Our Faculty

Sameer Puri 
cerecdoctors.com Founder

Dr. Sameer Puri is the director of CAD/CAM at Spear and the founder of www.cerecdoctors.com, a website dedicated to CEREC online education.   The website has become the standard of CEREC training and is the largest online CEREC resource in the world.

Having trained more CEREC owners than any other individual in the world, Dr. Puri splits his time between his educational duties at Spear, managing the cerecdoctors.com website, organizing the cerecdoctors.com magazine and treating patients at the Spear faculty practice.

Dr. Puri's maintains numerous professional relationships and is an advisor to many major dental corporations and works with different manufacturers to help develop and test new products. He has served as a beta tester for the CEREC software since 2005 and is deeply involved in helping to test new software versions

Dr. Puri is a graduate of the University of Southern California, School of Dentistry and the Advanced Education in General Dentistry residency from the University of Tennessee.

Mike Skramstad 
Faculty

Dr. Michael Skramstad currently is a member of the faculty in the CAD/CAM department at the Spear Campus and www.cerecdoctors.com, a nationally renowned website for continuing education in CEREC dentistry. He performs all aspects of cosmetic, implant and family dentistry with a particular focus on esthetic and CAD/CAM computerized dentistry.

Dr. Skramstad is a basic and advanced trainer for Patterson Dental and has lectured internationally on digital dentistry and the CEREC restorative process. He works closely with Sirona's engineering team to help with the development of CEREC hardware and software and is a product consultant for numerous dental companies. He was also voted one of Mpls/St. Paul Magazine's "Top Dentists" multiple times by his peers.

Dr. Skramstad's professional affiliations include the American Dental Association, Minnesota Dental Association, the American Academy of Computerized Dentistry, and the International Academy of Computerized Dentistry.

Dr. Skramstad grew up in Marshall, Minn. and attended college at Purdue University, where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Genetics in 1996. He then returned to Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 2000.

Mark Fleming 
Faculty & Magazine Editor

Mark J. Fleming, D.D.S. is a 1978 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. He maintains a full time practice in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr. Fleming has spoken to several international groups on CEREC technology and has served on the Board of an international academy which furthered the understanding and use of computerized technologies and machinable restorative materials in dentistry. He serves as a consultant to a variety of dental manufacturers helping in product evaluation and design. Dr. Fleming has been a CEREC user since 2001, a beta tester for the CEREC software since 2004. He is a Faculty Member in the CAD/CAM Dentistry Department at Spear. Dr. Fleming also serves as Faculty on CERECdoctors.com, the largest online CEREC training in the world. He is a Basic and Advanced Trainer for Patterson Dental for CEREC technology and editor for CERECdoctors.com the Magazine.

Imtiaz Manji

Imtiaz Manji is a visionary committed to teaching dentists how to fulfill their goals for personal and professional success. He has been educating and motivating dentists for more than 25 years with his insight, inspirations and practical knowledge about successful dental practices. His strategies and viewpoint have been sought out by thousands of practitioners, many of dentistry’s highest-profile clinicians and executives at leading companies serving the dental market.

Imtiaz Manji is well-known for his dynamic personality and information-packed workshops that combine his experience as a businessman with his leadership qualities and sophisticated understanding of what makes a successful dental practice and dental practitioner. He delivers trend-setting and practical how-to knowledge that covers the spectrum of practicing, both inside and outside the practice. He is devoted to dentistry as a relationship business where ideal care for patients is the driving force linking the doctor, team and patients together. His mission is to help every dentist achieve clinically superior, economically successful practices driven by impeccable standards.

Imtiaz Manji is past CEO of Mercer Advisors, where he built one of the most successful dental consulting, financial planning and transition services companies in the world. During his tenure, he envisioned Mercer Advisors’ headquarters and Scottsdale Center for Dentistry. As CEO of Scottsdale Center for Dentistry and Spear Education, Imtiaz Manji leverages his wide-ranging knowledge of dentistry, dental technology and practical strategies for growth into a teaching environment dedicated to the best level of clinical excellence, dental technology and quality patient care. Today, he is passionate about creating a total learning experience where practitioners are encouraged and supported in achieving their ideal goals.

Farhad Boltchi 
Faculty

Dr. Boltchi received his dental degree from the Medical University of Hannover in Germany and a certificate in periodontics associated with a Master of Science degree in oral biology from Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas. He is a clinical assistant professor in the graduate periodontics program at Baylor College of Dentistry, and also maintains a full-time private practice in periodontics and dental implants in Arlington. He has achieved board certification status with the American Board of Periodontology and is a fellow of the International Team for Implantology (ITI).

Rich Rosenblatt 
Faculty

Dr. Rosenblatt has been a CEREC user since 2003. He founded the Northern Illinois CEREC study club, one of the largest CAD/CAM study clubs in the United States. He is a moderator for the CEREC forum on Dentaltown.com. He is an advanced and beta software tester and a certified speaker for Sirona Dental Systems. Dr. Rosenblatt is CEREC basic trainer for Patterson Dental, a faculty member on the cerecdoctors.com website, and is CAD/CAM faculty member at Spear.

Dr. Rosenblatt graduated in 1997 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and completed a general practice residency at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Reading, Pa. in 1998. He has been practicing in the Chicagoland area since 1999 and presently owns a dental practice in Lake Forest Illinois focusing on CAD/CAM dentistry.

Peter Gardell 
Faculty

Dr. Gardell graduated from NYU College of dentistry and has a technology based practice with an emphasis on cosmetic dentistry in Stamford, CT.  He has been utilizing the Cerec since 2005 in his practice.

Dr. Gardell successfully completed the CON process in the state of Connecticut and installed the first Galileos in the state in 2010. Through his work the laws requiring a CON have been changed, so it is not required any longer.

He has been a beta tester for the Sirona chairside system since 2009. Has been involved in the beta testing of the Digital Encode workflow available for the implant systems from Biomet 3I.

He has lectured nationally on topics ranging from Cerec, Galileos, implants and practice integration.

Darin O'Bryan 
Faculty

Dr. Darin O’Bryan graduated in 1997 from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry.  He practiced in Minneapolis for 7 years in a large group practice before moving to the coast of Oregon.  Dr. O’Bryan currently resides in Coos Bay/North Bend where he has a private focusing on implant and digital dentistry.

Dr. O’Bryan is faculty with CERECdoctors.com at the Scottsdale Center for Dentistry.  He is also a basic and advanced trainer for Patterson, a Beta tester for Sirona and product tester for dental manufacturers.  He is an internationally published author on digital and CAD/CAM dentistry and has mentored hundreds of dentists on how to integrate technology into their office. 

Dr. O’Bryan holds affiliations with the American Dental Association, American Academy of General Dentistry, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and the American Academy of Implant Dentistry.

Dr. O’Bryan has two wonderful daughters with his beautiful wife; they all enjoy sailing in their free time.

Steve Nielsen 
Faculty

Dr. Nielsen is a 1980 graduate from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry.  He has maintained a full time dental practice in Shelley Idaho since that time and has utilized CEREC technology in his office since 2008.

Dr. Nielsen does Basic and “C” training for Patterson Dental and  joined the inaugural cerecdoctors.com Mentors Group in 2011. On cerecdoctors.com he is sometimes referred to as “The Professor.”

Dr. Nielsen has enjoyed teaching first year dental students in the Idaho Dental Education Program, associated with Creighton University since 1992.  His courses cover Dental Materials and an Introduction to Operative Dentistry.  His ceramics lecture has evolved from textbook information to an exciting crash course in CEREC technology. 

Dr.  Nielsen and his wife, Kenda have seven children and enjoy having 17 grandchildren.