Dynamic Dental Safety (dds) is composed of dentists, attorneys, and former Board members to ensure that we have the background, education, and legal knowledge to answer any question a dental office may have regarding their compliance program.
Howard J. Pactovis, DMD
Managing Director
Dr. Howard Pactovis has been in the dental field for well over thirty years. He is a graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and Boston University School of Graduate Dentistry. For the last fifteen years Dr. Pactovis has been exclusively in the safety and risk prevention area relative to the dental field. Howard is the founder of Dynamic Dental Safety, director of education for the Dental Learning Network and has presented educational courses in more than twenty states. He was a featured speaker at the Yankee Dental Congress, New Hampshire Dental Society 2008 annual meeting, Greater New York Dental Meeting 2010 and other state and local dental meetings on the subject of dental office safety and infection control. Howard is a member of OSAP and listed on their bureau of speakers and consultants page. Dynamic Dental Safety is an endorsed provider of compliance services by the Massachusetts Dental Society and the New Hampshire Dental Society.
Philip Barbell, DDS
Associate Director
Dr. Philip Barbell had been a practicing general dentist in New Jersey for 39 years and is now a Dental Risk Management Consultant. He is Risk Management Consultant to Dentist’s Advantage having been its’ Director of Risk Management for four years and serves on the board of the National Society of Dental Practitioners. He has been involved in organized dentistry at the local, state and national levels in several capacities, having served as President of Southern Dental Society of N.J. and the New Jersey Dental Association. He has been the Co-chairman of the ADA National Advisory Committee on Health Literacy in Dentistry for 7 years. He has been involved in the insurance arena for his entire professional career having served as either a board member or officer of several dental insurance entities. He has been involved in the dental liability area for over 24 years, having served for 11 years as President and Chairman of the Board of a national dentist owned and controlled malpractice insurance company. Dr. Barbell is a member of the Southern Dental Society of New Jersey, New Jersey Dental Association and the American Dental Association. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, the American College of Dentists and the International College of Dentists.
Robert DeFrancesco, DMD
Associate Director
Dr. Robert DeFrancesco is a practicing general dentist in the Greater Boston area. He is a past member and Chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Dentistry, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Department of Prosthodontics and Operative Dentistry at the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He is a member of the Commission on Dental Competency Assessment (CDCA) as a dental examiner and has lectured extensively on dental professional liability and risk management. Dr. DeFrancesco is also a member of the American Association of Dental Consultants and provides expert witness testimony throughout the country on a broad range of litigation topics.
Kevin Huff, DDS, MAGD
Associate Director
Dr. Kevin Huff is a current practicing general dentist in Dover, Ohio. He has lectured around the United States and in Canada on a variety of topics including HIPAA and digital security, risk management, oral cancer screening, and the application of ethics to treatment planning and decision-making in dentistry. Having been a consultant to the dental board as well as having undergone a dental board investigation in his state for which no action against him was taken, Dr. Huff brings a unique perspective to Dynamic Dental Safety. He has seen both sides of the fence, so to speak. Dr. Huff holds or has held positions as Attending Clinician at the Mercy Dental GPR Program (Canton, OH), Clinical Instructor at the Case School of Dental Medicine (Cleveland, OH), and Visiting Faculty at Spear Education (Scottsdale, AZ). He has also authored several articles in General Dentistry, Dentistry Today, Dental Economics, the online forum Spear Digest on various topics addressing standards of practice and has been a reviewer for General Dentistry. Dr. Huff is a Fellow and a Master in the Academy of General Dentistry from which he has also received the Lifetime Learning and Service Recognition award and has served several positions within the ADA tripartite including serving as president of his local dental society, Peer Review chairman of his local dental society, as well as Alternate Delegate and Delegate at the state level and for the ADA House of Delegates. He also is a Fellow in the International College of Dentists.
Erin A. Kierce, RDH, BA, MS, MPH
Compliance Officer
Erin Kierce is the Director of Quality Assurance for New England Family Dentistry/ Family Orthodontics and Co., and Adjunct Faculty of Graduate Studies at MCPHS University in Boston, MA. After twelve years of practicing dental hygiene, Erin has devoted her career to clinical compliance, safety, and risk management. She has developed, implemented, and maintained compliance and safety systems for multiple dental offices of varying specialties throughout New England, including establishing standards and policies pertaining to regulatory requirements. Erin serves in both dental and medical professions as a published writer and professional speaker. She has presented continuing education courses in the areas of pediatric oral health, chronic disease management, maternal oral and obstetrical health, clinical compliance, documentation and record-keeping, infection control, and quality assurance. She is a member of the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and Alpha Eta and Sigma Phi Alpha Honor Societies.
Master of Public Health Degree, MCPHS University (2015)
Master of Science Degree, MCPHS University (2014)
Post-Baccalaureate Degree in Dental Hygiene, Forsyth School for Dental Hygiene (2004)
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology, Saint Anselm College (2002)
Jacinthe Giroux, DDS
Compliance Officer
Dr. Giroux received a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Montreal and her DDS from McGill University School of Dental Medicine, where she was the recipient of the American Association of Oral Medicine Award. After completing her GPR, she practiced and served as the Chief of the Department of Dental Medicine for a large Native American territory in remote Northern regions. She achieved accreditation as University affiliated teaching centers for the region, facilitating dental residency training and regional recruitment efforts. In a further remote region, she practiced full-time and managed ten clinics, two of them hospital based. She was nominated as President of the Council of the Physicians, Dentist and Pharmacists for the region, working with the Native Council and liaising with the Ministry of Health to obtain development funding for on-site services in both General and Dental Medicine. She was chosen as Delegate for remote regions at the Association of Councils of Physicians, Dentists ad Pharmacists of Quebec. She also represented and was chief negotiator for dentists in remote regions during contractual negotiations with the Ministry of Health. Upon arriving in the USA, Dr. Giroux served as the Director of Risk Management and Communications for the Eastern Dentists Insurance Company, giving several lectures to dental societies, dental schools and at the ADA national meeting. Dr. Giroux has authored many articles on topics related to administrative and clinical issues relating to risk management, clinical and ethical standards. She was nominated to the prestigious American College of Dentists whose mission is to advance excellence, ethics, professionalism and leadership in the profession of Dental Medicine. Dr. Giroux still practices in Eastern Massachusetts.