There’s a new dentist in town! Dr. Dana Blalock last week has purchased Dr. Les Neville’s practice on Seven Farms Drive and will launch a family practice that emphasizes cosmetic and neuromuscular dentistry. For the past 16 years, Dr. Blalock was a partner in a dental practice on Johns Island, and has brought her long-time assistant Kelly Ackerman with her to Daniel Island. Prior to that, Dr. Blalock served in the Navy for eight years, at a dental office stationed here in Charleston.
On the island, Dr. Blalock joins fellow dentists Dr. Bannister, Dr. Basha, Dr. Isabel (who works with young patients here, one day a week) and Dr. Zetz (orthodontist), and said she hopes to draw both from the Island population and nearby areas. Comparing her new location with her former practice on Johns Island, Dr. Blalock noted, "The Island draws from Mt. Pleasant, North Charleston, Hanahan and downtown Charleston," and, she said, she is optimistic about the opportunity for growth.
Plus, she added, "A lot of people prefer to have a lady dentist."
In February 2010, Dr. Blalock began exploring forming her own practice, and in April reached a tentative arrangement to purchase the practice. Four months later, the deal was official (the sale closed on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, and Dr. Blalock’s first day at work on the island was Wednesday, Aug. 4, which also happens to be her birthday).
Dr. Blalock senses that business is on the rise, saying that "in the last year, it seems that things look much better." She noted that a year ago, people were "less able to afford the smile makeovers, for example," but that the economic climate appears to be turning. "People are still coming in for regular cleanings . . . there are [just] a lot of elective cases that have been put on the back burner." She added, "In the last 6-9 months, people feel a little more secure and can invest in themselves."
Dr. Blalock was born, raised and educated in Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry with a DDS – doctor of Dental Surgery (see "DDS v DMD" distinction below). She and her husband Bill, a Charleston native who works for SCANA, live in Hollywood, SC with Logan, their 12 year old son, and their two dogs – a yellow Labrador Retriever and an apricot Australian Labradoodle. When she’s not practicing dentistry, Dr. Blalock sings in the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Spiritual Ensemble.
Dr. Blalock’s office is located at 210 Seven Farms Dr, Suite 103, in the building owned by Evergreen. Office hours are Tuesday-Friday.
Dental degrees: DDS v. DMD – what’s the difference?
Do you know why some dentists have a DDS after their name while others has a DMD? Daniel Island’s new dentist – Dr. Blalock, DDS – explains that the two designations are equivalent – it simply depends on which degree your dental school confers. DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery while DMD stands for Doctor of Dental Medicine. In 2008, there were 57 dental schools in the U.S. (down from 66 dental schools in 1989) and the majority award the DDS degree. Harvard Dental School, founded in 1867, was the first dental school to award the DMD degree. One account maintains that school administrators thought that the Latin translation of Doctor of Dental Surgery ("Chirurgae Dentium Doctoris," or CDD) was too cumbersome, leading a Latin scholar (all Harvard degrees are awarded in Latin) to suggest that Medicinae Doctor" be prefixed with "Dentariae," thus "Dentariae Medicinae Doctor," or DMD, which later was changed to mean Doctor of Dental Medicine.
