Dr. Julie Gray, associate dean of community affairs at Meharry Medical College and a 1999 graduate of the School of Dentistry, joins Dr. James E.K. Hildreth to explore how her leadership is reshaping access to oral health care across Tennessee.
Across Tennessee, thousands of residents struggle to access the dental care they need, but Dr. Julie Gray is working to close that gap one community at a time.
As Associate Dean of Community Affairs at Meharry Medical College, Gray leads transformational programs like the Mobile Dental Unit and biannual Oral Health Days, bringing compassionate, high-quality care directly to underserved populations. Her journey from Meharry student to national leader in community dentistry reflects the college’s enduring mission of service and shines a light on how oral healthcare can be delivered with empathy, innovation, and purpose.
A Journey Rooted in Compassion
Gray’s path to dentistry didn’t begin in a clinic; it began in a classroom.
“I started teaching in the school system after I graduated from college not quite knowing what I wanted to do,” she shares. But one visit to the dentist changed everything. After experiencing a traumatic dental injury in high school, she witnessed firsthand the power of compassionate care.
“He started from ground zero and took care of my tooth from start to finish. And I thought this is something where I can fix the patient,” she says. “I can restore the patient’s confidence.”
A shadowing experience at the University of Texas solidified her interest, and a family revelation made the profession feel destined.
“I found out that I had a great uncle who was a dentist, practiced in Corpus Christi, Texas and as a Meharrian. And I decided that dentistry was for me.”
From that moment, dentistry became her calling.
Training the Next Generation of Dentists
Today, as Associate Dean of Community Affairs, Gray integrates clinical training, community service and real-world compassion into every student experience.
“At the end of the day, all we’re really doing is teaching the patient how to be a good health care provider,” she explains.
Her work, however, stretches beyond ensuring students learn technical excellence, but also includes “empathy, compassion and understanding that many of these patients have systemic diseases that our students would not otherwise be accustomed to.”
“Knowing what that looks like for them is very important to them going and serving for the rest of their career trajectories.” This philosophy guides Meharry’s rural outreach — including one of its most impactful efforts: The Shelbyville Clinic.
Some may wonder why a medical college in Nashville operates a dental clinic an hour outside the city. For Gray, the answer is simple: need.
“Restoring smiles to those patients who often are underserved is why we do what we do at Meharry,” she shares.
Gray reports the clinic did not have dentists that would serve them, leaving patients no other point of access. So in 2019, through a generous gift from Delta Dental, a mobile unit descended on the area and restored the clinic.
“We take our students down there a couple of times a month and serve the patients,” Gray explains. “For many of those patients, we’ve been able to save their teeth through patient education.”
Stories like that of a young patient under 30 years old who lost the majority of their teeth, highlights how essential this clinic is — and how transformative compassionate
Oral Health Day: A Meharry Tradition That Changes Lives
Among Gray’s proudest achievements is Meharry’s biannual Oral Health Day — an event that provides free cleanings, extractions and fillings to hundreds of people in a single day.
“Oral Health Day is one of my favorite events,” she says. “It’s a day of service.”
Students and faculty come together to care for “in excess of 600 patients in a day,” with over 3,000 patients served and “over one and a half million dollars in free dental services” delivered to date.
But Gray highlights the event’s impact extends far beyond numbers. Many students return as alumni to volunteer, offering hope for families without access to dental care, and that trust — built year after year — brings communities back.
“They come because it’s burning in their spirits to live out our motto because they want to worship God through service to humankind, because that’s who we are.”
Private Practice + Academic Dentistry = A Powerful Combination
Gray continues to practice privately while shaping the next generation of dentists at Meharry. This dual experience enriches both her teaching and her perspective.
“Bringing real world private practice experience into academic dentistry has given me a different lens of how to teach and train our students,” Gray shares. “I can touch so many more lives by being in academic dentistry than I ever could with just these two hands.”
For Gray, the future is bright, and filled with innovation. The opening of Meharry’s Center for Research and Education Technology (CRET) and a new special-needs dental clinic are among the developments she’s most excited about.
She also champions deeper integration between medicine and dentistry — digital dentistry.
“We’ve got a software platform where once our patient is seeing our physician, that information is integrated into our dental system,” she explains. “What I would really like to see is more of that sort of integration, because it’s going to help our demographic of patients who really need it more than anyone.”
A Message to Future Meharrians: Time, Talent, and Treasure
Gray’s conversation ends with a powerful call to action.
“Our students need to always be true to themselves first and foremost, to be their authentic selves,” she offers. “Each time one of our students has a win, we have a win. And it’s always a very proud moment when they go on to do great things because we know that we planted that seed while they were with us and we all feel part of that accomplishment.”
But she reminds graduates that giving back isn’t optional — it’s essential. “What they need to understand is they also have a responsibility to the mission of the college.”
Whether through mentorship, returning for Oral Health Day, community service or philanthropic support, alumni must honor the legacy that shaped them.
“They have their time, they have their talent, and their treasures, and at some point they need to give back,” she says. “Come back to our Oral Health Day. Come back to our Give a Kid a Smile. Come back and serve when we are having any outreach activities, but their call to action is to understand that they have an obligation.”
When it comes to bringing a smile to a patient’s face, “a small something is just as big as a large something.”
Be sure to follow Public Service Announcement with Dr. James E.K. Hildreth on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. For more content like this, join the conversation online at mmc.edu/podcast.
