Read Transcript
I chose dentistry because I like the hands on aspect of being able to deal with people. I enjoy watching somebody transform something that may have made them uncomfortable in the past, or not being able to smile or not even wanting to go out in any type of social settings because of the oral conditions that they have going on. And you come across so many different people from so many different walks of life practicing dentistry, that it just makes it enjoyable and interesting.
I'm from Macon, Georgia, went to high school at Mount de Sales Academy. From there, I came here to New Orleans to go to Xavier University of Louisiana from 1999 to 2003. And that's where I pretty much fell in love with New Orleans, just a different place, different culture from where I'm from. We went to dental school in Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. And then we went up to Brooklyn, New York, 2007. Once I graduated from dental school to do a GPR and oral surgery internship. From there, I came back to New Orleans and in October of 2014, I opened up my own practice.
The most rewarding aspect of dentistry for me is again, just seeing a patient go from being uneasy or taking a patient who has had a bad experience and showing them that dentistry or practicing dentistry is not as bad as it may seem or may have been in the past. That's just being realistic. Dentistry is not the most comfortable aspect that somebody has to go through on a daily basis, but if you are able to translate to the patient and work on a patient without that fear, that's the most gratification that I get.
Many members of Dr. John Tripp’s family are business owners, so it’s no wonder he followed their entrepreneurial example and opened his own dental practice. The Macon, GA native chose to do it in New Orleans, LA, a city he fell in love with while attending Xavier University on a tennis scholarship.
After graduating from Xavier, he earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, TN. He then completed a general practice residency (GPR) program in Brooklyn, NY. The GPR gives participants the advanced training and experience they’ll need to provide a broad spectrum of dental services. Dr. Tripp spent several years working as an associate before following his entrepreneurial dream of opening his own practice. He now enjoys helping those kinds of dreams come true for dental students from his alma mater by welcoming them to do externships at his office.
Dr. Tripp remains involved with continuing education in all areas of dentistry because he feels it’s important to stay informed of the latest techniques to give his patients the best treatment possible. He has completed more than 500 hours of continuing education, enough to earn his Fellowship in the Academy of General Dentistry, an achievement earned by only about 6 percent of general dentists in North America. He also believes in using state-of-the-art digital technology in his New Orleans office. He truly loves helping his patients build their confidence, one tooth at a time.
In his spare time, Dr. Tripp enjoys working out, running, and watching football.