About Me
Kelly Tanner, PhD, RDH
Kelly Tanner, PhD, RDH, has dedicated her career to leadership, education, and mentoring. She has devoted her time to the dental hygiene profession to understand how to empower dental hygienists and transform their possibilities. Kelly's passion is helping individuals connect with their passion and working to make it a reality. She has the ability to envision and assist individuals with a path and help them intentionally build a path based on their passion.
Dr. Kelly Tanner earned her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene and her Master of Science in Dental Hygiene from Old Dominion University. She found a love specializing in management and administration with her Master's degree and continued her doctoral education at Regent University in Virginia Beach University in Business & Organizational Leadership. Dr. Kelly’s Ph.D. focused on organizational metacognition, in-depth study of group dynamics, and how to elicit permanent organizational change.
She is also a certified John Maxwell Leadership Coach and is certified in the science of emotional intelligence (EI). Kelly teaches organizations how to leverage their productivity and teams, utilizing EI and other customized assessments to make changes that LAST and teams that THRIVE. Through measured assessments and interaction, Kelly can help teams of any size create sustainable systems for personal and professional accountability by increasing ownership and synergy within the organization. Kelly’s proven methods will enhance team interaction, case acceptance, digital adoption, and workflow efficiencies.
Tanner has a published chapter in forensic odontology for dental professionals, and also multiple publications in topics regarding telehealth for dental hygienists. Kelly recently published her dissertation titled Identifying Leadership Development Needs of Dental Hygienists Using an Online Delphi Technique.
Kelly has served as a mentor, clinician, consultant, researcher, and also as a dental hygiene educator and clinical director. Kelly has served as past president of the Virginia Dental Hygienists’ Association and also as Chair of the ADHA Council for Public Relations. She has been recognized for her outstanding leadership within health care and university settings and is a recipient of the ADHA and Johnson & Johnson Award for Excellence.
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