Llewellyn Powell, DMD, MS
Dr. Powell is a 1986 graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry. He engaged in private practice on the Mississippi Gulf Coast until his home and office were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005.
After Katrina, Dr. Powell accepted an appointment as an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry, where he taught Operative Dentistry, Removable Prosthodontics and Fixed Prosthodontics. While at UT he earned the academic rank of Associate Professor and was the President of the Committee of Faculty (the faculty governance organization for the dental school) and as president of the Memphis section of the American Association for Dental Research.
In the summer of 2011, he accepted an appointment at Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine and was instrumental in the start-up of this new dental school in the Salt Lake City, Utah area. He was the Director of Primary Dental Care, and developed the school's curriculum in ethics and professionalism. While at Roseman, he earned a Masters of Science in Healthcare Ethics from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Wanting to return to the mid-south, in September of 2014 Dr. Powell purchased Desoto Dental in Southaven and changed the name to Desoto Dental Services.
Dr. Powell is an active member of the American Dental Association and the Mississippi Dental Association. He has held membership in the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, the Pierre Fauchard Academy, the Mississippi Dental Society and Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society. He has served as the President of the Mississippi Dental Association, President of the Mississippi Section of the American College of Dentists, Chairman of the Mississippi Dental Political Action Team and as a member of the American Dental Association Council on Communications. He also served as an associate editor of the Mississippi Dental Association Journal.
Dr. Powell has given presentations on restorative dental techniques, dental adhesive strengths, disaster preparedness, and dental ethics in San Francisco, California; Jackson, Mississippi; Biloxi, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; Albany, New York; Miami, Florida; and South Jordan, Utah.
In the past several years, he has received instruction in dental implant placement, bone grafting, and incorporating computer generated templates for implant placement. Courses on restorative dentistry, removable prosthodontics, fixed prosthodontics and esthetic dentistry are included in his annual continuing education. He routinely surpasses the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners mandated minimum requirement for continuing education, including courses on prescribing opioid medications.
In addition to private practice at Desoto Dental Services Monday - Thursday, Dr. Powell provided dental care to inmates at one of the state's correctional facilities on Fridays from February 2016 until May 2019. In August of 2019, he returned to clinical instruction of Prosthodontics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry.
He presently resides in Southaven, Mississippi with his wife Laura, a 5th & 6th grade teacher at Sacred Heart School. He and Laura enjoy college athletic events, walking in the neighborhood, and hiking in the mountains. A licensed pilot, Dr. Powell flew his own airplanes until October of 2017. They have four children, nine grandchildren, and one great grandchild on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Florida, and in the Nashville, Tennessee area.