Dentists Lead The Way

Dr. Clifton Cameron joined the Lightwave Dental family in 2019, with more than a decade of experience in clinical operations and growing successful dental practices. Clifton began his career in 2008 by joining a large dental service organization where he stayed for five years. An entrepreneur at heart, he experienced the difficulties of becoming an owner and lack of leadership dentists have in traditional corporate dentistry.

In 2014, he founded CarolinasDentist to create an improved group dentistry model focused on patient experience and dentist leadership development. Within five years, CarolinasDentist grew to seven locations and 30 doctors. Intrigued by the prospects of group dentistry, Clifton saw the opportunity for even further growth by joining forces with Lightwave. This partnership has resulted in the fastest-growing dental group in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Clifton is also a key leader with Align Technology and a member of the North American Align GP Faculty as well as the DSO Special Markets Team. He is an adjunct faculty member teaching orthodontics and occlusion at the East Carolina School of Dental Medicine. Clifton is a graduate of Duke University with his DDS from Virginia Commonwealth University and fellowship from the Academy of General Dentistry. He lives in Pinehurst, N.C., with his wife Shannon and three children, Keens, Lily Pearl, and Holden.

John Demma is responsible for supporting the growth of Lightwave dental practices and the company’s operation as a true partner to their management needs. He is driven by Lightwave’s mission to shape the future of group dentistry and the belief that dentists are the natural leaders of their practices.

Prior to joining Lightwave, John managed 66 veterinary clinics as senior director of operations with National Veterinary Associates. He also has 10 years of retail leadership with Mattress Firm and Sleepy’s, where he rose through the ranks to become vice president of sales and operations for more than 200 locations.

John is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany and obtained his MBA from the University of Hartford. He resides in Spotsylvania, Va., with his wife and four children. In his free time, John loves to cook for his family and the whole neighborhood at weekly Sunday picnics.

For more than 30 years, Steven has been helping to transform organizations through the development of finance strategies and processes. Steven joined Lightwave from a leading provider of autism services, where he served as chief financial officer. He has extensive management experience in multi-site healthcare services, both on the payer and provider side, across behavioral health, physical therapy, and occupational medicine. In his role, Steven maximizes efficient use of resources while supporting operational and clinical leaders tasked with providing excellent patient outcomes.

His experience includes guiding teams in rapidly changing business environments and directing the future needs of companies by driving aggressive growth and shareholder value. Steven spent seven years growing a multi-site outpatient provider of occupational healthcare services and worked as CFO for two provider-owned health plans. Early in his career, Steven held progressive financial management roles for over 15 years with a leading insurance and financial services organization, including in the London reinsurance market.

Steven enjoys spending time with his four adult children and four grandkids that keep him very busy. He also loves everything associated with the great outdoors, including hiking, golfing, traveling, and exploring new places.

Dr. Jason Gladwell is an entrepreneur who founded a successful, fast-growing regional orthodontics practice. He is one of the top 10 Invisalign providers nationwide. Passionate about educating others and giving back to the profession, Jason is a nationally recognized Invisalign speaker, the top Invisalign teen provider on the east coast, and the top Invisalign provider in North Carolina.

He received his bachelor’s degree in business management from N.C. State University and his doctorate of dental surgery from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. His orthodontic training was completed at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he received a master of science degree in dentistry. He is also a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society. Jason enjoys spending time with his wife, Anna, and their children, Olivia and Jason. You can also find him out on the golf course, fishing or rooting on the Wolfpack.

Justin Jory has a strong private equity and investing background. He founded Lightwave by identifying an opportunity to provide the top benefits of a dental group without the drawbacks of traditional corporate dentistry.

Prior to launching Lightwave, Justin spent the better part of a decade investing in successful high-growth businesses. He was a principal at Mercato Partners, a private equity firm investing in high-growth companies across the Western U.S. Justin also served as director of mergers and acquisition at Leucadia National Corporation, sourcing and closing a $1.5 billion acquisition of National Beef Packing.

Prior to his private equity experience, Justin was an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the Financial Sponsors group, where he advised private equity firms on acquisitions and divestitures.

Justin is an alumnus of Brigham Young University, earning his bachelor’s degree as well as his JD/MBA with an emphasis in Private Equity and Business Law. He played tight end for the football team and was selected to the Mountain West Conference All-Academic Team.  Justin is a native of Seattle and enjoys outdoor activities with his wife and five children.

Emily directs marketing strategy and brand development for Lightwave. She leads an enthusiastic marketing team providing dynamic support to dental leaders by amplifying their voices with patients, communities, and vendor partners. With over 15 years of professional marketing experience, Emily believes marketing communications play a part in informing, inspiring, and improving people’s lives. She holds her B.S. and M.B.A. in business administration from Wayland Baptist University in San Antonio. She is a California native who has lived in seven U.S. states, Europe, and Asia. Along that journey, she settled in North Carolina, where her family resided for over a decade. In her free time, Emily enjoys teaching at her local community college, spending time with her husband and three children, reading, traveling to new places, and practicing yoga. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Chris is passionate about fostering joy and connection. He is responsible for leading Lightwave growth by continuing to expand our alliance of dentists committed to collaboration and high standards of patient care.

Chris has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare services as well as mergers and acquisitions. He has served as vice president of business development with National Veterinary Associates, experiencing extensive growth partnering with veterinarian practices nationwide. His experience also includes serving in leadership roles with the healthcare investment banking division of Houlihan Lokey as well as Deloitte & Touche, both in Chicago.

Suscha holds his bachelor’s degree in economics and management from Beloit College and an MBA from the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University. In addition to sharing his open heart with others, Chris enjoys spending time outdoors with his four children, especially if it involves canoeing and fishing.