Dr. Nipul Tanna Named Associate Chair of the Department of Orthodontics

Dr. Nipul Tanna

Philadelphia – Dr. Nipul Tanna (D’90, GD’92, GD’10, GD’11), Associate Professor of Clinical Orthodontics at Penn Dental Medicine, has been named Associate Chair of the School’s Department of Orthodontics. His appointment to this new leadership post was effective June 1.

“Dr. Tanna brings a long history with the School and our Department of Orthodontics to this new position,” says Penn Dental Medicine’s Morton Amsterdam Dean, Dr. Mark S. Wolff. “The Department is growing with new programs and faculty, and he is uniquely qualified to help steer the Department in partnership with Dr. Chung. Dr. Chun-Hsi Chung (D’86, GD’92), who has led the Department as Chair since 2011, will continue in that role.

A member of the School’s Orthodontics faculty since 2013, Dr. Tanna has directed the combined orthodontics and periodontics postdoctoral program since 2017. Dr. Tanna completed his postdoctoral training in both orthodontics and periodontics at Penn Dental Medicine in 2010 and was a senior research fellow in the Department of Periodontics from 2010 to 2015, earning his MS in Oral Biology in 2011. He is a Diplomate of both the American Board of Periodontology (2013) and the American Board of Orthodontics (2014).

Dr. Tanna began his dental career in restorative dentistry. Earning his DMD from Penn Dental Medicine in 1990, he went on to complete an AEGD residency at Penn Dental in 1992 after which he joined the School’s faculty practice as a general restorative clinician. He was part of the School’s Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences faculty from 1994 to 1999, serving as a DMD program group leader for clinical instruction during that time. From 1999-2004 he was the Associate Director for Penn Dental at The Robert Schattner Center. He also held a Restorative faculty position from 2001 to 2005 before beginning his postdoctoral study in orthodontics and periodontics.

A highly regarded clinician and educator, Dr. Tanna was recognized with the Excellence in Clinical Instruction Award from the Penn Dental Medicine Department of Orthodontics in 2016, 2018 and 2021.