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Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry has been training oral health professionals for well over a century. Founded in 1886, a decade after the medical school opened, the program is the only dental school in Middle Tennessee and one of only two in the state.

As dean, Dr. William B. Butler has been leading the educational charge for the last eight years. Butler, who holds a DDS and an MS, graduated from Meharry in 1973. A diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics, Butler trained in his specialty at the University of Michigan where he remained to teach for a year before returning to Meharry in 1978.

Although Meharry has historically enrolled about 200 dental students, Butler said there are nearly 240 students at this time. The increase, he noted, was in response to the national concern that dentistry — like many other health professions — is rapidly approaching crisis-level shortages.

However, he continued, the correlating shortage in dental school faculty has made it difficult to effectively teach the larger number of students. Butler said the school is going to lower enrollment from 60 students a year to about 50.

A major part of the training program at Meharry is tied to community outreach. The school’s motto — “Where excellence is standard and service an obligation” — underscores that mission.

One of the most visible programs is the Meharry School of Dentistry Clinic, which attracts people from throughout the community regardless of income levels or insurance coverage.

“The cost for the procedures is reduced compared to a private dentist,” explained Butler. “But there is always a word of caution,” he continued. “I say to anyone that you have to accept the fact it will take longer.”

The quality, he added, is not a concern. Actually, it is the close monitoring of student work by faculty that adds to the length of the appointment. Prospective patients, he counseled, need to be aware of the time factor in weighing their decision to make an appointment.

“If you’ve got little money and a lot of time, this is the place for you,” Butler noted.

He added that in addition to quality dental work for the patient, the clinic provides students with invaluable hands-on experience that is at the core of their educational training.

“We have competency examinations during their pre-clinical years as well as their clinical years. During their clinical years, they have to perform dental procedures independently with no assistance from the faculty,” he said. Butler added that faculty is, of course, on hand to intervene if a student gets off track.

Meharry students also have the benefit of an extramural rotation among a variety of facilities ranging from private practices to Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center, which Butler calls an added value to both the student and the community.

“It gives them the opportunity to observe and participate in the practice of dentistry as it happens in the private sector,” he noted. “It helps them with that transition.”

Butler said another benefit of the “real world” experience is that it allows students to see the business side of their profession. He said schools of dentistry are now doing a better job of teaching practice management skills alongside clinical competency.

Meharry students and faculty also participate in multiple health fairs around the community and provide services for the Downtown Dental Clinic for the Homeless. A recent million-dollar grant to provide dental care for underserved, indigent and mentally disabled patients has extended the school’s reach even farther.



June 2008

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