Our Team

Gary Hockly

CEO

Dental technician, Gary Hockly, our founder and CEO, started Ivodent in 1998, supplying specialist products to the dental industry. Recognising a need for a broader range of quality oral health products inspired him to start supplying pharmacies and retailers, through the oral care division, Ivohealth. Gary has been in the industry for over 25 years and is a qualified dental technician, and is a natural marketer and entrepreneur. He believes his business must at all times add value to dentistry and to overall oral health. He likes to spend downtime running or in his canoe and likes to relax while gardening.

Dr Stephne Fenwick

Clinical Specialist

Dr. Stephne Fenwick is Ivodent’s clinical specialist. She travels extensively all over SA providing support and training for dentists on clinical issues and also focuses on in-house training and upskilling staff. As a clinical specialist and qualified dentist with postgraduate diplomas in Aesthetics and Orthodontics, she is a huge asset to the company. She is a perfectionist and strong, level-headed go getter.

Carlene Cross

Finance and HR Manager

Carlene started working at Ivodent in December 2014. She started out assisting the finance department and quickly worked her way up to Finance Manager and now also wears the company’s HR cap. Her diligence committed and attention to detail are her key strengths. She is a member of the Spartan Harries Running club and since starting running in September 2017, has not looked back. Her life motto is “Family forever. For always! No matter what.”

Dirna Grobbelaar

Oral Hygienist

Dirna Grobbelaar, Ivohealth’s Oral Hygiene Advisor, has over two decades of experience in oral hygiene. She is passionate about helping people take better care of their mouths. She shares expert oral care advice on our website and social media platforms. She has been interviewed on radio and television numerous times.  
 Dirna uses the latest EMS Guided Biofilm Therapy® at her practice at Intercare in Durbanville, Cape Town. And as one of South Africa’s leading Swiss Dental Academy accredited trainers, Dirna has taught hundreds of dental professionals about Guided Biofilm Therapy, an innovative new approach to professional oral hygiene. 

Werner Swanepoel

Technical Advisor

Werner Swanepoel is a technical advisor for Ivodent – instructing clinicians and technicians on the proper application of Ivoclar Vivadent products. His main role is in Digital Dentistry, CADCAM technology installation, demonstration and hands-on training. He has a degree in Dental Technology Pretoria, 2001 and brings international experience to the mix, having worked and lived in the UK for nine years, where he was involved in managing the Implant department at Walton Dental Arts, running his own laboratory. He is a real peoples person, gregarious and fun-loving who loves to make people laugh.

Thys Viljoen

Technical Advisor

Thys Viljoen joined Ivodent in 2014 as technical advisor for laboratories in the Western Cape. He qualified as a dental technician in 1996 at CPUT. His 14 years’ experience as a crown and bridge technician in various laboratories, adds huge value to the Ivodent team. In his spare time he loves to hit the wide open spaces and camp and fish!

Kayleigh Swart

Dental Therapist

Kayleigh graduated as a Dental Therapist in 2013 at UKZN and has accumulated vast experience working in different aspects of the dental practice. Originally from Durban, she moved to Cape Town in 2016 for a change of pace and scenery. She joined Ivodent in 2020 and works on many clinical aspects in the business, but is mainly focused on using her expertise for the development of a practice management software she is helping to introduce to South Africa.

Madelein Jansen

Sales Representative

Madelein Jansen is Jozi born and raised, but since arriving in the Western Cape 13 years ago, she calls Cape Town her home. She started with Ivodent in 2007 and boasts over 20 years in the industry. She has diplomas in the Healthcare Industry, Anatomy, Pathology, Physiology, all of the body systems and General Pharmacology, but focuses on dentistry, as Ivodent’s dental representative in the Cape region.

Louis Hidalgo

Sales Representative

Louis Hidalgo is a sales representative for Ivodent and has been with the company for the past 12 years. His beat is dentists and laboratories in the Gauteng region. He is well skilled at dealing with people and goes above and beyond to give them the best possible service. In his spare time he enjoys reading, listening to music, stamp collecting and power walking.

Esda Scheepers

Clinical & oral care sales

Esda brings 12 years of experience as an Oral Hygienist to team Ivodent. She works in the Gauteng region as an oral care and clinical advisor and representative. She is a qualified Swiss Dental Academy trainer.

Charmaine Pienaar

Sales representative

Charmaine joined Ivodent in October 2018, bringing 19 years’ experience in the Dental industry to the table. She loves being a trusted resource for her customers and really enjoys sharing in their successes. She feels she adds value by creating sustainable partnerships between Ivodent and customers. Her optimism and willingness to help and support anyone facing on-the-job challenges is a huge asset to the company. Behaving with uncompromised integrity has always been the cornerstone of her work ethic and this underpins her passion for people. When not working, she loves to scuba dive and watch rugby. She also enjoys live music shows. Her motto: “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.”

Rika Olivier

Oral care and clinical general field sales

Rika, a professional sales representative, has been with Ivodent for three years and is one of the group’s top performers covering the Eastern Cape and part of the Western Cape Karoo area. She handles oral health retail as well as clinical (dentistry) and technical (labs). The real-deal people-person, she loves her job and really believes in and enjoys selling the full Ivodent range of products – confident that their quality is top class! Jeffrey’s Bay is her home and before she worked for Ivodent, she was a dental assistant for Jeffrey’s Bay Dental Studio. In her spare time she normally spends time outdoors hiking and walking.

Yollanda Shaw

Customer Service Consultant

Yollanda Shaw is the Cape Town Customer Service and Sales Consultant for Ivodent. Born and raised in Cape Town, she is an integral member of a dynamic sales team and us an easy-going and authentic people’s person. She loves being outdoors and is always up for a run or a session at the gym. She treasures time with her family and friends, chilling and watching a good movie. Her motto in life is “love or laugh, be happy and grateful.”

Melissa Wessels

Customer Service Consultant

Melissa Wessels has been part of the Ivodent family for 13 years, having started with the company in 2005. She is the Gauteng customer service and sales consultant and a very good at her job. She loves tackling problems head-on and is always willing to go the extra mile and lend a helping hand. She enjoys what she does and says each day is different, so it’s always exciting. Her hobbies are baking and cooking and she is always keen to try new recipes. We at Ivodent say she is a huge asset and has helped shape the company to what it is today.

Taryn Doovey

Customer Service Consultant

Taryn is a customer Service and Sales Consultant for the Pretoria and Namibian region. She joined the Ivodent team in 2010 and brings a bubbly, loud and fun personality to the team. She always goes out of her way to assist not only her own clients, but also the rest of the team’s clients. Taryn is a real go-getter and no problem is too big for her. She gives her all in everything and will not rest until all issues are sorted. She has built very strong relationships with her clients and they all appreciate her caring and friendly personality. To relax, Taryn enjoys playing competitive softball which she has been doing since the age of five. Her motto is “Live today as if it’s your last as tomorrow isn’t promised.”

Tracy van Diemen

Customer Service Consultant

Tracy van Diemen is one of Ivodent’s customer service and sales consultants and she focuses on the KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Botswana regions. Born and raised in Cape Town, she has been with the company since 2011. She has a very friendly and caring personality and goes out of her way to help clients wherever she can. She is loyal and always gives 100% when she works. She clearly loves what she does too. To unwind, Tracy likes being outdoors, spending time with family and friends relaxing and socialising. Her motto is YOLO – You Only Live Once, so make the most of it NOW.

Tesley Abrahams

Customer service (Retail)

Tesley has been part of the Ivodent family for over seven years. Her key responsibilities are to receive and process orders from retail stores across South Africa. She’s a team player and very goal orientated. She prides herself on always working hard to ensure she deals with her clients in an effective, efficient and professional manner. Her passions are outdoor running, hiking and swimming. Her motto is “The way I treat myself sets the standard for others.”

Stefanie Smuts

Digital Marketing Manager

Stefanie joined Ivodent early 2018 as a digital marketing assistant, shortly after completing a post grad programme through UCT in digital marketing. In 2019 she took a few Ivohealth oral care brands under her belt and has thus been able to use her qualifications from a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Marketing Management at IMM in Stellenbosch. She has dived into the challenge with great gusto and has quickly become a valuable asset to the marketing team. She loves the experience of looking after a brand and helping to make an impact and direct the processes and strategy. When not hard at work , she loves to be outdoors and doing something active or spending time with friends and family.

Patty Barthies

Customer Service Consultant - Africa

Patty joined the Ivodent team in January 2010 working as a Customer Service Consultant. In 2016 she moved to managing the warehouse. This is a hugely important task of ensuring that all the orders for Ivodent’s customers are dispatched in time. Her temperament is perfect for the job. She is calm under pressure and her caring nature an asset. She gets along with everyone. She is always willing to go the extra mile and is solution driven. To relax, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her family. The words she lives by are “treat others the way you want to be treated.”

Jonathan Zinga

Stock assistant

Jonathan has been part of the stock control team at Ivodent since 2012. As stock assistant, his job entails receiving and packing, right through to dispatch. He’s willing to do any task asked of him, so at Ivodent he thrives, where no day is ever the same and flexibility is key. He loves working as a team and strives every day to do his best for the company. To relax, he loves watching and playing football and basketball and recently developed an interest in golf. His motto is “Not all closed doors are locked doors.”

Peter Chiwaya

Logistics Specialist

Logistics specialist, Peter Chiwaya has worked for Ivodent since 2008. Part of the warehouse team, he is in charge of picking, packing and dispatch of products. In his spare-time he enjoys playing social football.

Gcobani Mabhengu

Logistics assistant

Gcobani has been part of the Ivodent team since 2017 as warehouse logistics assistant. His key responsibilities are to ensure the correct and timeous delivery of all products leaving the warehouse. Out of hours he enjoys soccer, both spectator and player.

Masakhe Nconywa

Stock assistant

Masakhe has been warehouse stock assistant at Ivodent since early 2018 and assists in the picking, packing and dispatch of all consignments. In his spare-time he plays soccer and cricket and enjoys listening to the radio to relax. His motto is: “If you can, I can.”

Danny Daniels

RTT in-house dispatch co-ordinator

Danny has been part of the Ivodent family for the past five years (started in 2015). He thrives with new challenges which he says he faces every day and loves working with the team to help solve any issues and improve systems constantly. To relax, he likes to explore the beautiful Table Mountain and its surroundings. His life motto is to never give up and always accept a challenge.

Bernadine Julius

Warehouse Manager

Bernadine is an integral part of the team having worked for Ivodent for over 10 years. She works quietly and consistently and has a high focused attention to detail while being incredibly efficient at the same time! She hails from Namibia and still has family there, who she loves to visit as often as she can. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with her close friends and she loves cooking and exploring new restaurants in and around Cape Town.

Henry Chiwaya

Merchandiser

Henry is an important cog in the Ivodent wheel. He joined Ivodent in 2001 as warehouse manager and in 2016 became merchandiser and sales representative. He is responsible for all in-store merchandising in retail stores across the Western Province. When not at work, he enjoys body building and physical training. He lives by the motto: “Do not let the shadows of yesterday spoil the sunshine of tomorrow.”