Dr. Bayirli graduated from Istanbul University, School of Dentistry. She came to the US to study Orthodontics at the University of Michigan. After getting her MS degree in Orthodontics, Dr. Bayirli decided to pursue her interest in research and teaching so she enrolled in the program in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and received her PhD in Epidemiology. As she was finishing her PhD, she was offered a full time position teaching at University of Detroit Mercy, School of Dentistry in the Department of Orthodontics. In 2006, she was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure and kept this position until 2011. In 2011, she moved to Seattle and is teaching part time in the Department of Orthodontics at the University of Washington.