Dr. Keith L. Bentley

Year Inducted: 2018

Dr. Keith L. Bentley, the sixth of seven boys, born to Parks and Margie Broyhill Bentley of the Pores Knob community where the family had a small farm and orchard. The other brothers were Joel, Claude, Worth, Clint, Lee, and Ralph. Bentley attended Moravian Falls Elementary School and graduated from Wilkesboro High School. Following the Air Force, Bentley attended UNC-Chapel Hill and attained a Doctor of Dentistry Degree (DDS) from UNC School of Dentistry in 1960. He started practicing and continued his practice for 40 years until his retirement.

Dr. Bentley was a founding member of Wilkes Public Health Dental Consortium. He worked with private and public sectors to develop the Wilkes Public Health Dental Clinic which has treated over 20,000 Medicaid and low income patients. Also, Dr. Bentley has served as a volunteer and mentor for young dentists. He was instrumental in establishing the dental assistants program at Wilkes Community College where he has served as instructor and consultant.

Dr. Bentley is a member of the Academy of General Dentistry and received Fellowship in 1977 and Mastership in 1994. Also, he is a member and past president of the UNC Dental Alumni Association and a member of both the American Dental Association and the International College of Dentists. Dr. Bentley received the 2017 Distinguished Service award from the N.C. Dental Society for service to Dentistry and for his home community. He received the Carl Durham Award by the Association of the N.C. Board of Health. For several years, he was president of the N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners.

Dr. Bentley led a fund-raising drive to purchase a vehicle for the MESH (Mobile Expanded School Health) unit which provides health care for students at Wilkes County high schools. He was president of the United Way of Wilkes, served on the Wilkes Board of Health for nine years, and was chairman of First Citizens Bank, North Wilkesboro Board. Dr. Bentley was a founder of the Wilkes Education Foundation which has awarded scholarships to local high school graduates and grants to local teachers. Dr. Bentley was the first president of the Wilkes County Community Foundation and served on the board for many years. He served on N.C. Region D Council and as Development Corporation director since 1998. Dr. Bentley has also been active in the UNC Dental Foundation where he served as president. He was also president of the UNC Dental Alumni Association.

In 2015, he was awarded Citizen of the Year by the North Wilkesboro Rotary Club. He is active with the Wilkes YMCA Men’s Club and Oakwoods Country Club. Dr. Bentley has served North Wilkesboro First Baptist Church as deacon, chairman of diaconate for four years, and Sunday school teacher for over 50 years. Dr. Bentley and his wife, Aileen, have two children, Milton and Myra and two grandchildren, Allison Lee and Alex Bentley.