Dr. J. Eric Herrington is a native of Meridian, Mississippi and after his dental and periodontal training at UAB, he returned to his hometown to open a private periodontal practice.
Dr. J. Eric Herrington is a native of Meridian, Mississippi and after his dental and periodontal training at UAB, he returned to his hometown to open a private periodontal practice. Dr. Herrington attended Millsaps College and graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. Chemistry. Dr. Herrington continued his training and received both his D.M.D. and Certificate in Periodontology and Implant Surgery and M.S. from the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Dentistry (UAB SOD). During those years Dr. Herrington was involved in several research projects such as the utilization of controlled released chlorhexidine chips in conjunction with periodontal regeneration, the women’s health initiative study of osteoporosis and periodontal disease, along with a clinical role in the groundbreaking multicenter study associating periodontal disease with adverse pregnancy outcomes. After his graduation, Dr. Herrington was recognized with the American Academy of Periodontology’s prestigious Kramer Award for Excellence. Dr. Herrington has been an active member of the Mississippi Dental Association, the American Academy of Periodontology and the Meridian Area Dental Society. He has served the Meridian community as the President of the Meridian Area Dental Society for 15 years and has also served as the Mississippi representative to the American Academy of Periodontology’s State and Regional Assembly Commission. Dr. Herrington also served the MDA third district for six years as the Secretary/Treasurer and is currently the MS Alternate Delegate to the ADA House of Delegates. In June of 2024, Dr. Herrington became the 150th President of the Mississippi Dental Association. As a leader in his community, Dr. Herrington is a member of several civic organizations and serves on the Alumni Council for the UAB School of Dentistry. He is also very involved with Pine Grove Church of Martin, Mississippi, where he teaches Sunday school and is the director of the adult choir. In 1999 he married his college sweetheart, Tara, and they’re the parents of two sons, John Eric and Ian. Dr. Herrington continues to give back to UAB SOD as an adjunct faculty member, sharing his clinical and practice management expertise with dental students and periodontal residents.
Dr. Herrington has a wealth of knowledge from his extensive experience in private practice, organized dentistry, and mentorship of younger practitioners. We asked Dr. Herrington to share about his journey into dentistry, his passion for periodontology, his service to our profession, and his commitment to UAB Periodontology with us!
What was your path into periodontology and to UAB?
My curiosity about Periodontology first started when I was a senior at Millsaps College. I spent that fall working at the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry as a research intern. My role on that research project was to utilize digital subtraction radiology software to measure changes in bone density from clinical samples. Every day when I logged into my workstation, the software program would inform me that it was authored and created by Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat at the UAB Department of Periodontology. That ultimately led me to apply to dental school at UAB and work for Dr. Jeffcoat as a dental student and as a periodontology resident!
What has surprised you about your career in periodontology after UAB?
I have been most surprised by the amount of attachment that I have with so many of my private practice patients on a personal level. While in school, you develop friendships and relationships for the duration of your educational experience, but once you are engrained into a community as a professional, those relationships that you build with your patients become stronger and more personal. As a periodontist, I see them regularly for much of their life and it is truly meaningful to build those personal and professional relationships.
What advice would you give someone entering a career in periodontology now?
My recommendation to new graduates, regardless of their specialty, is to seriously consider a career path towards business and practice ownership. As a private practitioner, I am both a clinician and a business owner. These dual roles have allowed me to have so many rewarding experiences as a part of my career. The ability to manage and operate your clinical practice career with complete autonomy has meant that I can center patient care and patient relationships within my practice. I would encourage all young practitioners to strive to set themselves up to practice on their terms and I believe that being a business owner affords clinicians the ability to do just that!
How do you give back to your profession and to UAB and why do you think that is important?
Starting in my first year in private practice, I made it a personal mission to financially support my dental school alma mater. Knowing that state appropriations and research grants can only fund a fraction of the cost to educate dental students, alumni and private contributions are a must for the successful operations of a school of dentistry. I encourage all graduates to join an effort to help invest in the institution that invested so much into our lives in the form of opportunity, knowledge, and experience.
As you can probably see from my biography, I have also been heavily involved with organized dentistry on a local, state, and national level. While my involvement with organized dentistry has been a very time-consuming sacrifice, it has also brought me many rich rewards in the form of legislative accomplishments and, more importantly, relationships with my fellow dental colleagues throughout my state and the country. I don't believe that my professional practice career would have been as meaningful had I not been involved with the AAP, MDA, and ADA.