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Tonya Parris-Wilkins, DDS
Dental Director
Bland Ministry Center
Dr. Tonya Parris-Wilkins is the Dental Director for the Bland Ministry Center in Bland, Virginia. During her tenure, she has supervised the expansion of dental services to the underserved citizens of Southwest Virginia via the opening of Big Walker Dentistry, a charitable, 5-operatory state of the art facility. In addition, she currently serves as an adjunct dental faculty member at Wytheville Community College supervising the clinical work of hygiene students. Previously, she owned and operated Southside Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Colonial Heights, Virginia. She was featured in the EVB Potential of Women Entrepreneurs Realized (P.O.W.E.R) campaign which recognizes successful female business owners across the state of Virginia. Prior to private practice, Dr. Parris-Wilkins oversaw the dental program of the largest federally qualified health center organization in Virginia--Central Virginia Health Services (CVHS). During her tenure with CVHS, the dental program expanded from 4 to 10 sites and doubled the number of those in need that received treatment. Dr. Parris-Wilkins began her career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of General Practice at VCU’s School of Dentistry.
In 2015, she was appointed to the Virginia Board of Dentistry by Governor Terry McAuliffe, ascending to the presidency in 2018.
In 2012, Dr. Parris-Wilkins created the Parris Wilkins Scholarship, the first endowed scholarship within the dental school to benefit African-American students.
Dr. Parris-Wilkins obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary and her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed a general practice residency at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Master of the Academy of General Dentistry and a Fellow of the American Association of Hospital Dentists.
Dr. Parris-Wilkins resides in Wytheville, Virginia with her husband Joe (M.S.P.T. ’01, D.P.T. ’07 and M.S.H.A. ’11) and their three children.