About Dr. Gary DeWood
“I am so happy to be back in a family practice as a member of the Desert Sun Smiles team. After more than 20 years in which teaching was my primary activity in dentistry, and in spite of the fact that I continued to see some patients in those years, including Dr. Brady, I did not anticipate the immense joy that I would experience being back in a real family practice with incredible team members and even more incredible patients. Desert Sun Smiles is an example of the reason I became a dentist, wonderful people who invite you into their life. I look forward to hearing what you want from dentistry and from life and doing my part with you to get it. There is no greater gift to another than the trust of partnership in creating and maintaining health. Thank you.”
– Gary M DeWood, DDS, MS
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Gary earned his D.D.S. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1980, completed the University of Florida Facial Pain Center Curriculum from 1992 through 1995, and in 2004 earned a Master of Science degree at The University of Toledo College of Medicine. From 1981 to 2004 he maintained a full-time private practice in a small northwest Ohio community, Pemberville. He left full-time private practice at the end of 2003 to serve as clinical director at The Pankey Institute, a post-doctoral continuing dental education organization in Miami, Florida, a position he held until 2008. He became a founding member of Spear Education, a dental continuing education company that became internationally recognized and was a leader in exceptional dental continuing education. He left that organization in 2023 to become part of Desert Sun Smiles but did not fully leave teaching. With Dr. Brady, he continues to teach dentists in numerous workshops at The Pankey Institute and lectures extensively to Study Clubs, professional organizations, and at dental meetings across the country and around the world.
Gary is a member of many dental organizations including the American Dental Association, Arizona Dental Association, Academy of General Dentistry, American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics, American Equilibration Society, and American Academy of Orofacial Pain. He has also served in many roles in education over the years; Assistant Professor at The University of Toledo College of Medicine, Associate Professor at The University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, Clinical Director at The Pankey Institute, President of The Seattle Institute, Executive VP for Curriculum and Clinical Education of Spear Education, Adjunct Clinical Professor at Arizona School of Oral and Dental Health. In 2024 he returned to The Pankey Institute as Director of Essentials Education.
Dr. DeWood and his wife, Dr. Cheryl DeWood, who practiced orthodontics with Dr. Brady at Desert Sun Smiles for many years, live in Cave Creek and have three children. A dental Hygienist who lives with her husband in Mesa, a dentist who lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and an Opera Singer who lives in Tempe and is a proud Crew Member at Trader Joe’s as his day job.