Erwin Turner, D.M.D.
New Pediatric Dentistry Program enhances service
In addition to providing dental services for the general pediatric population, Vanderbilt's new Pediatric Dentistry Program will provide services for inpatients and outpatients with special needs, such as children with cancer, transplant patients and children with craniofacial problems.
Within five years the new division is projected to have a four-member faculty and to accept two residents per year, said Scott B. Boyd, D.D.S., Ph.D., professor and chair of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Erwin G. Turner, D.M.D, joined the faculty July 1 as professor of Dentistry and director of the Division. Turner is vice-president of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and a member of the editorial board of Pediatric Dentistry Journal. He was most recently professor and acting program director of the pediatric dental residency program at the University of Kentucky, where he earned his undergraduate and dental degrees.
“We've set out to build one of the best programs in the country for pediatric dentistry and we're excited to have a nationally recognized leader at the reins,” Boyd said.
Turner will begin taking new patients this fall at the Village at Vanderbilt. The department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery plans to restart an adult dentistry program within one to two years, Boyd said.