Dr. Jennifer Luca, DMD, MS

Dr. Jenn created Lasting Roots Pediatric Dentistry to build the kind of dental home she wanted for families: one where children are treated with patience and kindness, parents feel heard, and prevention comes first.

Her approach is simple: every child is different, and their dental care should be, too. Whether it is a baby's first tooth, a nervous toddler's first visit, or a teenager learning to take ownership of their oral health, Dr. Jenn takes the time to meet children where they are and help them feel comfortable and confident.

Why Lasting Roots

For Dr. Jenn, Lasting Roots is about more than opening a dental office. It is an opportunity to rethink what pediatric dental care can look like.

As both a pediatric dentist and a mom, she understands how important it is for parents to have a provider they can trust. She believes families deserve thoughtful recommendations, clear explanations, and care that considers the whole child, not just their teeth.

That philosophy is also why prevention is at the heart of Lasting Roots. Dr. Jenn wants to help families establish healthy habits early, prevent dental disease whenever possible, and give children the foundation for a lifetime of healthy smiles.

And because healthy children depend on healthy communities and a healthy planet, sustainability is intentionally woven into the practice. Lasting Roots was designed to provide exceptional pediatric dental care while making thoughtful choices about waste, materials, travel, and the environmental impact of healthcare.

What families can expect

Visits with Dr. Jenn are never one-size-fits-all. Some children jump right into the dental chair. Others need a little more time, explanation, distraction, or encouragement, and that is okay.

She focuses on creating positive experiences and building trust over time. She wants children to understand what is happening, parents to feel comfortable asking questions, and families to leave feeling confident about the next step.

Most importantly, she wants kids to grow up seeing the dentist as someone who is on their team.

Training

Dr. Jenn's training took her through four institutions, and each one shaped a different part of how she practices.

• Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan, 2016
• Doctor of Dental Medicine, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 2021
• Master of Science, The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, 2023
• Certificate in Pediatric Dentistry, Nationwide Children's Hospital Pediatric Dental Residency, 2023

Her pediatric residency at Nationwide Children's Hospital, through The Ohio State University, was hospital-based. That matters in practice: it means her training included children who are medically complex, children with special health care needs, and dental trauma, not only routine care for children who find the dentist easy. She is a board-certified pediatric dentist. Her master's thesis, Environmental Burden of Pediatric Dentistry, studied the environmental cost of the care she was learning to deliver.

West Michigan is familiar ground. Her undergraduate degree in biomedical science is from Grand Valley State University in Allendale, a short drive from Hudsonville.

Teaching

Dr. Jenn remains attending faculty at Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, where she supervises pediatric dental residents in clinic and completes operative cases in the operating room. Teaching keeps a clinician honest. You cannot supervise residents without being able to explain why you do what you do, and without keeping up with what the evidence currently supports.

Her passion for education extends beyond the dental office. She is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of My Dental Key (opens in a new tab), an online dental education platform designed to make high-quality dental education approachable and accessible to students and dental professionals. She also serves on the admissions committee at Harvard School of Dental Medicine and reviews for the Journal of Dental Education.

Sustainable dentistry

This is the thread running through Dr. Jenn's career outside the clinic, and it is the reason Lasting Roots Pediatric Dentistry looks and works the way it does.

Her interest in sustainability began during her training at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where she helped co-found the school's Sustainability Committee. During her pediatric dentistry training at Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University, she continued that work by founding a multidisciplinary Green Team focused on making healthcare more sustainable.

• Co-founded the Sustainability Committee at Harvard School of Dental Medicine
• Created and led the Green Team at Nationwide Children's Hospital during her residency through The Ohio State University
• Volunteers with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and facilitates its Sustainable Dentistry course for dentists internationally
• Chairs the American Dental Education Association’s Special Interest Group on Sustainability in Dentistry
• Has presented nationally on sustainable dentistry at the AAPD Annual Session, ADEA, the ASDA National Conference, and ADA SmileCon

Her work has since grown beyond the clinic. She has published research examining the environmental impact of treating early childhood cavities, finding that patients' travel to appointments and the use of nitrous oxide had the greatest impact, and has written and taught nationally about sustainability in dentistry.

That work helped shape one of the ideas behind Lasting Roots: the most sustainable dental treatment is often the treatment a child never needs. Preventing cavities means healthier kids, fewer procedures, and less of the travel, materials, and resources that come with treating dental disease. Prevention is both the better clinical answer and the better environmental one.

Speaking

Selected national presentations.

• ADA SmileCon, 2025. Practicing Sustainable Dentistry: How Going Green Benefits Your Practice
• ADEA Annual Conference, 2025. Environmental Sustainability in Dental Education: Empowering Students to Help Create a Better Future for Tomorrow
• AAPD Annual Session, 2023. Sustainable Pediatric Dentistry: How Can Your Practice Reduce Environmental Impact?
• ASDA National Conference, 2022. Sustainability in Dentistry
• AAPD Annual Session, 2022. Managing the Carbon Footprint of Pediatric Patients: An Environmentally Friendly Approach to Oral Health Care
• ADA CE Online. Sustainable Dentistry (continuing education course)

Publications

Published articles, in the order they appear in her CV. Work before 2023 appears under the name Jennifer Lee.

1. Estimated Carbon Emissions Associated With Dental Treatment for Early Childhood Caries (opens in a new tab)Pediatric Dentistry, 2024
2. Triazolam for Pediatric Dental Sedation: A Retrospective Evaluation of Safety and Changes in Visit Behavior (opens in a new tab)Pediatric Dentistry, 2024
3. Building a better tomorrow: integrating a sustainable mindset into pediatric dentistry (opens in a new tab)Pediatric Dentistry Today, 2023
4. Envisioning a sustainable future for pediatric dentistry (opens in a new tab)Pediatric Dentistry Today, 2023
5. My View: Sustainable dentistry (opens in a new tab)ADA News, 2022
6. Huế dental students’ use and perception of an online dental learning platform: A pilot study (opens in a new tab)Journal of Dental Education
7. US students’ perceptions on environmental sustainability in dental school (opens in a new tab)Journal of Dental Education, 2022
8. Crossing the Innovation Chasm: Identifying Facilitators and Barriers to Early Adoption of the Global Health Starter Kit Curriculum (opens in a new tab)Annals of Global Health
9. Exploring environmental sustainability in UK and US dental curricula and related barriers and enablers: a cross-sectional survey in two dental schools (opens in a new tab)British Dental Journal, 2021
10. Students’ perceptions on dental education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (opens in a new tab)Journal of Dental Education
11. Piloting an online, dental education platform to supplement students’ operative learning (opens in a new tab)Journal of Dental Education
12. How US dental schools can better prepare their students to perform operative procedures (opens in a new tab)Journal of Dental Education
13. A Call-To-Action: Addressing the Technological Gap in Predoctoral Dental Education (opens in a new tab)Harvard Medical Student Review

Honors

• AAPD Resident Recognition Award, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 2023
• Third place, AAPD Research Poster Competition, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, 2023
• First place, Resident Poster Competition, Ohio Dental Association Annual Session, 2022
• Pierre Fauchard Academy Senior Student Award, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 2021
• ASDA Award of Excellence, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 2021
• President's Innovation Challenge Winner, Harvard Innovation Labs, 2021
• ADEA/GlaxoSmithKline Preventive Dentistry Scholarship, American Dental Education Association, 2020

Clinical experience

• Pediatric Dentist, Smile Dental Partners, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2024 to present
• Pediatric Dentist, Atlanta Pediatric Dental Specialists and Peak Pediatric Dentistry, Atlanta area, Georgia, 2023 to 2024
• Pediatric Dental Resident, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, 2021 to 2023

How she practices

Three ideas shape the care at Lasting Roots Pediatric Dentistry. They guide every decision Dr. Jenn makes and shape the care she recommends for a child.

• Personalize. Care shaped around each child's development, personality, comfort, clinical needs, and the family's circumstances.
• Prevent. Healthy habits started early keep small problems small. Prevention is the center of how Dr. Jenn cares for children.
• Preserve. Minimally invasive, tooth-preserving treatment wherever it is clinically appropriate for the child.

Her professional interests include preventive pediatric dentistry, minimally invasive dentistry, sustainable healthcare, dental education, and finding practical ways to make high-quality dental care better for both patients and the planet.

The practice's mission: To partner with children and their families to build lifelong oral and overall health habits through compassionate, evidence-based, and sustainable pediatric dental care in a safe, inclusive environment.

Why Hudsonville

Lasting Roots Pediatric Dentistry is opening in southern Hudsonville, just off I-96, in a growing part of Ottawa County with one of the fastest-growing school districts in Michigan. It is a community of young families, and it is where Dr. Jenn wanted to build a practice she would be happy taking her own family to.

Opening Lasting Roots in West Michigan gives her the opportunity to combine the things she cares about most: children, families, community, and creating something meaningful close to home.

Outside the office

When she is not at Lasting Roots, Dr. Jenn loves spending time with her family and being outdoors. You will often find her out for a walk or bike ride, or training for her next triathlon. When she is ready to slow things down, she loves getting lost in a good book, preferably with a fun-flavored latte in hand.

She cannot wait to welcome your family to Lasting Roots and watch your child, and their smile, grow.