Our Faculty

Dr. Carl Hillendahl graduated from UCLA in 1979 with a DDS and continued at UCLA Hospital and Clinics in a General Practice Residency Program. After the GPR program, Dr. Hillendahl practiced in the Greater Los Angeles area before moving to El Dorado County in 1982 where he maintains a private practice in Placerville.

As an advocate of staff education, he supported one of his own clinical staff through the original RDAEF program in 1996 and the EF2 in 2010. Observing the benefits of EF utilization in his practice, Dr. Hillendahl joined the FADE Institute to help promote progressive education of RDAs and RDAEFs.

Dr. Hillendahl is active within the dental community, currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento District Dental Society. In his spare time, you will find Dr. Hillendahl riding road bikes, fly fishing or skiing.

Dr. Kelly Giannetti is a private practice orthodontist in the Sacramento area. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Giannetti is very involved in organized dentistry through leadership roles in her local and state professional associations, including volunteer positions with the California Orthodontic Association and the Sacramento District Dental Society. She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Orthodontics and a visiting faculty member at UC San Francisco School of Dentistry where she teaches in the post-doctoral orthodontic program.

When she is not busy creating healthy smiles, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and her dogs.

Judith has worked in the dental industry for over 20 years with education being her passion. She has been a RDA since 1987 and has worked in private practice as well as education. Judith was an educator at Reedley College for 11 years and Program Director for the Dental Assisting Department. Her focus as an instructor was radiology and infection control as well as teaching many other topics. Judith enjoys working closely with the dental community and providing dental assistants with outstanding skills to work with their team. She has long-been involved with her professional organization including serving as a Past-President of the California Dental Assistants Association.

Ms. Rejoice “Joy” Brack is originally from Ft. Collins, Colorado and was raised in Modesto, where she graduated from Downey High School.  She then entered into the local private college for her education and graduated in 2004 and passed her licensure examinations for Registered Dental Assisting.  Joy worked clinically as a RDA for 14 years before joining the faculty of Kaplan College and then served as the Program Director for Brightwood College from 2013 – 2018.

Joy is married to a Cal-fire firefighter and, with their son, live on an olive tree orchard of more than 90 trees surrounding their family home. Joy comes from a large family of 11 children, eight of which were adopted by her loving parents.  She enjoys spending her free time out on the lake in the family boat, to hike, ride quads on their orchard property and travel with her family.

Born and raised in Northern California, Eric Spain has worked in clinical dentistry for 15 years. Eric completed his dental assisting education through Butte County ROP before working to complete and pass his state boards as an RDA. Eric continues to work clinically as an orthodontic specialist for Kids Care Dental and Orthodontics and is currently a lead instructor for the Orthodontic Assistant Permit program at the FADE Institute.

Jenny graduated from 49er ROP located in Placer County in 2003 and she earned her RDA license shortly thereafter.  For 10 years, she practiced as a RDA in general practice. Her passion for dentistry evolved into serving as an educator in 2014, when she was presented with the opportunity to give back to her community by serving as Program director and faculty member for Dental Careers at CTE Works in Placer County – a role she still currently enjoys.

In 2016, Jenny was recognized as a Leading Edge Educator, receiving certification for Online and Blended Course Instruction while continuing on her own educational pathway with both UC San Diego and Brandman University.  Most recently she has earned her CTE Teaching Credential in Health Science and Medical Technology from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Ms. Gina Macias has been an educator and advocate for dental assisting since 2009.  She began her dental assisting career in 1995 when she earned her RDA, her CDA from the Dental Assisting National Board, and her original RDAEF from UCSF.  In 2017, she advanced her licensure and obtained her RDAEF2 from the FADE Institute.  Ms. Macias holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and believes in lifelong learning for dental professionals.

When she is not teaching, Gina enjoys spending time with her family and watching her daughter play travel softball.

Ms. Teresa Lua has been a clinical assistant for over 20 years with our Program Director, Dr. Carl Hillendahl.  Teresa’s desire to pursue teaching brought her to the Institute nearly two years ago.  Her expertise in surgical assisting, implants, CAD-milled restorations and esthetic dentistry make her a terrific resource for our EF students.  Currently, Teresa is focused on specialty training modules, including certification in Interim Therapeutic Restoration (ITR), and is focused on assembling a team of examiners for objective evaluation of our EF students in preparation of their Board examinations.

Teresa has served on the Dental Assisting Council of the Dental Board as well as numerous councils and committees for Sacramento District Dental Society.  She is an avid rock climber, jogger and bicyclist and is often posting pictures from the summit of many of her climbing adventures.

Laurel graduated from the College of Marin Dental Assisting Program in 1995 with her Associate of Science degree and earned her RDA license shortly thereafter.  In 2011, she returned to school earning her Orthodontic Assistant Permit (OAP).  Laurel currently works full-time as a clinical assistant in an orthodontic practice and an OAP instructor at The FADE Institute on select weekends. She brings her 20 plus years of dental knowledge, experience and expertise in Orthodontics to share with her students.

Ms. Kristie Miser has earned her reputation as a reliable and successful dental healthcare provider for over 25 years. Kristie completed her education at Sacramento City College and obtained her RDA license in 1995, followed by her Orthodontic Assistant Permit in 2017. Although she has enjoyed a wide-array of clinical experience, her expertise lies in pediatrics and orthodontics. As a member of our Student Services department, Kristie helps guide those seeking a career in dental assisting through formal education by advising and sharing her clinical knowledge to all those who need to understand pathways to the RDA.

As a mother of two young adults, Kristie relishes the time spent with her family and holds dear the importance of that bond.  When time permits, she is engaged in any number of outdoor activities and takes every opportunity to enjoy time under the sun, be it while paddle boarding, hiking or just traveling to new-found places.