Life Dental Group Becomes First ADA CERP-Certified Provider in Mississippi

Doctors and team members now can earn state-recognized credit.

Life Dental Group Lead Dentist Mike Huggins engages in a continuing education opportunity.

Life Dental Group, based in Oxford, Miss., has become the only group of dental practices in the state of Mississippi certified by the American Dental Association’s Continuing Education Provider Recognition (CERP) to provide continuing education. We are the only business of any kind outside of the dental school in Jackson to receive this accreditation (dental lab, dental product company, etc).

The ADA CERP application process evaluates providers for compliance with the ADA CERP Recognition Standards and Procedures and promotes improvements in continuing dental education through periodic reevaluation.

“Life Dental group has provided continuing education for our doctors and team members since we bought our first practice,” said Lizz Daigneault, administrative director with Life Dental Group, which now includes 12 practices—six in Mississippi and six in Alabama—with three more to be added this year. “And we are now an ADA CERP-certified provider. What that means is that the ADA has recognized our high standards in courses and materials, and we can now give state-recognized credit to all our doctors and team members to meet their requirements every year.”

Certification was a two-year process. Daigneault said that it took about a year for Life Dental Group to be considered for certification, and it was another year until the group learned in early 2023 that it is the first group in Mississippi to be accredited.

The ADA’s specific objectives of the recognition program include improving the educational quality of continuing dental education programs through self-evaluation conducted by the continuing education program provider in relation to the ADA CERP standards and criteria for recognition, and/or through counsel and recommendations to CE providers. Certification assures that recognized continuing education program providers have the organizational structure and resources necessary to provide CE activities of acceptable educational quality—i.e., activities that should assist the provider in providing an enhanced level of care to patients. The recognition also promotes uniform standards for continuing dental education that can be accepted nationally by the dental profession. It also insures that the continuing education a provider gives its teams is accepted for professional credit in its given state.

“Among the many benefits of working at Life Dental, we pride ourselves on giving our doctors and team members the continued education that they want, to grow their skills and expertise,” Daigneault says. “The sky’s the limit. Whatever you want to learn, from business to technical skills, from the front desk to the clinical staff, we can provide it for you.”

Life Dental Group, which was recognized as an Inc. 5000 company in 2022 and in 2023. is a dentist-owned dental service organization (DSO) that aims to empower high quality care in communities across the Southeast. The company partners with dental clinics, managing their business and administrative responsibilities so dentists can focus on providing care to patients. Life Dental Group is owned by EquiPro Holdings, based in Oxford, Miss.

Life Dental Group is looking to add to its family of practices. For information, please contact Chief Acquisition Officer Jeff Hand at jhand@lifedentalgroupllc.com or 205-504-3577.

Lizz Daigneault, administrative director with Life Dental Group.