Dr. Lafferty was raised in a tiny Utah village before moving to Los Angeles, California, to work as a set builder after graduating high school. He then decided to relocate his little family to Portland, Oregon, following years of employment in the film industry. A close friend encouraged him to pursue dentistry while he was there, so he decided to return to school to study dentistry. He graduated in 2014 with a bachelor's degree from Portland State University and a DMD from OHSU (Oregon).
After earning a biology degree from UNM in 2016, Dr. Martinez enrolled at the University of Utah School of Dentistry, where he eventually graduated in 2020. After attending dentistry school, he returned to his hometown of Mora, New Mexico, where he spent three years working at a public health clinic. To advance his dentistry expertise, he just relocated to Albuquerque. The chance to help others realize their lifelong dreams of having the smile of their dreams is one of the factors that drew him to the dental field.