Meet Dr. Amir Davoody, Houston Orthodontist

Dr. Amir Davoody is a board-certified orthodontist and one of the three specialists at Greater Houston Orthodontics, caring for patients across our West University and Memorial offices. A Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and an active member of the prestigious Angle Society of Orthodontists, Dr. Davoody brings research-level expertise and a patient-first approach to every smile he helps create. Few orthodontists in Houston hold the combination of credentials, published research, and peer recognition that he has earned over his career.

Education and Training

• Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) — University of Maryland School of Dentistry
• Certificate in Orthodontics — University of Connecticut
• Master of Dental Science (MS) — University of Connecticut

Dr. Davoody earned his dental degree at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, where he graduated with several academic honors, and then completed both his orthodontic specialty training and a Master of Dental Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Orthodontics is a recognized dental specialty that requires two to three years of full-time training beyond dental school, and Dr. Davoody pursued the research-focused path, pairing his clinical certificate with a graduate research degree. He has stayed closely connected to academic orthodontics ever since. As a part-time faculty member in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Craniofacial Sciences (the academic division that studies the development of the face, jaws, and teeth), he has helped train the next generation of orthodontists, and he continues to attend clinical meetings nationally and internationally to keep his techniques at the leading edge of the specialty.

What Board Certification Means

Dr. Davoody is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO), the highest voluntary credential in the specialty. The ABO was founded in 1929 as the first and oldest specialty board in dentistry. It was created to raise the standards of orthodontic practice and to protect the public from unqualified providers. Earning Diplomate status is demanding: an orthodontist must pass a rigorous series of written and clinical examinations, a process that can take several years to complete, and must then recertify periodically to maintain it. Because board certification is entirely voluntary, only about half of practicing orthodontists earn it. Dr. Davoody’s certification reflects a deliberate, ongoing commitment to excellence in patient care.

The Angle Society of Orthodontists

Beyond board certification, Dr. Davoody holds a distinction that very few orthodontists anywhere can claim: full membership in the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists. Named for the physician widely regarded as the father of modern orthodontics, the Angle Society is an invitation-only honor society that grew out of an alumni organization first formed in 1922. (The respected *Angle Orthodontist* journal was established by the society in 1930 and remains one of the field’s leading scientific publications.) Membership cannot be applied for. An orthodontist is invited only after demonstrating sustained academic and clinical excellence and, in most cases, a university teaching affiliation. To attain full membership, a candidate must complete and present publication-quality original research and submit a series of exceptional clinical case reports for peer review. Dr. Davoody met that bar, earning full membership after just two years, on the strength of his award-winning research comparing two methods of controlling tooth movement and a set of published case reports, alongside his teaching work at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The society includes more than 660 members worldwide, only about five percent of North American orthodontists, and Dr. Davoody is one of only a small handful in the entire Houston area. It is among the most selective recognitions in all of orthodontics. For patients, that distinction is more than a line on a wall. It means the orthodontist planning your treatment has been vetted by his peers at the highest academic level of the specialty and holds himself to the standards of a society built around research, teaching, and clinical excellence.

Research and Recognition

Dr. Davoody’s clinical judgment is grounded in research. In 2011, the American Association of Orthodontists awarded him the Thomas M. Graber Award of Special Merit for his work on temporary anchorage devices, often called TADs: tiny anchors that give an orthodontist precise, stable control when moving teeth in difficult cases. His studies have appeared in leading peer-reviewed journals, and his areas of focus, from anchorage control to the treatment of rare craniofacial conditions, reflect a career spent at the more challenging end of the specialty. For patients and colleagues who value evidence-based training, a selection of his published, peer-reviewed work includes:

• “A comparative anchorage control study between conventional and self-ligating bracket systems using differential moments,” *Angle Orthodontist* (2013)
• “A prospective comparative study between differential moments and mini-screws in anchorage control,” *European Journal of Orthodontics* (2012)
• “Orthodontic treatment of a transposed gigantic canine: a case report,” *Journal of Orthodontics* (2011)
• “Mandibular molar protraction with the Twin Force Bite Corrector in a Class II patient,” *Journal of Clinical Orthodontics* (2011)

He has also completed Mastering the Business of Orthodontics, a selective program created jointly by the American Association of Orthodontists and the Wharton School of Business, consistently ranked among the top business schools in the country. The training deepened his expertise in leadership, practice management, and strategic growth, and he applies those insights to the parts of running a practice that patients feel most directly: smoother scheduling, clearer communication, and a team organized so that more time and attention stay where they matter most, with patients in the chair.

Honors and Awards

• Thomas M. Graber Award of Special Merit, American Association of Orthodontists (2011)
• Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, University of Maryland (2007)
• Pierre Fauchard Academy Scholarship Award, University of Maryland (2006)
• Charles Hennesey Scholarship, University of Maryland (2005 to 2007)
• Gorgas Odontological Honorary Society, University of Maryland (2005 to 2007)