Orthodontist– Cumming, GA

Why Did You Want to Become an Orthodontist?

Dr. Podray-Donovan spent her childhood years in South Florida, where her dad (now retired) practiced as an orthodontist. As a teen, she enjoyed helping out at the dental office when she wasn’t in school, doing tasks like sterilization, lab work, and even assisting directly with patients. Before she knew it, she had fallen in love with the orthodontic field and the amazing transformations it created. Once she’d graduated from dental school, she practiced as a family-focused dentist for a year, but it just never seemed quite right. While she liked being able to provide patients with a wide variety of different services, her heart was still settled on going down the same career path as her dad. Today, not only is she an accomplished orthodontist but so is her brother – both of them didn’t fall far from the tree!

Where Did You Study Orthodontics?

After completing her undergraduate degree in biology (with a minor in physiology) through Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Podray-Donovan achieved her dental doctorate at Temple University. Later on, she attended the same school for her Orthodontic Certification and Master’s in Biomedical Science. Today, she enjoys staying very involved in the Georgia Society of Orthodontics and serves as the Vice President of the Georgia Association of Orthodontists; other memberships include the Southern Association of Orthodontists and American Association of Orthodontists. She is additionally an elite Damon provider and an Inbrace Innovator – she actually was the first dentist to bring the smart wire inbrace lingual technology to Georgia! Today, she regularly teaches this esthetic braces technique to other orthodontists.

Outside of the Dental Office, What Do You Like to Do?

Dr. Podray-Donovan is happy to live in North Georgia with her husband John and their sons Zach and Kyle. When she isn’t helping her young patients smile brighter, you can usually find her doing various activities with the boys like biking, swimming, fishing, hiking, or even playing basketball. They also spend a lot of time tending to their wonderful backyard chickens. As for personal interests, she’s a BIG Disney fanatic! She loves talking to kids about their trips to visit Mickey and all the fun stuff they did at the various theme parks.