Dr. Lapp grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He received his undergraduate degree in Dentistry from Indiana University and his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree, with honors, from the Indiana University School of Dentistry in 1968. He completed a one-year dental internship at the Veterans Administration Hospital. In 1972, he completed his three-year residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and received a Master’s of Science degree from Ohio State University College of Dentistry.

He is a Diplomate of and has served six years as a Board Examiner on the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and is past President of the Indiana Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. He is a Diplomate of the National Dental Board of Anesthesiology. Dr. Lapp served six years as a Consultant on the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation; he is a Fellow of the American College of Dentists and a member of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists, the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association and the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery.