How a St. Mike’s alumna uses her skills – and voice – for progress in her dentistry profession

Long before Emily Tarr ’18 graced the cover of Arizona Dental Association’s Inscriptions magazine, she had all but sworn off dentistry as her profession.  

She spent much of her childhood hanging out in her mom’s dental practice thinking that it didn’t have the same luster as other possibilities. She spent her time at St. Mike’s dabbling in a variety of interests during undergrad and even taking some time off to show horses in Germany. Ultimately, this all led Tarr back to where she started – swirling around in a dental chair. 

It may have been a circuitous path, but Tarr feels it was a valuable journey – one that clarified her direction and gave her lifelong tools she may not have gained otherwise. Now, due to her ambition in dental school and advocacy work to improve the profession, she is being heralded as a shining example of the future of dentistry.   

St. Mike’s undergrads go on to medical field training, advanced degrees, and professional licenses 

Cover Girl: Emily Tarr ’18 graces the cover of Arizona Dental Association’s Inscriptions magazine due to her advocacy work while she was a dental student. (Photo courtesy Arizona Dental Association)

At the end of last June, Tarr was a couple weeks into seeing patients – doing fillings, dentures, and root canals. It was a culmination of years of work receiving her undergraduate degree in Biology at St. Mike’s, with minors in Chemistry and Business Administration, and completing dental school in Arizona. In all, eight years of education and some extra time to discover her path.  

“It’s definitely been a journey, but I’ve loved the journey,” she said.  

While in dental school, Tarr became involved in advocacy work, including lobbying legislators in Congress in Washington, D.C. and at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix. 

One of the issues she has focused on is dental school affordability. Between obtaining a bachelor’s degree and completing dental school, the high cost of education can exclude many students from pursuing medical careers –  and for those who do, they can enter their working life hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.  

“I’m sitting here because I had the opportunity, but how many other people that were amazing candidates for the dental career didn’t feel able to take on that debt?” Tarr asked. “We are such a better industry for dental when we can include everyone and anyone who has the ability and desire – those are the people I really want in the industry.” 

Insurance reform is the other major issue where she has focused her lobbying efforts.  

“We need to help our patients, so if we can’t do that well – because we’re being dictated that we can’t do a crown on that tooth because it’s been three years, but it’s fractured – we need to be able to say ‘this needs to be done. This is best for the patient,’” she described.  

Tarr said she and her cohort of new dentists are caretakers of this profession until the next group of practitioners come in. So, it’s important to her to support and protect the profession as well as make sustainable adjustments that improve both patient care and the dental occupation to which she has dedicated her working life. 

St. Mike’s provided tools and confidence to succeed in dental school and beyond 

Tarr attributes St. Mike’s for setting her up for success in her health career and fondly recalls key moments that helped her unlock her potential and see the potential in others. 

She described the community atmosphere that made her feel comfortable going to a professor’s office any time she needed assistance.  

Emily Tarr ’18 went on to dental school after receiving her degree in Biology from St. Mike’s. Upon entering her career, she was lauded for her advocacy work to improve the profession. She was featured in a May 2025 cover article for Inscriptions magazine, published by the Arizona Dental Associaton. (Photo courtesy Arizona Dental Association.)

Late in her educational career, she decided she wanted to add a second minor in Business Administration on top of her demanding science studies. Tarr hadn’t taken the business requirements needed for upper-level courses, but through Business Professor Karen Popovitch’s help and some Accelerated Summer Courses, she was able to make it work.  

“Instead of saying ‘it’s not possible, you’ll have to do another semester,’ [Popovitch] said, ‘yes, I’m willing to help you if you hold up your end of the deal,’” Tarr explained. “I had people in multiple departments say, ‘Alright – I believe in you.’” 

That belief from others extended to belief in herself. She recalled another example involving Biology and Neuroscience Professor Ruth Fabian-Fine. Tarr was struggling with a science paper that included listing individual steps. Fabian-Fine suggested Tarr start with writing instructions for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without using pronouns.   

“That day is a turning point,” Tarr said. “With her sitting down and giving me that opportunity, I realize I wasn’t just dumb – I needed to figure out how to learn my way.”  

Tarr uses that experience when she speaks with patients so they can understand procedures and their own health. When she sees a glazed look on their face, she said she tries to find what will unlock understanding for them – whether it’s a person who needs a visual representation, auditory communication, or someone with an engineer-like brain who wants all the mechanical details.  

“That was Ruth – she taught me that I can do pretty much anything with an open mind,” she said. 

Seeing capability in others was something else she experienced first-hand in her final semester when she was injured. She cracked her pelvis during a horse-riding incident that resulted in her horse landing on top of her. After calling 911, she was shocked to see three very familiar faces come to her aid – all members of the Saint Michael’s College Rescue Squad who, like her, were studying to be health professionals.  

“To see my classmates that sat next to me be the ones picking me up and making sure that I didn’t have a cervical fracture – it was pretty cool,” she said. Tarr called it a full-circle moment. 

She reflected on that experience, combined with how accommodating her professors were as she finished up her graduation requirements while in recovery, saying, “I don’t think that would have happened at another institution.” 

Tarr feels grateful to the people who gave her the opportunity to succeed and wishes to extend that to others, particularly to those who may be interested in dentistry. She encourages folks to reach out to her on Instagram at Dr.EmilyTarr.  

You can read the feature story about her in Inscriptions magazine here. Find her on the cover and on pages 8 through 11.