Terryl A. Propper, DDS, MS

Terryl A. Propper, DDS, MS, is a 1982 graduate of the College of Dentistry at UTHSC and the first female president of the Tennessee Dental Association (TDA) in its 153-year history. She is known as a trailblazer, an innovator, a visionary, and a change agent.

During her time as president (2019–2020), she made positive changes to meet the evolving demographics and the needs of members across the state. Through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked to advocate for dentists in the state and led the association through its first steps toward recovery.

She started her career in Knoxville and Alcoa, Tennessee, as a general dentist before being selected a 1986 ADA Hillenbrand Fellowship Finalist. She is a former assistant director of marketing for the ADA and former member of the ADA’s speaker bureau. While working at the ADA, Dr. Propper gave lectures across the U.S and Canada and founded the award-winning ADA Marketing newsletter, Dynamic Dental Strategies.

Dr. Propper has represented both the TDA and her specialty in a variety of leadership roles in local, state, and national associations. She has served in leadership capacity of the Nashville Dental Society and was elected president in 2001, the second female to hold that office in 50 years. In 2016, Dr. Propper served as president on the AAE. She originated and chaired the successful fundraising initiative among UTHSC CoD alumni for a Special Needs Clinic and has generously supported the department of endodontics. She places great value on the role that UTHSC has played in her life and her personal and career success. In 2019, she was the White Coat speaker at the UTHSC graduation and left the students with the message: Treat patients well and act in an ethical and professional manner. Success will follow.

As a TDA life member, Dr. Propper has received numerous awards for leadership and accomplishments in her field. She has been awarded the TDA fellowship and CE award; the Nashville Dental Society Richard Sullivan Award; the AAE President’s award and the Spirit of Service Award; the Lucy Hobbs Project, Women to Watch award; and the Tulane University Bea Fields award.

Dr. Propper sits on the board of directors of the Nashville Dental Society and is a member of the TDA Board of Trustees, the International College of Dentists, the American College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the Tulane Alumni Association Board, the UT Dental Alumni Board, and a past chairman of the board of the Interfaith Dental Clinic. She served as CEO of Endodontic Associates, a three-location, eight-doctor practice in Nashville. She retired from that practice in 2018 after 30 years.

Dr. Propper lives in Nashville, TN. She is the co-founder of Endodontic Practice Partners (EPP), headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee, where she serves as the Chief Dental Officer. The company has created a hybrid partnership model that brings best clinical and business practices in endodontics from across the U.S. to individual practitioners.