Bill Childress was born and raised in Tennessee. He grew up in La Follette, Tennessee, and attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree there, he went west to Memphis and received his DDS from University of Tennessee Health Science Center in 1989. Dr. Childress joined the United States Air Force and completed a General Practice Residency at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Captain Childress served as a general dentist for four years at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida. He transferred to Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, Texas, and entered a six-year Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency at the USAFs Wilford Hall Medical Center. While in the OMS residency, Dr. Childress graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and received a medical degree in 1998. He received certificates of completion for a General Surgery Internship in 1999, and the Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Residency in 2000.
Major Childress moved to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and served as a staff Oral Surgeon at the Air Force hospital there. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2001. In 2003, he moved back to San Antonio, Texas and Wilford Hall Medical Center, and served as a staff oral surgeon, Training Officer for the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency, was promoted to Colonel in 2008, and retired in 2010 as Program Director of the Air Forces largest Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery residency.
Dr. Childress has looked forward to coming home to Tennessee for 21 years, as he served his country in the Air Force. His wife, Betsy, grew up in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and graduated from Carson-Newman College. They have two children, Justin and Meredith.
Dr. Ricky Johnson retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2014, and returned to the state he calls home. He grew up in Dickson, Tennessee, earned his undergraduate degree from David Lipscomb College in 1985, and graduated first in his dental school class at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, in 1991.
In the Air Force, Dr. Johnson served as a general dentist at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, prior to entering residency in the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (OMS) at Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas. While in the OMS residency, Dr. Johnson graduated from medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and received a medical degree in 1999. He received certificates of completion for a General Surgery Internship in 2000, and the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency in 2001.
Upon completion of his residency, Dr. Johnson was assigned to Kadena Air Base in Japan for one year, then Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas for four years. He returned to Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, for the final years of his Air Force career. From 2010 until 2014 he was Commander of the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Flight and Chairman/Program Director of the SanAntonio Military Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as well as Military Consultant to the Air Force Surgeon General for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Dr. Johnson met and married his wife Kim, while living in Murfreesboro before attending dental school. They have two children, April and Steven. Outside the office, Dr. Johnson enjoys outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, boating, and college football. He anticipates becoming active in the local American Legion and finding a church family.