Delta Dental completes $1 million commitment to the UT Health Science Center

 

Nashville, Tenn. (February 15, 2006) - - Delta Dental of Tennessee has made a $300,000 donation to the College of Dentistry at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. This finalizes a commitment by Delta Dental to donate $1 million to the college. As 76 percent of dentists in Tennessee have graduated from the college, this represents a great investment in the dental healthcare of Tennesseans.

 

“We are very grateful to Delta Dental of Tennessee for its generous support. The college has a strong history of producing dentists with exceptional clinical skills. We now have the greatest number of interactive virtual-reality units in the world, and this additional gift will go a long way toward ensuring a technologically advanced education for the next generation of dental students,” says Dean Russell Gilpatrick, DDS.

 

Delta Dental has also set up one of the college’s largest scholarship endowments and is a premier sponsor of a number of college events. These events include lunch and learn programs, continuing education programs, and a program that provides breakfast and lunch for students sitting for national board exams.

 

“We make it our mission to support programs of demonstrated value that improve the talent and potential of dental students,” says Dr. Philip Wenk, CEO of Delta Dental of Tennessee and 1977 UT College of Dentistry graduate. “We are extraordinarily fortunate to have one of the nation’s leading dental schools right here in Tennessee. The work they do in research and teaching is critically important to the future of healthcare, both in Tennessee and nationally.”

 

Delta Dental of Tennessee is a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association (DDPA) headquartered in Chicago, the oldest and largest dental benefits provider in the United States, with 39 individual plans in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Guam. More than 86 percent of the currently

licensed practicing dentists in Tennessee participate in the Delta Dental Plan of Tennessee network, which currently serves more than 575,000 members.

 

Interviews can be arranged with Dr. Wenk and Dean Gilpatrick.

Photos are available.

For more information, call Ruth Freeland at (615) 385-1100.

 

The College of Dentistry Web site can be accessed at www.uthsc.edu.

The Delta Dental of Tennessee Web site can be accessed at www.deltadentaltn.com.