Recent dental school graduate Dr. Angela Washington is returning to her hometown of Arlington to start her practice.

Washington, a 2014 graduate of Arlington High, will open her Airline Road Dental Care clinic later this month. The office at 5261 Airline Road is in the Crawford Place commercial development across the street from her old high school.

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“During my junior and senior years, they were just making Airline Road a four-lane highway instead of a two-lane,” she recalled. “I think this is an awesome opportunity to come back to an area that I’m familiar with and also be somewhere that’s growing.”

Washington attended Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans as an undergraduate, and returned to Memphis for a year to prepare for dental school. She was accepted at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, graduating this past May.

Getting braces as a child helped catapult her interest towards an career in dentistry.

“I had braces in the sixth or seventh grade, and I actually liked them. They didn’t hurt, and I thought they looked cool at the time,” she said. “Ever since then, I kind of had tunnel vision with dentistry.”

As a hands-on person who loves do-it-yourself projects like building headboards and redesigning furniture colors, general dentistry was more suited for her than orthodontics as a specialty.

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She sees a need for more dental services in Arlington and expects to attract patients from nearby counties, such as Fayette and Tipton. Before opening her practice, Washington worked at Great Southern Smiles in Germantown for what she describes as a “mini-residency.”

Her clinic will offer standard dental services such as extractions, fillings, crowns and other services.

“Invisalign is really becoming popular now that we’re getting more information,” Washington said of one service. “It can be offered to younger children than what we thought in the past.” 

She anticipates employing nine employees at the start, including three hygienists.

The new clinic is one of several medical-related businesses to open along Airline Road this year, including the nearby Baptist Arlington Emergency Department and associated medical offices.

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And more dental providers are looking to expand in Arlington. On Nov. 2, there was a groundbreaking at the intersection of Airline and Memphis-Arlington roads for the new MemDent dentistry office complex, which could be open by next year.

“With all the expected growth in Gallaway, Fayette County and all the way up to BlueOval City (in Haywood County). I think that people are seeing there’s going to be a lot of need,” Tonia Howell, director of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, said of the increased interest from medical providers.

New developments are also planned near Airline Road Dental Care’s location, including the Providence Place and Hawthorne mixed-use projects.

Airline Road Dental Care will open to the public Dec. 15 with a free grand opening from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., featuring a visit from Santa and activities for children and adults.