Stephanie Dennison, DDS ’15, FAGD 

For her dedication to advancing oral health equity and leadership in dental education and interprofessional collaboration, Stephanie Dennison is the 2025 Rising Dental Health Leader Award honoree.

This award recognizes a University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD) graduate from the past decade whose achievements have positively impacted the perception of the dental profession and who has shown outstanding service to the community.

“It is truly incredible to watch the transformation that takes place in a student as they progress through their clinical training,” said Dennison, a clinical assistant professor and general practice director in the Department of Comprehensive Dentistry at UMSOD. In that role, she teaches and mentors predoctoral dental students. She also provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art general dentistry to patients at U.M. FDSP Associates, a nonprofit affiliate of UMSOD.

After graduating from Penn State University’s Schreyer Honors College in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, Dennison earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 2015 from UMSOD, where she was awarded the Quintessence Award for Academic Excellence and the Dean’s Outstanding Community Service Award. She completed an Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency at NYU Lutheran Medical Center in 2016.

Dennison’s passion for health care and service was inspired early on by her father, a dedicated primary care physician. “My father was my initial inspiration to pursue a career in health care,” she said. “He worked tirelessly for his patients. Growing up, I was able to see how his efforts translated to patient health and well-being.”

As a recipient of the National Health Service Corps four-year scholarship, Dennison committed herself to serving underserved communities. From 2016 to 2018, she worked as a lead general dentist at Choptank Community Health System in Cambridge, Md., where she played a pivotal role in establishing a prenatal dental referral program, extended treatment hours for patients, and provided dental care for migrant patient populations.

She also served as clinical faculty for the NYU Lutheran AEGD program and supervised dental student externs from UMSOD and the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health. She continued her mission-driven work at Chase Brexton Health Care from 2018 to 2022.

Dennison joined UMSOD as a full-time faculty member in April 2022. Her responsibilities include mentoring third- and fourth-year dental students, directing the course Diagnostic Competency for Class II and Class III Caries, and engaging in research. She received a 2022-23 University of Maryland, Baltimore Center for Interprofessional Education seed grant for a project integrating dental providers into sleep medicine teams to address obstructive sleep apnea.

She is a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry and a certified dentist with the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM) and diplomate candidate with the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine. She also is an active member of professional organizations including the American Dental Education Association, Maryland Sleep Society, American Association of Women Dentists, and AADSM.