A respected leader in her field, Dr. Desiree T. Palmer is committed to building meaningful relationships and leaving a lasting impact on Durham
By Anna-Rhesa Versola | Photo by John Michael Simpson
“Make sure you get to know and respect everyone,” Desiree T. Palmer’s mother reminded her before she left home in Washington, D.C., to attend Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, “not just the ones in charge, but also the area workers, custodians, the front office people. Everyone is important and plays a key role.”
One day, a dean of students stopped Desiree, a biochemistry major intent on becoming a teacher like her mom, and asked Desiree to consider dentistry as a profession. “She says, ‘I want you to look at that field, I think it’d be a great career for you,’” Desiree recalls. “‘As a dentist, you still would be an educator, because you’re educating your patients.’” After completing her bachelor’s, she earned a doctor of medicine in dentistry from Tufts University and began her professional career in Massachusetts as a public health dentist.
Desiree says her life changed course again in the mid-’80s when an old family friend Dr. Thomas B. Bass extended an invitation to join his dental practice in Durham as he transitioned to retirement. She was familiar with the Bull City; her family would often stop there on the way to visit her grandparents in western North Carolina. “At the time, there were not very many women [dentists],” Desiree says. “In fact, when he invited me, I was actually the only African American female [in Durham] who went into private practice in 1985.”
Desiree opened her first private solo practice in northern Durham in 1992, and by 2015, she established her second location, Bull City Dental, downtown on Parrish Street. Becoming a dentist was fairly straightforward for Desiree, but running a private practice requires business acumen as well. “You think you get a dental degree and just start practicing dentistry, but if you open up a private practice, you really want [the skills of] an entrepreneur,” she says. “You have to learn about building a business. I think that was probably the most challenging [aspect].”
She grew up with a deep sense of serving her community and strives to give back. “When I first got here, I worked at the Lincoln Community Health Center one day a week,” Desiree says. “That public health clinic experience was rewarding because patients so appreciate the services you’re providing, particularly if they’re not in a position to always compensate you for it.”
Desiree also sits on three community boards – the Community Health Coalition, the Durham Library Foundation and Local Start Dental, a nonprofit dental clinic for underserved communities. She also gives back through service organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the Durham chapter of The Links, an international women’s volunteer group. And she exercises regularly at The 360 Approach, another Black woman-owned downtown business.
Desiree and her husband, Michael J. Palmer, have three adult sons – Austen “Shambo” Palmer, Brandon Palmer and Colton Palmer. The couple enjoys bowling and spending time with their granddaughters, Brianna Lillie Palmer, 13, and Solyn Aya Palmer, 4.
Desiree plans to join her husband in retirement eventually, but “I love being a dentist,” she says, “working with the women on my team and serving our patients. Ultimately, my goal is to ensure my practices will continue to be recognized as prominent Black-owned businesses, as I pass my baton to the next generation.”
