I extend my very best wishes to Mike as he dons the chain of office and the responsibilities that accompany that symbolic and marvelous gold medallion. I also extend a very warm welcome to my good friend from “down under,” our new Vice-President, Dr. William Winspear, and to the new Trustees who will be installed in Orlando, Dr. Jonathan Rogers for Region 8—Australia, and Dr. Hubert Ouvrard for Region 1—Europe, who replaces retiring Trustee Dr. Pierre Marois. The retirement of mon ami, Professor Pierre Marois of Paris, France, after 21 years was accepted with mixed emotions. He has served his profession and our beloved Academy with sincere dedication and laudable commitment. His magnanimous hospitality toward all who visited the Paris Hall of Fame site that he developed is well known and most appreciated. His departure leaves my amigo, Dr. Bernardo Levit of Argentina, as our new senior statesman.

A special thanks to Richard and Judith Kozal for their tireless dedication to our Academy and to our distinguished editor, Dr. James Brophy, for his humour and support during my tenure. I am grateful to have the opportunity to repay my chosen profession for the good life that dentistry has provided for my family and me and for the opportunity to work with so many dedicated individuals supporting dentistry throughout the PFA world.

Thanks for this opportunity, thanks for the memories.

Senior International Trustee Pierre Marois Announces Retirement

Pierre Marois of Paris, France, has announced that after a half century of PFA Fellowship and a quarter of a century as PFA International Trustee for Europe’s Region 1, he has decided to step down from the Board after the Orlando PFA Meeting. In his retirement letter, Dr. Marois expressed how he enjoyed every minute of serving PFA, the exciting people he has meet, but that the time has come, passing into his eighth decade, to step down and let younger dentists have the same interesting experience he has enjoyed for so long.

“I have been a PFA Fellow since 1954. General Robert Shira, a longtime friend since he was in the Army in Europe, asked me in 1983 to be the PFA Trustee for Europe, I gladly accepted. I had to build Europe from scratch. It was a challenge, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

“To be a Trustee for 20 years was a constant pleasure. It gave me the rare opportunity to meet fascinating peoples, ambitious peoples, devoted peoples, and all kinds of characters.”

L-R, Dean Marie Boy-LeFevre, the new Section Chair of France; Emilie Huguet, a Foundation Scholar; Dr. Hubert Ouvrard, the new Trustee for Europe; and retiring Trustee Pierre Marois

Often in dental publications you read about great individuals in dentistry who have outstanding accomplishments in research, teaching, or leadership of our professional organizations. Every year, the Academy presents Awards in recognition of their achievements. And these Awards are given from the local Sections to the international level.

But only rarely is recognized a dentist who, because of his professionalism and discipline, transcends the mere career of dental surgery to be recognized publicly as an outstanding community leader, a person for all seasons and times. Dr. Gordan B. Stine, recipient of this year’s President’s Award, is just one such individual.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1924; raised in Charleston; educated in Charleston; shaped by Charleston; he returned and shaped Charleston. Founded in the late 1600s, Charles Town was held by the British until 1783, when it was renamed Charleston. It has been an important Atlantic port and a focus of more United States history than almost any other city along the Eastern coastline. In the over three centuries of Charleston’s existence, Dr. Gordan Stine and his wife Barbara have been part of shaping Charleston for a nearly quarter of that time.

No one could have accomplished all that Dr. Stine has done alone. And Gordan freely admits that without his dear wife Barbara at his side, he would not have been able to make Charleston what it is today.

Dr. & Mrs. Gordan Stine

Gordan Stine did his undergraduate work at the College of Charleston, the oldest municipal college in America. Today this prestigious institute has expanded from its humble beginnings in 1770 to cover several city blocks up to the old site of The Citadel. Today it educates about 12,000 students.

After graduation with his undergraduate degree, Gordan joined the U.S. Marines and trained at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois.

After the war, Gordan went to Georgia to attend Emory University School of Dentistry, the second oldest dental school in America (now since closed). He married Barbara in 1951 with whom they raised two sons, Steven and Robert.

After earning his dental degree, Dr. Stine began his 34 years of private practice in 1954 (he retired in 1987), and about that time began teaching as Associate Professor in Charleston at the Medical University of South Carolina’s College of Dental Medicine.

MUSC’s College of Dental Medicine

He became Special Assistant to the University President James Edwards, who had filled the cabinet-level position as President Reagan’s Secretary of Energy. Dr. Stine served as Director for Dental Continuing Education. He also founded the MUSC Dental Lifelong Service Fund and in 2000 received the MUSC’s Distinguished Faculty Service Award. His son, Steven, has donated the new dental library in his father’s name.

In community activities, he and Barbara support the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Association; he was Chairman of the United Way; an active participant in the Coastal Carolina Council of Boy Scouts, receiving their Silver Beaver Award in 1985 and had the Boy Scout Camp Health Center named in his honor in 1996; a member of the Charleston Bicentennial Committee; a member of the Charleston Exchange Club and helped found two other Exchange Clubs in North Charleston and in the James Island area, and received their 1964 Man of the Year Award and their 1965 Outstanding Service Award; and served as Chairman of the Trident Chamber of Commerce, where in 2002 he was presented the Joseph P. Riley Leadership Award, their highest award. The Joseph P. Riley Award was established in 1992 in honor of the long-time Mayor of Charleston, whose personal commitment to the city is reflected by those receiving the title who demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities and use their skills to make Charleston a better place to live and work.

Dr. Stine’s benefice was not bound by religious affiliation. While a member of the second oldest Jewish synagogue in America, Kahal Kadash Beth Elohim (the Holy Congregation House of God), founded in 1750 and actually the oldest continuous operating Temple, in which he served as President of the Brotherhood Congregation (1967-68) for their 250th Anniversary, and Chairman of the Charleston Jewish Welfare Fund, Dr. Stine also served on the Board of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Greater Charleston, and currently resides in the Bishop Gadsden (Catholic) Senior Center on James Island where he and Barbara are often greeting the many older couples residing there as good neighbors.

Even civic activities occupied a portion of his life’s work. Dr. Stine served on the Palmetto Safety Council, the Charleston Aviation Board, the Community Pride of Charleston County, and the Cooper River Bridge Replacement Study Committee.

Dr. Stine also worked on planning the new development of the Robert B. Scarborough Bridge, named after a close friend of Gordan and Barbara’s.

Dr. Stine served as Councilman for the City of Charleston representing the West Ashley area. Then he served as County Chairman for the Charleston County Council, a nine-member board in 1979-80. Later, he was District representative on the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Regional Council of Governments, and then on the National Association Board of Regional Councils as representative for the South Carolina Regional Council of Governments.

South Carolina Governors Dick Riley (father of Mayor “Big Joe” Riley), Campbell and Beasley presented Dr. Stine an unprecedented three Orders of the Palmetto. The Palmetto tree is like a palm tree, which is one of the insignia of South Carolina and appears on their State flag. The Order of the Palmetto is South Carolina’s highest civilian honor. Then in 2001, Governor Jim Hodges presented Dr. Stine the Order of the Silver Crescent-–another important symbol of South Carolina. This is an award selected by the Governor for distinguished lifetime service to the community and to the State. It seems that the State has run out of awards to give Gordan, so they initiated a higher one with the Order of the Silver Crescent. But Gordan has not run out of the energy to earn them even in his 80s.

Dr. Gordan Stine summed up his life’s philosophy in a speech to the MUSC dental students.

“We live in a fast-paced time. Our lives are changing rapidly in ways that constantly test our convictions. In our busy lifestyles, there are too few opportunities to pause and think about what helped to mold what is the finest example of self-government in the world today. We should realize that our contributions will be a part of this long history of our country. The future will be what we make of it today.”

Tongue Studs

by the Academy of General Dentistry

The current rage among many teens is to have their tongues pierced and various metal ornaments placed through the tongue. Many dentists have seen the results of this decorative procedure. Tongues are meant for aiding mastication, taste, and speech. How the fad evolved that they should create an attractive facial beauty is beyond understanding. Perhaps it could not be tattooed, or such piercing artists ran out of places to puncture.

However, as dentists we have repaired many a tooth that chomped down on this foreign body in the normal use of the tongue in chewing. Coupled with this, AGD reports that it also affects recessing gingival tissue and nerve damage problems. But beyond those “reparable” events, it also puts such wearers at risk for the development of fatal infections such as Ludwig’s angina or endocarditis (AGD’s General Dentist, June 2004 issue).

Ludwig’s angina is a bacterial infection of the floor of the mouth. It can occur after a tooth infection, mouth injury, oral surgery, and oral piercings.

Piercings, lip rings, and tongue studs create an open wound, which allows bacteria to travel through the blood stream. Such bacteria can cause rapid swelling in the floor of the mouth, which can block the airway or prevent the swallowing of saliva.

Endocarditis occurs when the traveling bacteria infects the heart. Patients with known heart defects are at great risk for endocarditis.

Dr. William J. Dunn, author of the study, notes that “most body piercers are unlicensed and not members of the medical profession. Because of this, health histories are not recorded or reviewed, emergency kits are not available, antibiotics are not prescribed, and postoperative care is not available.”

AGD spokesman Dr. Melvin K. Pierson adds, “People are told to expect some swelling from a tongue piercing, but if they don’t receive follow-up care, they may not be aware of when it is abnormal swelling. A person may have an angina attack and not know it.”

Unclean, unsterilized piercing equipment can cause other infections, such as blood-borne hepatitis.

The AGD article does not mention another possibility of kidney nephritis and damage as a long-term possibility.

True Power

PFA Fellows are all leaders who, on a daily basis, provide positive, volunteer acts that are beneficial to someone that they may or may not know. In the case of the PFA Foundation, it is people that are remote to us.

This year’s group of applications for grants reveals the amazing altruism of dental volunteers throughout dentistry. Reading through them discloses that money has been requested to support volunteers for dental functions in nine countries. They are Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, France, Laos, Nepal, India, Vietnam, and the United States. In almost all cases, these grants go for direct dental care for distressed populations.

In most of these cases, the dental workers volunteer their time and expertise. Often they will travel great distances at their own expense. The patients will frequently be found to be waiting in line for two days after still having walked great distances. For many, this is the only time they will see a dentist in a year.

For those of us who cannot be on the patient end of the program, there is the opportunity to enable the grant seekers through donating money to the PFA Foundation’s newly developing “Memorial and Tributes Fund” Program.

Donations may be Memorials to a deceased person that you wish to honor or to commemorate with a special Tribute in the name of some living person. Details on this program are to be published elsewhere.

Due to the huge $5 million bequest of Dr. Fernando Brenes-Espinach of Costa Rica, your Foundation has been able to support grant seekers in the amount of over $3 million during the last nine years, all from interest earnings. The principal has not been invaded and is now worth $7 million. While this one was an enormous bequest, more modest donations of $50 to $1000 and larger will really add up. Important grants can then be made, in your name or someone else’s name if you wish. We have plenty of applicants who can really use the funding support.

In nine years, we have given over 200 grants, most of them for direct dental care for the underserved. We have administered over 700 scholarships of $1500 each to dental students in a large number of countries where PFA Sections are found. See our Web page at www.Fauchard.org.

Our volunteer Foundation Board has proven to be excellent stewards of the money. We have just one part-time person being financially supported and the rest of us are volunteers. We have no rented space and have an extremely limited overhead.

We feel that by being givers, and not takers, we feel good. And we know that those thousands of unseen patients out there feel better than they did before. The main people in this effort, the volunteers in the field, feel good. We applaud them.

United States

Washington State

Molly McAllister, the Honors & Awards Coordinator for the University of Washington School of Dentistry, reports that our last year’s Foundation Scholarship winner, Brian Almond, was also selected as this year’s Senior Student Award recipient. Dr. Tracy Popowics of the Department of Oral Biology was this year’s main Awards Presenter for the University’s annual Honors and Awards Assembly last June in Hogness Auditorium. Dr. Almond graduated in the top 10% of his class and was involved in the student council, serving as President during his first three years of dental school.

Current junior dental student Christopher Piper was chosen by the Student Awards Committee to receive this year’s Foundation Scholarship. Chris is also involved in student leadership and has served as class President for his first three years at the dental school and was just elected Student Council President for the coming year.

The event’s Awards Program lists the Pierre Fauchard Academy Dental Student Scholarship Award as presented each year to the individual in the junior class who has demonstrated the greatest potential in developing into an outstanding leader in the dental profession.

Brian Almond is listed as the 2004 recipient with Chris Piper as the 2005 recipient. The Pierre Fauchard Academy Senior Student award is described as a Certificate of Merit to be awarded to an outstanding senior dental student who has exhibited leadership, achieved academic excellence in professional training including clinical skills, and demonstrated dedication to the advancement of dentistry. Brian Almond’s name as listed as this year’s recipient.

Dr. Almond also received the ACD Outstanding Senior Student Award and the School of Dentistry Governance and Service Award.

Chris Piper also received the Ben & Betty Zukor Scholarship, the Daniel G. Middaugh Dental Student Professional Service Award, and Certificates of School Service for being Junior Class President and Student Council Vice President.

Wisconsin

Chair Glenn Maihofer noted that this year’s Foundation Scholarship Award was presented to Marquette dental student Barret Straub, who is enrolled into the Marquette Orthodontics Program.

The Section Chairpersons collectively are the backbone of the Academy. Their activities and recruitment processes establish the prestige of the Academy and its Fellows and the quality of the membership; in general, they maintain the atmosphere of selectivity so necessary to meet the goals established by our charter over 60 years ago.

What are the characteristics of an ideal Section Chairperson?

The ideal Section Chairperson is one who fundamentally has a strong sense of ethics in his or her personal and professional life; one who has proven strong leadership qualities by achieving the presidency of a dental organization or reaching line officer status; one who has a strong recognition factor through political, professional, or academic credentials, or community service. Above all, this individual is someone who would like to be active in organized dentistry at the international level.

Yet in the reverse, I have known ambitious Section Chairs who, even lacking Board recognition, managed to successfully achieve the presidency of a local dental organization by their innate skills and diligence and achieved success through PFA Chair activities.

A major question always asked is: Who is eligible for Fellowship? What are the criteria for selection?

My own approach, when I served as a Section Chair, was to try to honor the outstanding achievers in the many segments of our profession.

Certainly, line officers of various organizations, including Board members, presidents of the important constituent societies, leaders of the specialty groups, chiefs of major section committees, and those colleagues who contribute to the literature or are in research make excellent choices for Fellowship.

In fact, the Academy should welcome any dentist who has in her or his individual way made a contribution to our profession in an ethical manner.

Besides Fellowship, the Section Chairperson has another role to play. They are in a position to recognize “super achievers,” dentists who stand above their elite peers. The Section Chair can and should elect the super achiever for further PFA recognition at the local and regional level for a possibility at the national and international levels. The Chair can “test” this individual by appointing a new Fellow to a committee to work on for the Section to observe his abilities for higher responsibilities.

That is one of the perks, awarding honor where honor is due.

In the larger States or Regions, it is quite important for the Section Chair to build up a team of deputy chair people in a formal or informal screening network. Their job is to suggest qualified candidates in the various areas of the State or Region. If there is a major dental school, the Dean or an Associate Dean could be a member of the network. If there is a major dental center or hospital complex in which students assemble for graduate training or research, the chief director can be considered for such a role.

What do you emphasize in your personal approach letter to a potential candidate?

A very important point is the variety of our activities that serve the needy, our Foundation grants, and local projects to provide assistance for their success. Another is our publications, Dental Abstracts and Dental World-–one of the best-wedded dental publications of its kind. Of equal importance is that your potential candidate for membership is to be honored, even just the invitation, accepted or not, is an honor. Then there is the honor to be included into an Academy of leaders in their profession, the doers and shakers who set the standards with programs and projects beyond the normal professional requirements.

It is important for the potential candidates to know that when they enter Fellowship, they join the “Club.” They are marked with a substantial responsibility to continue to be a leader in their profession and to fulfill their already demonstrated potential that drives them from inside. And the Academy can become a part of helping them achieve these goals through contacts, networking, and help from others to have gone before them.

In a democracy, elitism is always a suspect word. Nevertheless, a PFA Fellow belongs to a special group that is elite. The only difference is that PFA Fellows are democratically selected for their achievements and outstanding qualities above the professional norm.

In retrospect, the job as Section Chair need not be an arduous task if organized properly. Chairpersons have all the resources of the Central Office to call upon; they have the Regional Trustees by their side; they have established programs and projects to become a part of, or they can create their own; and the Foundation stands ready to support worthwhile local activities with funding and scholarships. There is the Web site to provide 24-hour answers; e-mail/call/fax the office for special needs; and our publications to promote and report their successes.

Serving as a PFA Section Chair is like any leadership position, to be taken one step at a time. Plan, organize, recruit, delegate responsibilities, and coordinate the efforts. You are the backbone of the PFA International service honor organization. You are the most valuable resource we have.

PIERRE FAUCHARD ACADEMY
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