar Park, Texas site since 2005. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, Texas Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the Academy of Gp Orthodontics.