Dr. Nielsen is a native of Logan, UT.  Upon the completion of high school, he spent two years abroad in Colombia, South America. He then joined the National Guard as a Military Intelligence linguist and remains fluent in Spanish today.

Dr. Nielsen graduated from the University of Utah and was awarded both state and military scholarships to Creighton University School of Dentistry where he graduated with Oral Pathology and Diagnostic honors.

Dr. Nielsen completed his oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Augusta, GA. While at Reynolds Army Community Hospital in Fort Sill, OK, Dr. Nielsen was the Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and taught and served as mentor for the post graduate dental residency program. Upon retirement from the military, Dr. Nielsen remained in the midwest where he worked at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, MO, a Level I Trauma Center.

Dr. Nielsen is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Nielsen’s professional affiliations include the American Dental Association, the Iowa Dental Association, the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, the Iowa Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, and the G.V. Black Study Club.