Dr. Daniel Hupp served 10 years in the Marine Corps before changing courses and entering dental school. Hupp will serve as a Navy dentist for four years with his new dentistry degree.

For Dr. Daniel Hupp of Colleyville, it’s molars and the military. He graduated on May 25 from Texas A&M University College of Dentistry in Dallas and reports in July to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, as a Navy officer and a new dentist.

Hupp is familiar with military life. He served in the U.S. Marines for a decade, including several years as a Naval Flight Officer flying combat missions in Syria and Iraq. He resigned in 2021, only to reenlist the next day in the Navy so he could participate in its Health Services Collegiate Program for Navy Sailors who want to become dentists or other health care professionals.

“I am so thankful for my time in the Marine Corps, but it was a challenging lifestyle and deployment cycle when I was flying with my squadron,” Hupp said. “I wanted to do something with my hands and have skills more easily transferable to civilian life.”

Frequent discussions with his squadron’s flight surgeon convinced him to pursue dentistry, which would allow more time for family life. He and his wife, Sidney, a personal trainer and homemaker, have three elementary-age children.

“They were living in North Carolina when I was deployed,” said Hupp, who considered dentistry while in college but earned a bachelor’s degree in international business and finance from the University of South Carolina.  “When I wasn’t deployed, I was with them, but being in aviation reminds you just how far distances can be when you are removed from your family.”

While stationed in North Carolina, northern Virginia, and then Florida, and during tours in Japan and Turkey, Hupp took science classes for several years to prepare for dental school. Texas A&M was his first choice because he grew up in North Richland Hills and has family there.

It was a challenge to enter dental school full-time, said Hupp, 39, the grandson of Air Force Col. Carl Karst, who went missing in action in 1968 in Vietnam and whose remains were recovered in 1989.

“The first six months, I thought I made a mistake,” he said. “It was overwhelming, just relearning how to process the amount of information being thrown at you in dental school and being fully immersed in academia.”

Hupp soon found his place and found a mentor in fellow aviator and Marine Corps veteran Dr. George Cramer, a longtime clinical associate professor in comprehensive dentistry who retired in 2024. Cramer served in Hupp’s squadron during Vietnam, a coincidence that further strengthened their bond.

Hupp impressed faculty from the start, said Dr. Vonica Chau, clinical group leader and professor of comprehensive dentistry. He approached every rotation with a strong work ethic, curiosity and a desire to learn, not only from lectures and clinical experiences, but also from each patient Hupp encountered.

“During a particularly hectic week in the group practice rotation, several students were falling behind on patient write-ups, clean-ups and setups due to a high patient load and back-to-back clinic sessions,” Chau said. “Despite having his full patient list and several outstanding tasks, Daniel sacrificed his lunch and stayed late each evening to assist his classmates, assisting students with patients, reviewing labs and helping summarize patient histories.”

HSCP doesn’t pay for college, but it does provide a salary. Hupp’s time in the Marines counts toward his Navy retirement. In return, he will complete a one-year residency rotation and then serve four years in the Navy anywhere worldwide.

Hupp looks forward to oral surgery and endodontics residency rotations, but he hasn’t decided whether to stay in the military after he fulfills his commitment. He may opt for private practice but has loved time in the military thus far.

“I want to do the best thing for our family, especially now that our kids are getting older,” Hupp said. “It would be an honor to participate in a residency, but I want to make sure our family is 100% on board with more training and schooling.”