Dr. Avila was born to Brazilian immigrants in the city of Castro Valley, California, a suburb of Oakland. His father was an accountant, and his mother was a school teacher. Both of his parents had large families. Dr. Avila has 16 aunts and uncles in Brazil along with dozens of cousins.

Dr. Avila's first job came when he was 6 years old. Since then, he has experienced many jobs from janitor to registered investment advisor. He has owned five patents and still operates media equipment at his church.

Dr. Avila has lectured to orthodontic residencies in the U.S. and Canada on the SYNERGY Orthodontic Appliance. He has practiced orthodontics in Indiana since 1997 when he moved here from California. He received his rigorous orthodontic training at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California.

He feels especially privileged to have had the opportunity to spend many hours with world-renowned orthodontist Ruell W. Bench. Dr. Bench has lectured extensively around the world on many orthodontic topics, including authoring a series of articles in the American Journal of Orthodontics on predicting how and when growth affects the human face.