Meet Our Team

Liz was born and raised in Mendocino County into a family of hospitality. Her great grandfather owned and operated The Palace Hotel. Liz is passionate about all things health and fitness related. She graduated from Sonoma State with a BS in Kinesiology. Shortly after she graduated from the MCOE dental assisting program in 2013. Liz is a valuable team player in our office. You can find her working in front reception or assisting the Dr. with treatment procedures. Liz is an animal lover and enjoys spending time on her small farm with her ducks, chickens, cats, and dog.

Vanessa is an Ukiah native. She has been with our office since 2014. She graduated from the SRJC in 2020 with an Associate’s degree in Dental Hygiene and Associate’s in Allied Health from Mendocino College. Vanessa’s compassionate, positive nature and experience makes it easy for our patients to instantly feel at ease during their visit. Vanessa is also bilingual, which is a great benefit to many of our patients. Vanessa loves all things health and fitness related. She enjoys lifting weights, hiking and learning about nutrition. Vanessa loves educating her patients on the importance between overall health and oral health and their correlation. When Vanessa is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and listening to audiobooks.

Yasmin is our Hygiene Coordinator and has been with us since 2015. We love her warm, caring personality and all of our patients do too. She excels at every aspect of her job. Being bilingual is a plus for our Spanish speaking patients. Currently, she is attending Mendocino Community College to purse her goal in becoming a Dental Hygienist. When she is not working, she loves to spend time with her family and traveling with her boyfriend.

Wilda “Willy” is our Office Manager. Willy has been in the field of dentistry since 1984 and with us since 2005. She maintains a current X-ray license, CPR/AED certificate, Conscious Sedation certificate.

Her spiritual and compassionate personality is enjoyed in the office by the team. Although Willy brings comedy to the workplace at the perfect time, she also has a knack for knowing when someone might need special attention. Willy’s “Gramma” style is comforting for our children when they visit our office.

When not in the office, Willy enjoys spending time with her husband, grandchildren and great grandchild. You can find them swimming, playing, walking or creating art that “Gramma” is happy to hang in their home.

Laura is a graduate of the Santa Rosa Junior College Dental Hygiene program, which is ranked as one of the top ten Dental Hygiene programs in the country. Her primary focus is to deliver dental healthcare that fully addresses her patient’s concerns and health needs in a gentle way. To bring a happy, healthy smile to someone is her goal. She is certified to provide services in local anesthesia, nitrous oxide, soft tissue curettage and antimicrobial therapy, pit and fissure sealants, ultrasonic instrumentation, laser periodontal therapy, nutrition counseling, and more.

Laura grew up in Petaluma and now lives in Cloverdale. She is the proud mom of two kids – In her spare time she enjoys hiking, biking, boating, yoga, traveling, and skiing with her family. She is excited to be working at Ukiah Family Dentistry with its skilled staff.

Nina completed the Mendocino County Office of Education ROP dental assisting program in 2013 and received her RDA license in 2015. Nina maintains a current x-ray license, CPR/AED certificate and coronal polish certificate. Nina chose to be in the dental field because she loves learning new things daily, and loves the fast-pace work. She enjoys making her patients feel welcome to our dental family, being comfortable with us, and helping them achieve their goals. On her time off, she enjoys traveling with friends, spending time with her family, gardening, going to the gym/pilates and shopping.

Lorena joined our dental family in 2020 with over ten years dental experience. Her journey started while working as a receptionist at a local community clinic. Lorena received on the job training, and was able to complete additional courses for her RDA in 2013. Lorena loves the fast pace work atmosphere but her favorite part is getting to know our patients and helping provide smiles. Lorena is an asset to our office because she’s a team player and always smiling as well as bilingual. She makes all our patients feel comfortable and welcome. Outside of work Lorena enjoys spending time with her boys. Staying active is most important, and she loves all sports but soccer is her passion. Her other hobbies include bike riding, softball, basketball and football. Lorena says “She’s grateful to be a part of this office, the staff is amazing and our priority is patient based and relationships between our patients and staff is admirable”

Nicole is the newest member of our dental family. She joined us in 2022 while Courtney was on maternity leave. She fit right in and we decided to keep her. Nicole graduated from the Santa Rosa Junior College dental hygiene program in 2014. She was born and raised in Ukiah and lived in Sacramento for two years while attending Sacramento State University. She has two sons that play sports and keep her busy. When she is not busy with sports she enjoys traveling and has been to Ecuador, Italy, and Mexico. She can even speak some conversational Spanish.

Courtney joined our team in 2017. She graduated from Cabrillo Community College in 2015. Courtney loves spending time with her three beautiful children and husband. When she has a free moment, she also enjoys woodworking and playing sports.