Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, editor-in-chief of Dental Economics, was this year's recipient of the Dr. Lou Shuman Denobi Pinnacle Achievement Award.

Dentistry’s “unsung heroes”: The 2022 Denobi Award winners

March 21, 2022
The Denobi Awards Gala is the premier celebration recognizing excellence in dentistry and is focused on honoring the “unsung heroes” who’ve made outstanding contributions to the dental industry around the world.

The Denobi Awards, an industry-wide dental awards program, held its annual red-carpet gala on March 4, and named 14 individuals and one dental team as recipients.

The Denobi Awards Gala is the premier celebration recognizing and honoring excellence in dentistry and is focused on honoring the “unsung heroes” who’ve made outstanding contributions to the dental industry around the world. With the 2022 gala exclusively sponsored by Patterson Dental, hundreds of nominations were received from across various roles in the industry and a shortlist was released in January. In partnership with the National Mobile & Teledentistry Conference, the red-carpet gala took place in on March 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was also available virtually via livestream.

Sonya Dunbar and Melissa Turner, organizers of the National Mobile and Teledentistry Conference, at the 2022 Denobi Awards


The gala culminated with the presentation of the Dr. Lou Shuman Denobi Pinnacle Achievement Award, the program’s highest award honoring an individual whose leadership and ongoing contributions have dramatically impacted the profession. The recipient of this year’s award was Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, editor in chief of Dental Economics.

Tickets are on sale now for the next Denobi Awards Gala on March 4, 2023, in Dallas, Texas. Nominations open October 1, 2022.

Congratulations to the following 2022 Denobi Award winners:

  • Dr. Alaa H. Qari – Umm Al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia
  • Amber Lovatos, BSDH, RDH – The Latina RDH
  • Dr. Amrita Patel – American Dental Association
  • Anaika Forbes, MS, BSDH, RDH, CDA – NYU College of Dentistry, HashtagLunchbag
  • Dr. Arash Hakhamian – Dentulu
  • Jackie Sanders, MBA, RDH – RDH Magazine
  • Jennifer Holland – HollandHealthcare,Australia
  • JoAn Majors, RDA, CSP, CVP –TheSoftSkillsInstitute
  • Joe Fogg – onDiem
  • Lancette VanGuilder, BS, RDH, PHEDH – Nevada Dental Hygienists’ Association
  • Dr. Matt Allen – DifferentKind
  • Dr. Pamela Maragliano-Muniz – Dental Economics, Cellerant Consulting; Recipient of the Dr. Lou Shuman Denobi Pinnacle Achievement Award
  • Dr. Parul Dua Makkar – Private Practice, New York
  • Rachel Wall, RDH, BS – Inspired Hygiene
  • Timber Dental – Portland, OR; Recipient of the Denobi Dental Team Award

Learn more about the Denobi Awards and watch clips

Learn more about the National Mobile & Teledentistry Conference