When I moved to New Orleans almost 7 years ago, one of my first jobs was at the LSU Dental School in Gentilly, so I was delighted to hear the center will reopen this Tuesday, Sept. 4, in it’s old location off Florida Avenue near Bayou St. John in Gentilly.

The school offers discounted dental care for patients while training dentists, hygienists and lab technicians. In the aftermath of Katrina the school’s first floor, which had just undergone major renovation before the storm, was flooded as was the basement and power plant. Since then, the school has been in temporary quarters in Baton Rogue.

Once open, officials expect about 100,000 patients, similar to before the storm, along with a slight reduction in students and faculty - 374 students and 144 faculty members.

Just because the campus is open doesn’t mean the renovations are complete. The building is still a work in progress with some of the first floor offices moved to temporary locations on upper levels. Once complete, they expect the total renovation will cost $50-60 million and most of that tab will be picked up by FEMA and federal block grants.

In case you’re wondering, I wasn’t a dentist before I was a real estate agent! I worked as an administrative assistant at the Pediatric Dentistry Department.