Meet Our Doctors

5 Star Orthodontists in Colorado Springs & Woodland Park

* The Difference *

Unlike at high volume corporate dentistry clinics, our orthodontists see each patient at every appointment for a personal touch.

* MEMBERSHIPS *

American Dental Association

Colorado Dental Association

Colorado Springs Dental Society

American Association of Orthodontists

Rocky Mountain Society of Orthodontists and the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association

Meet. Dr. Bentele

“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Care Philosophy

Our philosophy of orthodontics can be summed up by: Art - Smiles are not one size fits all. Orthodontics must be personalized to fit a patient's needs, facial structure and character. Experience - Over 30 years in dentistry. Science - I rely heavily on art and experience but I consider the bedrock of my orthodontic practice to be evidence-based care.

My Background

I grew up in the small north Missouri town of Macon and attended the University of Missouri on a National Merit Scholarship. I gained early acceptance to dental school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and after graduation attended a hospital based General Practice Residency at Offutt Air Force Base. This broadened my experience greatly in medicine, inpatient hospital care, operating room technique, general anesthesia, surgery, IV sedation and all dental specialty areas. This was great preparation for my 20 -year career in the Air Force and a Desert Storm deployment. After 10 years of general dentistry practice, I was selected by the Air Force to receive orthodontic residency training and was accepted to the program at The Ohio State University.
This was a 3-year post-doctoral masters degree program and I published research on assessing patients for orthodontic treatment need. In addition to routine orthodontic treatment, the Ohio State program had an excellent orthognathic surgery program and rotations with the renowned Nationwide Children's Hospital's Center for Complex Craniofacial Disorders. I graduated from Ohio State in 2000 and was posted to the Air Force medical center at RAF Lakenheath in England which included an active cleft palate team and orthognathic surgery team. I also treated patients at US Navy London. Post September 11th, I deployed as the field hospital commander in Qatar during Operation Enduring Freedom. Upon returning to the States, I finished my career in a teaching position as Chief of Orthodontics at the USAF Academy and retired as a Colonel in 2007.
I continue to teach at the postgraduate dental residency programs at USAFA and Ft Carson. I succeeded the finest orthodontist in town, Dr. Bill Shaner, and became the 3rd proprietor of the oldest orthodontic practice in Colorado Springs, continuing a tradition of excellence that started in 1946. In addition to routine orthodontic care, we take great pride in serving Fort Carson collaborating on orthognathic surgery patients for facial malformations, sleep apnea, trauma and degenerative joint diseases. On Thursdays, I serve as the orthodontist for the Cleft Palate Team Children's Hospital Colorado. I am Board Certified by the American Board of Orthodontics. In my free time I like to hunt, fish, ski, putter around on a John Deere and in general enjoy the Colorado outdoors. My oldest son Ben is a botanist for Colorado State, next in line Christof, is in an Occupational Therapist at Penrose Hospital and Tim is an engineer at Colorado School of Mines. My lovely wife Wendy and I live in the peaceful Black Forest.

Thanks for reading.

Meet Dr. Sheila

Welcome dr. sheila to our inner smiles team!

Background

Dr. Sheila now sees patients at our Woodland Park location and will be joining us in the Springs in 2023.
She has over 10 years experience as an orthodontist. Although from California originally, she graduated from the prestigious Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston where she was inducted into Omicron Kappa Upsilon as one of the top students.
She completed her orthodontic residency at Howard University in Washington DC. She adds expertise for our practice in aligner therapy as she graduated from an Invisalign Masters course.
Dr. Sheila has published extensively and presented at the national and international level.