I rejoined the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), Community Health Services in the Oral Health Services program in February 2024 as the State Dental Director. Originally from Clarksville, Tenn., I received my D.D.S. from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry where I was a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society, a Clinical Student Mentor, and graduated 4th in my class.
Upon graduation, I worked in private practice for two years. Then I discovered my true passion— public health. I worked with the Tennessee Department of Health for more than 6 years, first as a clinical dentist and then as a Regional Dental Director. I went on to work more than 5 years with TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid Program, serving in both the Associate Dental Director and Chief Dental Officer roles before returning to TDH.
The mission of TDH is to protect, promote, and improve the health and well-being of all people in Tennessee, with special focus on rural and underserved populations. It's a mindset we keep at the forefront of our dental programs.
Oral Health Services is a clinical dental program in 44 counties across the state, and we have been hard at work to recruit dentists to work in them. In December 2022, 25 of our dental clinics were open, and as of July 2025, we have 34 clinics open and serving those patients most in need.
We also have a statewide School-Based Dental Prevention Program to meet our youngest Tennesseans where they are. It's a partnership between TDH and TennCare that provides preventive dental services including oral health education, screenings, dental sealants, and more to children in pre-K through 8th grade in Title I and Title I eligible schools. Since the program's inception, we have now provided over 5.8 million dental sealants to over 1 million children.
At the TDH, we oversee the State Oral Health Plan, which is focused on improving access to care, oral
health education and advocacy, prevention of oral disease, and oral health resources and workforce—including the Healthy Smiles Initiative. It's a governor's initiative that launched in 2021 with the goal of improving oral health in Tennessee. The major focus areas of the initiative are recruitment of dental students into dental professions, training them to practice in underserved communities, and proving recruiting and retention incentives for service to high need populations in rural areas.
\We know access to care starts with having dentists available to do the work. I believe one of the largest and most pervasive pain points for dentists, especially those new to the profession, is the burden of rising student loan debt. That alone can keep dentists from practicing in rural areas because of the lower earning potential—but you are not alone.
There are several programs that offer student loan repayment or forgiveness. One of those being Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development's Healthy Smiles Student Loan Repayment Program. It offers repayment options for those working in TDH dental clinics, safety net clinics, rural clinics seeing 20% or more TennCare patients, and urban clinics seeing 40% or more TennCare patients. In exchange, those dentists practice full-time at dental clinics in underserved areas.
Access to affordable dental care remains a challenge for so many, especially those in vulnerable communities across the state. As we know, poor oral health reduces quality of life in many ways, including pain and suffering, reduced ability to chew nutritious foods, difficulty speaking, and missed days from school and work to name a few.
I want to thank you for your ongoing commitment to providing essential dental care to Tennesseans. So many of you provide essential dental care to Tennesseans who may otherwise go without care, and the vital role you play is recognized and celebrated. Thank you for joining us in our mission to protect, promote, and improve the oral health and well-being of all people in Tennessee.