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Internationally known Professor Gunnar E. Carlsson of Sweden received the 2003 Elmer Best Award for international distinction in our profession. Dr. Carlsson was in attendance with his wife Anita and their son. Dr. Carlsson is Professor Emeritus on the Faculty of Odontology at Goteborg University. He gave this address in receiving the PFA honor.
“I wish to express my gratitude to the Pierre Fauchard Academy for the honor of being presented the 2003 Elmer Best Memorial Award. I have read the information about the Academy, and I am impressed by its high ambitions and emphasis on professionalism, integrity, and ethics. I have seen the list of famous people associated with international dentistry that comprise the recipients of this Award since 1963 on. I am proud to be added to that list of 41 men from 23 different countries. I recognize many of the recipients from literature as outstanding dental researchers and worthy representatives of international dental organizations. I have also some personal memories from a few of them.
Jens Waerhaug of Norway received the second Best Award presented in 1964 for his pioneering work in periodontology. I had met him several times in the ‘70s when I lectured at the dental school on Oslo. I was then a young professor in stomatognathic physiology at Goteborg University; there was no such course at Oslo, and Dr. Waerhaug’s frank criticism on the importance of occlusion were difficult to take. He did not believe, at that time, about the prevailing concepts of dental occlusion. We continued our discussion on the stairs outside the lecture hall. I respected his integrity for his belief, but it is now accepted that occlusal factors are important in periotontitis and TMJ.
Martin Rushton of England received the Best Award in 1967. At about that time, he became honorary doctor at the Umea University of northern Sweden where I was active then. The conferment of doctor’s degrees at Swedish universities is a very solemn ceremony. New doctors receive a top hat with a cannon firing off outside. There was some confusion about Dr. Rushton’s hat size, so when the top hat was bestowed upon him, it sank down to his shoulders covering his face. He was honored for his excellent research in oral histopathology.
Jens Pindborg of Denmark received the 1972 Best Award. I had met him when he was editor of two international journals and a national one, which demonstrated his tremendous working capacity. We feared his harsh comments on our research manuscripts, but he effectively taught me the necessity to carefully read and follow submission guidelines. I benefited greatly by his advice, particularly after becoming an editor myself. I met him several times at various conferences and found him to be a nice, entertaining colleague, a splendid speaker with a very broad repertoire and with an extensive knowledge of erotic Asian art.
Yojiro Kawamura from Japan was the 1983 Best recipient. He was a world famous specialist in oral physiology. In the ‘70s, he invited me to write a chapter in a book he was editing. He gave a lecture on bruxism, which was difficult to follow due his lack of pronouncing “R.” So it sounded like “bulkism.” He was a very pleasant, humorous person, told funny stories, and laughed a great deal. He smoked a pipe, which he forgot when he went left. We framed the pipe and put it on the wall for many years to remind us of the great Professor Kawamura.
Horst-Wolfgang Haase of Germany, the 1992 recipient, gave me the opportunity to be editor of one of his Quintessence journals, The International Journal of Prosthodontics, a position I have held for seven years now. This gave me the opportunity to get an insight into the very impressive empire of worldwide dental publishing that he has built up.
Per-Ingvar Brånemark of Sweden, the 1993 recipient, created the concept of osseointegration of dental implants. This made possible the rapid scientific and clinical development of dental implants that has revolutionized clinical dentistry over the last three decades. I met him in 1969 when I was a new professor at the new dental school in Goteborg. He gave me the chance to be a part of his team. In the northern part of Sweden, edentulism was very common. My doctoral thesis was on the consequences of full mouth extractions.
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Elmer Best Award recipient Gunnar E. Carlsson
The possibility of dental implants to “cure” edentulism
was a miracle to me. Dr. Brånemark was a fascinating person with intense enthusiasm. He certainly represents the golden words of the Academy: professionalism, integrity, and ethics. Just a few days ago, we accepted an article that presented excellent results with Brånemark implants supporting fixed prosthesis in edentulous mandibles for more than 20 years.
I was born in Umea, in northern Sweden at the 64th latitude (a line translated to North America as north of Hudson Bay in Canada). I did my undergraduate studies in dentistry at the Royal Dental School in Stockholm, worked three years as a general dentist in Lapland, and went to the newly opened dental school in my home town for specialist and scientific training—first in prosthodontics and then in stomatognathic physiology. My thesis was “The Changes in the Jaws and Facial Profile after Extractions and Prosthetic Treatment.” The new school had no sophisticated research equipment, but the scientific interest was abounding. There were also a lot of patients.
After 12 years at Umea University, in 1969, I became the first Professor and head of the Department of Stomatognathic Physiology at Goteborg University. Our department for many years was probably the largest clinic in the world for patients with TMJ disorders. We took in more than 1000 new patients annually. Hard work, scientific research, and many clinical studies resulted in answering many of the controversial questions related to such disorders.
I served as Dean of the Faculty of Odontology for two periods before returning to become head of the Department of Prosthetic Dentistry. I was Editor-in-Chief of Acta Odontologica Scandinavica and upon retiring was persuaded by Horst Haase to take over the International Journal of Prosthodontics.
I want to express my humble gratitude to the Pierre Fauchard Academy for presenting the Elmer Best Award to me. It is a great event in my life devoted to dentistry. Thank you very much.”
L-R, Best Award recipients: Horst-Wolfgang Haase of Germany (1992), Pierre Marois of France (1986), and Gunnar Carlsson of Sweden (2003)
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