Meet Dr. Sappington

Deborah B. Sappington, DDS, MSD

During more than 35 years as a specialist, Dr. Deborah Sappington is fortunate to have worked in the offices of seven orthodontists while her husband moved to different universities advancing his career. This wide-ranging experience allows her to be very selective among various techniques and to only recommend the most sound and conservative treatment options.

A graduate of Bryn Mawr College with honors in Biology, she received her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Dentistry. Graduating with highest honors as the top female graduate, she was inducted into the elite Omicron Kappa Upsilon National Dental Honor Society. She held academic and clinical positions at Sinai Hospital of Detroit and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital before pursuing her orthodontic training at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She received her Specialty Certificate in Orthodontics in 1987. She was the only member of her graduating class to also earn the Master of Science degree in Orthodontics.

Dr. Sappington taught orthodontic graduate residents at the University of Florida, where she was also a member of the Craniofacial Deformities team. She is a published author with an article in the dental specialty journal, Special Care in Dentistry.

Dr. Sappington is married to Dr. David Sappington, an Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida and the Director of the University's Public Policy Research Center. Their son Alexander, a graduate of Buchholz High School, was the 2011 State of Florida Siemens Award winner for advanced placement in math and science. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 2015, where he received awards for being the #1 graduating Economics major and a Rhodes Scholar finalist. He received his MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 2020, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, graduating in the top 3% of the class. He is the CEO of Page Vault, Inc., an industry-leading web content collection provider for the legal profession. He was married in 2019 and blessed Dr. Sappington with a grandchild in 2022.

Community Involvement

  • We are Partners in Education for Buchholz High School, Kanapaha Middle School, Lawton Chiles Elementary School, and Kimball Wiles Elementary School. Artwork selected by the art teachers at Chiles and Wiles Elementary Schools hang in the reception room of the Haile Plantation Village Center office. New selections are made quarterly to give many young artists the opportunity to display their talents.
  • The practice supports athletic, instrumental, dance and foreign language programs at Buchholz, Eastside, Gainesville, Fort White, Hawthorne, Oak Hall, St. Francis Catholic and Santa Fe High Schools, local middle and elementary schools, including Kanapaha, Ft. Clarke, Lincoln, Oak Hall, St. Patrick’s, Richardson, High Springs Community School, P.K. Yonge and Cornerstone Academy.
  • Dr. Sappington volunteers for Care to Share which allows the local community in need to receive complimentary dentistry.
  • Sappington Orthodontics also supports the University of Florida’s pre-dental and athletic programs, local 4H clubs, youth fairs, boys and girls clubs, and numerous health-related charities.
  • Dr. Sappington provides mentorship opportunities to Santa Fe College dental assistant interns, and University of Florida and Santa Fe pre-dental students.

Contact Us

Sappington Orthodontics

Office Hours

Primary Location

Monday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Tuesday:

Closed

Wednesday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Thursday:

8:00 am-6:00 pm

Friday:

Closed

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed