Dr. James Merriman graduated with honors from the University of Georgia with a Bachelors Degree in Chemistry in 1976. He earned a Doctor of Dental Medicine Degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 1980. He has been in private practice in Marietta since 1982 at Kennestone Gates near Kennestone Hospital. He is a an Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, a member of the Georgia Dental Association and American Dental Association, and Vice President of the Georgia Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Dr. Merriman is also a mentor and alumnus of the L.D. Pankey Institute of Advanced Dental Education where he regularly attends courses designed to attain mastership in dental advances. In addition several of Dr Merriman's cases have been published in the The Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry.  He has also been awarded three Gold Medals at the AACD Smile Gallery Competition. 

Dr. Merriman and his wife Kerri have three children.  Their youngest daughter Callie, is a sophomore at UGA, their son Ross is a junior at Ole Miss and their oldest daughter Anna, lives in Charleston, SC.