Dentistry
Maria Wood, DDS, MS
Smiles Elevated
Dr. Maria Wood (formerly Salnik) leads Smiles Elevated on Wisconsin Avenue in Chevy Chase. She earned her DDS at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, completed an advanced general dentistry residency, and trained in implant dentistry at NYU.
Why patients choose Dr. Wood
Her reviews return again and again to one word: honest. Patients credit her with giving candid feedback about which treatments they actually need and which they can skip — integrity and professionalism that, in their words, is second to none. That makes Smiles Elevated a natural fit for anyone burned by over-treatment elsewhere.
Practice focus
Family and cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, and preventive care.
Profile last fact-checked June 26, 2026. Information reflects publicly available sources and may change. Confirm details directly with the practice before booking.
How Dr. Wood compares
Context from the 139 providers we track across Bethesda and Montgomery County.
1 of 2 Russian-speaking doctors
2 of the 139 providers in our registry (1%) practise in Russian, across 2 specialties.
1 of 8 from University of Maryland School of Dentistry
8 of the 107 doctors whose medical school we record studied at University of Maryland School of Dentistry.
Medical school: University of Maryland School of Dentistry — Baltimore, MD, United States.
Figures describe the 139 providers currently in the MyBethesdaDoctor registry as of August 2026 — a curated directory, not a census of every doctor in Montgomery County. How we build this list.
Where Dr. Wood sits by experience
Dr. Wood finished dental school in 2012, 14 years ago. Of the 135 providers in our registry whose graduation year we could verify, 117 finished earlier, 10 finished later, and 7 finished the same year.
1965–69
1 provider finished 1965–19691970–74
2 providers finished 1970–19741975–79
4 providers finished 1975–19791980–84
13 providers finished 1980–19841985–89
12 providers finished 1985–19891990–94
14 providers finished 1990–19941995–99
27 providers finished 1995–19992000–04
20 providers finished 2000–20042005–09
19 providers finished 2005–2009Dr. Wood2012
2010–14
17 providers finished 2010–20142015–19
4 providers finished 2015–20192020–24
2 providers finished 2020–2024Among the 21 dentists we list, 14 finished dental school earlier — the median for that group is 2004.
All 12 bands
| Graduated | Providers |
|---|---|
| 1965–1969 | 1 |
| 1970–1974 | 2 |
| 1975–1979 | 4 |
| 1980–1984 | 13 |
| 1985–1989 | 12 |
| 1990–1994 | 14 |
| 1995–1999 | 27 |
| 2000–2004 | 20 |
| 2005–2009 | 19 |
| 2010–2014 — Dr. Wood | 17 |
| 2015–2019 | 4 |
| 2020–2024 | 2 |
Figures describe the 139 providers currently in the MyBethesdaDoctor registry as of August 2026 — a curated directory, not a census of every doctor in Montgomery County. Based on the 135 of 139 profiles with a graduation year we could verify against a primary source; the remaining 4 are left out rather than estimated. How we build this list.
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