63rd SOUTHERN CONFERENCE OF DENTAL DEANS AND EXAMINERS

Overview

The 63rd meeting of the Southern Conference of Dental Deans and Examiners is hosted by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry and the Tennessee Board of Dentistry. We are excited to host the 2018 conference in Memphis, TN and welcome everyone to the birth place of the Rock and Roll !

About UTHSC College of Dentistry 

The UTHSC College of Dentistry was founded in 1878, making it the oldest dental college in the South, and the third-oldest public college of dentistry in the United States. The college is located in downtown Memphis in the Winfield C. Dunn Building – named for the dental school’s distinguished alumnus and former Tennessee governor. It offers a four-year dental program enrolling approximately 350 students. In addition, there are approximately 60 residents taking part in postgraduate dental programs and 76 students in the dental hygiene program. 

With more than 7,500 dental graduates since its inception, the UTHSC College of Dentistry has educated more than 75 percent of the dentists practicing in Tennessee.

• A significant portion of the dentists practicing in Arkansas are also UT alumni since that state has no dental school. The college currently accepts 33 new students from Arkansas each year.

• The Delta Dental Plan of Tennessee Dental Simulation Center is the largest and most advanced pre-clinical lab of its kind in the country, with both interactive and conventional simulators. The center allows students to perform procedures on simulated patients with real-time feedback. It also provides a cutting-edge facility for continuing education.

The college is dedicated to providing professional, graduate and postgraduate education; conducting dental research; and delivering the most up-to-date patient care and public service.

J. Stansill Covington III, DDS, MS, FRSM

Interim College of Dentistry Dean Dr. Covington is a native Memphian. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Mississippi in biology/chemistry. He then received a Master of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Memphis after which he entered and graduated from The University of Tennessee College of Dentistry. He was the first dental student to receive an NIH Research Grant while a student. He is the first University of Tennessee College of Dentistry graduate to serve as Dean.  

Dr. Covington has consistently been a member of organized dentistry, recently serving as President of the Memphis Dental Society. He is a Fellow of The Tennessee Dental Association, the American College of Dentists and also the International College of Dentists. He is one of the few American dentists who have been inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in London.