Appalachian Highlands Dental Clinic in Kingsport has been a vital resource for locals who cannot afford medical care.
Since its inception, the clinic has provided critical dental treatment to hundreds of patients and plans to further expand its services to help more community members in need.
In an interview with News 5 reporter Yannia Nordelo, clinic director John Royal said that since opening, they have provided more than 800 patients with a total of more than $400,000 in dental treatment services, achieving remarkable results.
He pointed out that with the continued growth of Tennessee’s population and the uneven distribution of dental professional service resources, the dental needs of many residents have been neglected for a long time and gradually backlogged.
To address this problem, Royal has developed several development plans. He said the clinic is working to establish a partnership with Northeast State Community College and deepen existing partnerships with East Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee.
Their goal is to launch a higher-level graduate dental program specifically for graduated and licensed dentists.
“This new program will be a higher level than traditional student programs, and the participants will be professionals with dental degrees and licenses,” Royal said.
The clinic currently has 12 dental chairs, and plans to expand the number to more than 30 to meet the growing patient demand.
In addition to serving patients, the clinic also provides a practice platform for dental education, and 37 dental students have participated in community service here so far.
Allen Stanton, director of strategic initiatives at the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, pointed out that training students in rural areas or areas like Kingsport is more likely to encourage them to choose to practice locally in the future.
Stanton added that their goal is to build a full dental residency training program by July 2026, which can accommodate up to 6 residents. “We hope that in the next three to four years, several students will be able to live in Kingsport full-time and complete their training.”
A major feature of Appalachian Highlands Dental Clinic is its support for low-income and disadvantaged groups.
In particular, it is one of the few places that can provide services for patients who have TennCare, the Tennessee Medicaid program.
“Many dentists do not accept adult TennCare, so our community faces a lack of TennCare coverage.
Our clinic fills this gap and helps the most needy get necessary dental care,” said Stanton.
By continuously expanding service capabilities and training a new generation of dentists, this dental clinic in Kingsport is becoming an important pillar of community health security and a model for sustainable development in other similar areas.