About Us

Dr. Cummings earned his undergraduate degree at University of California San Diego. He finished both his dental degree and his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Southern California. Following residency training, he completed a fellowship in reconstructive jaw surgery in Santa Barbara, California.

Dr. Cummings is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and has enjoyed serving on the Board of Examiners for the past six years. Passionate about teaching the latest technological advancements in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, he has held a faculty position as Assistant Clinical Professor at the USC Herman Ostrow School of surgery for the past fifteen years.

‍Memberships and Certifications
‍Dr. Cummings is an active member of the California Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. He was the chairman of the Oral & Maxillofacial Assistants Course and currently on the Board of Directors for this dental society.

‍Hospital Privileges
‍Dr. Cummings maintains active hospital privileges and takes Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery call at Mission Hospital and CHOC at Mission in Mission Viejo and Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills. He has also served on the Surgical Executive Committee at Mission hospital.

‍Interests
‍Dr. Cummings’ interests within oral and maxillofacial surgery include dental implants, reconstructive jaw (orthognathic) surgery, facial trauma surgery, jaw pathology, and sleep apnea surgery.

‍Personal
‍He and his wife, Marian, have two children and reside in Orange County. He enjoys spending time with his family. In his spare time he participates in activities such as golf, cycling, and backpacking.

Dr. Balasanian grew up in the greater Los Angeles area. He graduated Cum Laude from California State University at Northridge in 1997 with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry.

Dr. Balasanian earned his dental degree at the UCLA School of Dentistry. He remembers his first time in the operating room during a corrective jaw surgery as the moment he decided that a career in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery would be his profession of choice. He earned the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Award for the UCLA School of Dentistry graduating class of 2001.

Following graduation from Dental school, Dr. Balasanian attended the combined 6-year MD-Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency program at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his medical degree from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine, graduating in 2004. He completed his general surgery internship and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, completing the program in 2007 after serving as chief-resident for the program in his final year.

‍Memberships and Certifications
‍Dr. Balasanian is an active member of the Orange County Dental Society (OCDS). He has been a delegate to California Dental Association (CDA) House of Delegates since 2010 and served on the OCDS Board of Directors from 2012-2020 holding numerous board positions including Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President and served as President in 2019.

He is also an active member of the California Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (CALAOMS). Dr. Balasanian has particular interest in legislation that pertains to healthcare and has made several trips to Sacramento on behalf of the CDA, OCDS and CALAOMS to meet with state legislatures to advocate for the highest of professional standards and public health initiatives. He also serves as a General Anesthesia Examiner on behalf of the California Dental Board conducting examinations of other surgeons and oral and maxillofacial surgeons who are in the process of obtaining their office anesthesia certification.

Dr. Balasanian is a board certified Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and a fellow in the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He is also one of few Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons to be a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

‍Hospital Privileges
‍Dr. Balasanian has held active hospital privileges at Mission Hospital and CHOC Children’s at Mission(CCMH) since 2007. Leadership roles include Mission Hospital Surgery Executive Committee, Chair of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Section for Mission Hospital and CCMH, Member of Blue Ribbon Commission for Mission Hospital, Vice Chair for the Department of Surgery for CCMH and Chair of the Quality Care Committee for CCMH. Dr. Balasanian is currently serving as the Chief of Staff for CCMH Medical Staff for the 2021-2023 term.

‍Interests
‍Dr. Balasanian’s current clinical interests include the full scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with an emphasis on office based anesthesia, wisdom tooth removal, bone graft reconstruction of the jaws, dental implants, orthognathic (corrective jaw surgery), facial trauma surgery, management of maxillofacial infections and surgical management of airway dysfunction (obstructive sleep apnea).Dr. Balasanian has presented at several professional meetings on topics including corrective jaw surgery, drug related osteonecrosis of the jaws, medical emergencies, dental implants and bone grafting for dental implants. He is also a certified CPR instructor for American Heart Association and enjoys teaching CPR to many local surgeons and their staff.

‍Personal
‍Whenever possible, Dr. Balasanian enjoys participating in charitable events and healthcare missions. He has been on surgical mission trips to Mexico and Armenia.Dr. Balasanian lives in South Orange County with his wife and 3 children. He enjoys being outdoors and spending time with family and friends. When his schedule allows for the right amount of training, he participates in endurance events including triathlons and long distance cycling.

Dr. Caputo grew up in Irvine, CA where he graduated from Irvine High School. He moved south to San Diego after high school and went on to earn his undergraduate degree from UCSD in Animal Physiology/Neuroscience. The next three years after graduating were spent performing research as a laboratory assistant at UCSD, where he studied methods to prevent atherosclerosis.

While Dr. Caputo enjoyed the time spent performing clinical research, he felt a change in his career path was needed so that he could make more of an impact by helping people directly. He decided to pursue a career in surgery and moved to Los Angeles and obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) from the University of Southern California in 2005. While at USC, Dr. Caputo was one of a select few students chosen to be part of Dr. Stanley Malamed’s Anesthesia/Sedation team which had a pivotal impact on his decision to pursue further training as an Oral and Maxillofacial surgeon.

Dr. Caputo moved to Oakland, CA where he completed his training through the University of the Pacific School of surgery. During his time in residency, he served as Chief Resident at Highland Hospital/Alameda County Medical Center, the level 1 trauma center in Oakland, CA. He also held the position of Chief Resident at Kaiser Permanente Oakland where the majority of orthognathic surgery is performed in Northern California; and Children’s Hospital Oakland where he trained in pediatric general anesthesia, trauma, and craniofacial surgery.

Memberships and Certifications
‍While in residency Dr. Caputo was awarded the Outstanding Oral Surgery Resident award from the University of the Pacific School of surgery and the Donald Devlin Resident of the Year award from the Sadi Fontaine Academy. Since finishing residency, Dr. Caputo has finished the two-part examination process and is board certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Dr. Caputo is a certified Basic Life Support instructor for the American Heart Association and teaches CPR for many of the surgeons and their staff in Orange County.

Hospital PrivilegesHe maintains active hospital privileges and takes Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery call at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, the major trauma center for South Orange County, Children’s Hospital of Orange County at Mission Hospital, as well as Saddleback Memorial Hospital Laguna Hills.

Interests
‍Dr. Caputo’s clinical interests revolve around dental implant placement, bone grafting of the jaws, wisdom tooth removal, extractions, and delivering safe office based anesthesia.  He also excels at orthognathic corrective jaw surgery and treating facial trauma.

Personal
Dr. Caputo lives in San Juan Capistrano with his wife, three daughters, and son. In his free time, Dr. Caputo enjoys CrossFit, snow skiing, running, and cooking for friends and family.

Dr. Nicholls obtained his undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University and UCLA, graduating from UCLA with a degree in Biology. He attended dental school at the University of California, San Francisco, graduating with honors. Following dental school, Dr. Nicholls received post-doctoral training in oral and maxillofacial surgery at the UCI and Long Beach VA Medical Centers. He subsequently entered private practice in Mission Viejo and has been with the practice for many years as it has grown in size and scope.

Memberships and CertificationsDr. Nicholls is a diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and re-certifies in that specialty every 10 years.

Interests
‍Dr. Nicholls’ interests within oral and maxillofacial surgery include complex tooth removal, dental implant reconstruction, wisdom tooth management, facial trauma management, non-cancer jaw and mouth pathology, reconstructive jaw surgery, and temporo-mandibular joint evaluation and treatment. He is also interested in treating obstructive sleep apnea, when jaw and tongue position are contributing factors, both with non-surgical and surgical options. Additionally, he has expertise with respect to dental implant placement at the time of tooth removal, coupled with immediate temporary dental crown placement.

Personal
‍He and his wife Susan reside in South Orange County, are parents of adult children and have increasing numbers of grandchildren.

Dr. Clark showed his educational brightness early as he finished his high school studies early & started undergraduate studies at UNLV as a senior in high school (He grew up in Las Vegas, NV). Dr. Clark then attended Brigham Young University (BYU) for his undergraduate education where he had an academic scholarship and graduated with a degree in Zoology (BS—2000). During his undergraduate education, Dr. Clark took 2 years off to serve as full-time missionary for the LDS (Mormon) Church in southern Brazil (1995-1997), where he learned the Brazilian culture & to speak Portuguese fluently. Dr. Clark then received his doctorate training (DDS) at one of the nation’s top dental schools:  The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center graduating cum laude in 2005. In dental school, he served in various leadership positions and received awards for being the top of his class. Instead of practicing general surgery, Dr. Clark’s passion for surgery led him to pursue further education to specialize in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Upon completion of his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree in 2005, Dr. Clark was accepted into Loma Linda University’s prestigious program in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.  During his 4-year surgical residency Dr. Clark was trained in multiple surgical and medical disciplines including: internal medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, general surgery, vascular surgery, otolaryngology & head/neck surgery, surgical intensive care (SICU), microsurgery (nerve & vessel reanastamoses), head and neck trauma, maxillofacial infections, benign & malignant oncology, craniofacial surgery (clefts), plastic & reconstructive surgery, TMJ arthroscopic/Holmium laser surgery, distraction osteogenesis (DO), orthognathic surgery, dentoalveolar & dental implant surgery, and facial cosmetic surgery (facelifts, eyelid surgery, Botox, dermal fillers). During his final year at Loma Linda University, Dr. Clark served as chief resident in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Memberships and Certifications
‍Dr. Clark is fellow of the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. Achieving Diplomate status or being “Board Certified” is the highest accomplishment one can receive within the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery specialty. He is also a fellow of the California Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (CALAOMS), American Dental Society of Anesthesiologists (ADSA), American Dental Association (ADA), California Dental Association (CDA) and Orange County Dental Society.

Hospital PrivilegesDr. Clark maintains active hospital privileges and takes Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery call at Mission Hospital and CHOC at Mission in Mission Viejo.

InterestsDr. Clark’s clinical interests include the full scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with an emphasis on office-based anesthesia, wisdom tooth removal, dental implants, bone graft reconstruction of the jaws, orthognathic (corrective jaw surgery).

‍Personal
‍Dr. Clark has two children (Sidney and Weston) and resides in Ladera Ranch. He enjoys spending time with his children, family, and friends. In his spare time, he enjoys baseball games (Go Angels!), attending his children’s sporting events, and traveling to new areas.

Dr. Lee was raised in Orange County and graduated from Mission Viejo High School. After graduating with a degree in Applied Physics from Brigham Young University, he went on to earn his DMD from Roseman University and complete his surgical training at Boston Medical Center in 2022. Now a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dr. Lee brings extensive expertise in orthognathic, dentoalveolar, trauma, TMJ, and reconstructive procedures to the team. Dr. Lee is fluent in Spanish and will provide exceptional care at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center and Providence Mission Hospital, where he will rotate facial trauma call.

When he's not transforming smiles, Dr. Lee enjoys spending time with his wife Jordan, an employment law attorney, and their four children.