General Practice Residency and AEGD Programs in Tennessee
Tennessee has 3 CODA-accredited advanced dental education programs in general dentistry: 2 general practice residency (GPR) programs and 1 advanced education in general dentistry (AEGD) program, across 3 cities — Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville.
Each is listed below with its institution, city, program type, current accreditation status, and the years of CODA's last and next accreditation visits, pulled directly from the Commission on Dental Accreditation's own program directory.
Read on for how a GPR differs from an AEGD in CODA's own words, and what comes after residency.
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At a glance
In Tennessee
Programs
3
With a program
Cities
3
Approval without Reporting Requirements
Fully approved
3 of 3
Every CODA-Accredited Program in Tennessee
Source: CODA program directory, index dated 2026-09-09. Status terms (“Approval without Reporting Requirements,” “Approval with Reporting Requirements,” “Initial Accreditation,” “Discontinued,” etc.) are CODA’s own.
Reading the List: Program Types and What Tennessee's Accreditation Statuses Mean
The Type column is CODA's own classification, not this site's.
CODA accredits two kinds of postdoctoral general dentistry program — the General Practice Residency (GPR) and Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) — and, for each, three formats: one-year programs, one-year programs with an optional second year, and two-year programs.
The length shown is the format CODA lists the program under, not a promise about any resident's schedule; confirm it with the program.
Every status shown above is also CODA's term. "Approval (without Reporting Requirements)" is the classification CODA grants when a program "achieves or exceeds the basic requirements for accreditation." "Approval (with Reporting Requirements)" would mean CODA had identified specific deficiencies the program must correct within a set timeframe, and "Initial Accreditation" marks a program that has not yet graduated its first class.
The last- and next-visit years are CODA's accreditation-visit schedule, not anything set by the program.
For admissions requirements or program structure, contact the program directly, and confirm any program's current status with CODA before applying.
GPR or AEGD: The Difference in CODA's Own Words
Both program types are what CODA calls advanced dental education programs, and neither is one of the recognized dental specialties — a GPR or AEGD graduate practices as a general dentist.
CODA's accreditation standards give the two the same goal: programs "designed to provide training beyond the level of pre-doctoral education in oral health care" that "expand the scope and depth of the graduates' knowledge and skills to enable them to provide comprehensive oral health care to a wide range of population groups." Where the standards differ is setting.
A GPR must be sponsored or co-sponsored by a United States-based hospital, or by an educational institution or health care organization affiliated with an accredited hospital; its residents are appointed to the hospital's house staff, and one of its stated goals is to "function effectively within the hospital and other health care environments." The AEGD standards carry no hospital requirement and instead ask graduates to "function effectively and efficiently in multiple health care environments within interdisciplinary health care teams." Tennessee has 3 accredited GPR and AEGD programs, compared with 11 in North Carolina, 3 in Kentucky and 4 in Georgia nearby; for how residencies and the Match work wherever you apply, see our guide to dental residency and board certification.
After Residency in Tennessee
A GPR or AEGD is a postdoctoral year, not a license.
Graduates of the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville, University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry and Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry programs who go on to practice in Tennessee need an active dentist license from the Tennessee Board of Dentistry, and whether it expects postgraduate training before issuing one is the state's call — see Tennessee's dentist licensure requirements rather than any program's description.
Residents who train in Knoxville, Memphis or Nashville and go on to practice in Tennessee can check dentist salary in Tennessee for state-level pay data and search current dentist jobs in Tennessee to see who's hiring now.
Where Tennessee's Programs Are
Tennessee's three general dentistry residencies are spread one apiece across the state's largest metro areas.
Nashville's GPR is based at a dental school, Knoxville's GPR (with an optional second year) is sponsored by a medical center, and Memphis's AEGD is based at a dental college.
The Institution column names each sponsor, and the website links go to the sponsor's own page, which is where admissions details live.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many GPR and AEGD programs are in Tennessee?
Tennessee has 3 CODA-accredited postdoctoral general dentistry programs: 2 general practice residencies and 1 AEGD program, across 3 cities.
Each is listed above with its institution, city, program type and current CODA accreditation status.
CODA's own directory is the definitive, up-to-date source — confirm a program's status directly with CODA before applying.
What is the difference between a GPR and an AEGD?
Both are advanced dental education programs in general dentistry, accredited by CODA under separate standards that state the same goal: training beyond dental school toward comprehensive oral health care.
The GPR standards require hospital sponsorship or affiliation and place residents on the hospital's house staff; the AEGD standards have no hospital requirement and emphasize working across multiple health care environments in interdisciplinary teams.
Neither is a specialty — graduates practice as general dentists.
Ask each program how its own curriculum is structured.
What does "optional second year" mean on this list?
It is one of the three program formats CODA accredits for both GPRs and AEGDs: a one-year program, a one-year program with an optional second year that residents enroll in during their first year, and a two-year program that residents commit to from the start.
CODA lists the format each program is accredited under; whether a second year is offered in a given cycle, and how residents are selected for it, is a question for the program itself.
Do I have to complete a residency in Tennessee to practice as a dentist there?
No. CODA accreditation is national, so a GPR or AEGD completed in another state carries the same accreditation standing.
What Tennessee requires before it will license a dentist — including whether any postgraduate training is expected — is set by the state, not by a program, so see our Tennessee dentist licensure page and confirm with the state dental board before you plan around a residency.
Is every program on this list accredited?
Every program above is shown with the CODA accreditation status CODA had published for it as of 2026-09-09, the date this directory was last pulled from CODA's own program search. "Approval without Reporting Requirements" is CODA's standard fully-accredited standing; other status terms on this page — such as "Approval with Reporting Requirements," "Initial Accreditation," or "Discontinued" — mean something different, and a status can change after that date.
Confirm a program's current status directly with CODA before applying.
More Tennessee & Dentist Resources
Sourced from the CODA program directory (index dated 2026-09-09). Verified September 2026. Program details change. Confirm accreditation status, admission requirements and costs with the program and with CODA before applying.