Our Team

Dr. Kenneth Glass, DDS

Received his dental degree from Northwestern University Dental School (1990). With over 19 years in private practice, Dr. Glass’s private practice in Northern California focused on providing the highest level of cosmetic and reconstructive care. For nine of those years he worked closely with Chiropractic and Osteopathic mentors to integrate structural alignment into the field of dentistry. Dr Glass’ continuing interest and studies in Holistic and Integrative concepts are a welcome addition to Medicine Wheel Dental. Dr. Glass is well known by his patients for strong communication skills, enthusiasm, and sense of humor with a compassionate and caring approach while consistently achieving excellent dental results.

Ari Swidler

Office Manager, Ari’s experience as a supervisor for a fortune 500 company where he trained and managed groups of up to 60 employees provides a strong knowledgebase for management, teamwork, and customer service. You will LOVE working with him as we do.

Rachel Valdez

Certified Dental Assistant, X-ray certified. In 1997 Rachel interned with Medicine Wheel Dental and never left. We are all blessed to have her as her technical skills are only overshadowed by her heart and caring.

Christine Ochoa

Certified Dental Assistant, X-ray certified with a background as a Lab Technician and over 30 years of dental assisting experience. Christine has worked with many skilled, highly respected dentists and has chosen our office to expand her knowledge base in holistic approaches.

Tamyia Benavidez

Certified Dental Assistant, X-ray certified, Lab Technician Tamyia received her CDA and X-ray Certifications from Pima Community College in 1999. She has been in the dental field for ten years and has assisted in numerous areas of the dental field from pediatrics to oral surgery. In those ten years she has spent six working in an orthodontic dental laboratory, where she learned and became proficient in making and adjusting all dental appliances from splints to dentures. Tamyia genuinely cares about her patient’s well being, and is willing to go above and beyond all expectations in making your experience extraordinary.

Veronica Tafoya, RDH

Registered Dental Hygienist, graduated from Pima Community College in 2007. Veronica is x-ray certified and has her Local Anesthesia License. She has provided effective care for a variety of people including: pediatrics, patients with special needs and those with extreme fears and phobias of dental visits. Veronica is very excited about expanding her knowledge base by joining our holistic team. Veronica’s patients often describe her as very gentle, patient, caring, and always does what she can to ensure that everyone in her chair feels comfortable.

Veronica is dedicated to educating people of all ages and stages of life about the correlation between oral health and overall wellness. She volunteers for Hopefest, the Greyline program, Care Fair, Give Kids a Smile, and enjoys reaching out where she can to help others.

Elise Krause, RDH

Registered Dental Hygienist, graduated with honors from Pima Community College in 2002. Dee is x-ray certified and has her Local Anesthesia license. She has practiced dental hygiene in Tucson for over 8 years where she has become very efficient, educated, & highly effective in providing thorough cleanings, achieving and maintaining an optimal level of oral/overall health. Dee’s expansion on her already strong dental knowledge into Holistic approaches has made her a valuable asset to the Medicine Wheel team and to the patients she treats. Dee volunteers at both St. Elizabeth’s of Hungary Clinic, and Davis Monthan Airforce Base. In addition to dental hygiene Dee enjoys spending quality time with her husband and 4 boys in the great outdoors.

Mercedez Lucke, LMT

A graduate of Apollo College Tucson, AZ in 2007, Mercedes Lucke offers a full scope of “hands on” manual medicine techniques. After establishing herself in the traditional massage world, Mercedes elected to expand her services, and become educated on the understanding of the fascial system and “body unwinding” through Cranial Sacral techniques with Dr. Maureen Schueer & Dr. Swidler. Utilizing her well rounded scope of therapies, Mercedez continued her training by working with Dr. Swidler’s invention, the Percussion Table. Mercedez has become quite effective with sustained body release. Dr. Swidler says, “Mercedez is a very intuitive practitioner and does a great job at connecting the dots when it comes to structural alignment”. As Mercedez continues to expand her collective knowledge, she has established herself as a valuable member to the Holistic Integrative team at Medicine Wheel Dental.