Dental practice moves into former Covenant clinic site in Rocky Top
Rocky Top Dentistry has moved its practice into the former Covenant Health medical building at 110 Industrial Park Rd., off South Main Street, after completing a major renovation and upgrade of the facility.
Dr. Leslie Holmes-Leach, owner of the practice, said last week that Rocky Top Dentistry began operating from the new location June 27, just over a year after purchasing the building.
She said the renovation and reconfiguring of the building for use as a dental office began in December.
“We have 13 exam rooms, with 10 of them already equipped,” she said last Thursday.
The new offices also include equipment to make crowns on the spot rather than have to send orders to an offsite dental laboratory, Holmes-Leach said. Clients can get their crowns in just one visit.
“Also, we will have another dentist joining us Aug. 1 – Dr. Cara Kennedy, a prosthodontist. She has just finished her residency in Birmingham (Alabama).”
To become a prosthodontist, Kennedy spent three additional years in dental school to be able to handle “complex cases,” Holmes-Leach said.
Dr. Barry Miller joined the practice last year after graduating from the Ohio State University dental school.
The practice moved from its longtime location at 305 S. Main St.
Holmes-Leach said she doesn’t yet know what she will do with her former location, but that if she sells it, it will not be to another dental practitioner.
She said in June 2021 that she had been planning to remodel the practice’s then-current offices, but decided to buy the Covenant Health building after it became available.
“We weren’t really looking to move,” she said. “We were going to remodel the [former location] in August. But this came up and we decided to buy it. It’s a really nice facility.”
She said the new location has more than 7,000 square feet of space, as well as 54 parking spaces. The other location is about half that size, and parking was limited.
The Rocky Top Dentistry practice was begun 43 years ago by Dr. Ron Noe, who is officially retired in June 2021.
“We have about 8,000 active patients,” Holmes-Leach said last year. “We have patients in LaFollette, Jacksboro and even up into Kentucky.”
Rocky Top Dentistry has 14 regular employees, plus some temporary hygienists who are brought in as needed, Holmes-Leach said.