While being an FACD may imply a sincere commitment to ethical behavior; while becoming an FICD may lead to educational enhancement, becoming a PFA Fellow adds the dimension of service to others, which is of such vital importance to those underserved and disadvantaged everywhere around the world.

The PFA Foundation, through its grants program, strongly encourages this aspect of Fellowship, affords an opportunity for financial support of service projects anywhere, and urges more of you to apply for this funding. Developing a service project can add challenge and diversity to our everyday practices; expand our horizons; and help us reach out to the needy—and there are untold numbers of these! Having been involved in this way in the past, and still to this day, I can personally attest to the fact that this is rewarding, satisfying, and life changing! Join me and all those Fellows who believe that service to others is a true calling. You will not regret it one iota!

There is another aspect of our Fellowship that I have come to recognize and appreciate, and that is the camaraderie I have experienced everywhere I have been since becoming a Trustee and an Officer. While expected on our own turf, to find this friendship all over the globe is truly inspiring and uplifting. May more of you get to know this as well! And, as your President, all of this has become a most welcome addition to my wife’s and my own lives. I truly want to thank you for this most wonderful gift!

The FDI will be the first major international health organization to host its annual meetings in Shenzhen where a new exhibition hall has been opened for this and other expected events. China also has built and opened their Metro Rail Transport system (MRT), which takes you through the heart of Shenzhen to provide an accessible and affordable means to travel around the city. The cost is 2-5 Chinese RMB (20 to 50 Euro cents). There are 20 new stations on the line with instructions in Chinese and in English.

If you are planning to attend, you must do so in advance. All visitors from countries other than Japan, Singapore, and Brunei will require a visa to

enter China. If you are transferring in Hong Kong, you will need an additional visa in and out of Hong Kong. Letters of invitation are required in applying for your visa. An official FDI letter of Invitation to the Congress may be obtained from FDI upon request, but it does not guarantee registration or any financial provisions. You may secure such a letter from Ms. Vivian Zhou, Deputy Director of the Department of Convention and Exhibition at e-mail Vivianzsb@hotmail.com or faxing +86-10-62261849. You will need to provide the following: name, address, occupation, nationality, passport number, and city to the closest Chinese Embassy along with your dates of arrival and departure.

MONDAY
16 October

8–9:30 AM ADA Opening Session TBA

9:30–11 AM Section Chair Caucus Mesquite Room 1

10 AM–noon Academy Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

Noon working lunch Desert Willow Room

1:30–2:30 PM Executive Session Desert Willow Room

2:30–5 PM Academy Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

TUESDAY
17 October

7:30–11:30 AM Foundation Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

11:30 AM–2 PM Awards Luncheon Four Seasons Ballroom 3

2:30–5 PM Foundation Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

6:30–8 PM President’s Reception Four Seasons Ball Room 4

WEDNESDAY
18 October

8 AM–noon Foundation Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

Noon working lunch with the Academy/Foundation Boards

1–5 PM Academy Board Meeting Desert Willow Room

6:30-10:30 PM PFA Dinner Party Mesquite Room 1

After six months of being out of touch with normalcy, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are close to a reopening date for the practice and are scheduling patients again. We are currently busy setting up our new state-of-the-art equipment as it arrives. We also want to thank Drs. Salvaggio, Chaney, and Murphy for covering the emergencies during the reconstruction.

We are proud to be a part of the rebuilding of a better South Louisiana. And we are looking forward to putting smiles back on the faces of the residents of Kenner and the surrounding areas.

I have been working on the New Orleans Dental Conference for April 2007. We will be excited for the opportunity to provide excellent continuing education for the dentists of the New Orleans area while drawing visitors from around the world to witness the resurgence of this fine historical city. We cannot wait to see you all and thank you for your prayers on behalf of our residents.

Brushella the Tooth Fairy starts her second tour of North America to visit children and science museums beginning in Winnipeg, with their “Branches, Bristles, and Batteries: Toothbrushes Through Time” exhibit. This will be the first time they have taken the exhibit beyond the U.S. borders. This is made possible through the generous support of the United Concordia Dental Insurance Company of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Brushella acts as the hostess and guide for the displays encouraging children and families to brush and to explain to them the truths about toothbrushes. The exhibit aimed at elementary school children has learning stations, a computer-based activity area, and colorful text panels describing the history of the toothbrush from Babylonian times to modern-day battery-powered devices. The exhibition is to help achieve an overall healthy lifestyle through entertaining, high-tech activities that address oral care techniques included in that life style.

A complete schedule of the cities
the exhibition will be visiting is at: www.dentalmuseum.org/exhibitions/traveling

In their 2002-2005 tour, they visited New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Portsmouth (Virginia), St. Paul, Kansas City, Dallas, El Paso, and Ft. Lauderdale. Local dental associations in each city partner with the host museums to promote the exhibition and plan educational programs.

The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry was founded in 1996 and is a Smithsonian Institution affiliate. It is located on the campus of the University of Maryland in Baltimore and composes part of the original Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the first in the United States.

Dentistry has had some wins and some losses last year in Washington, D.C. The Republican Congress has been focused on reducing spending. The entitlement spending by our country simply cannot be sustained.

We were able to make some $39 billion cuts, some of which came out of Medicaid, but with common-sense changes, like giving State Governors the authority to request very small co-payments. We require citizenship verification for those applying for Medicaid to confront the problem with so many illegal immigrants receiving services at the expense of our own poorest citizens. Senior citizens that have a home equity over $500,000 are not allowed to get on Medicaid long-term care. And we are encouraging Medicaid patients to use generic drugs.

Dental Medicaid almost took the biggest hit. The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act allows States to design a “benchmark medical insurance plan,” which might not cover dental treatment particularly for children who are now covered by early periodic screening diagnostic prevention (EPSDT). With the help of the ADA, I fixed this problem in the House Bill.

The Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations cut the Dental Education Grants within Title 7 to nothing. We managed to get about half the funding back.

I have only one more year to serve on the oversight control for OSHA as there is a six-year term limit as subcommittee chairman. The new assistant OSHA Secretary Edwin Foulke and I have a meeting in early 2006 to discuss the problems.

\Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia) is the subcommittee chairman there that has jurisdiction over OSHA, and Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) is full Chairman. They have a tremendous OSHA Bill in the Senate, which includes four of my OSHA Bills that passed the House a few months ago. We hope to get this passed in 2006.

I appreciated seeing many of you at Philadelphia ADA Meeting. I am aware that the ADA House of Delegates are faced with determining how much of our profession’s work is to be done by people who are not trained as dentists. Be careful not to give our profession away.

I did have some ugly health problems in 2004 and 2005 with a single lung transplant to a lobectomy in my native lung removing a malignant growth, but it had not metastasized. I am in much better health now and expect to run for re-election this November. I love what I do and it keeps me motivated. There is never NOT a problem to solve.

If you are ever in Washington, please stop by my office in the Rayburn Building. I enjoy catching up with what is going on with practicing dentists on what the practical effects of government policies impact on your practice.

And if you have any Easter spirit left over, send me some at P.O. Box 499, Evans, Georgia, 30809-9906.

Dental World constantly monitors the Internet for dental-related news. But everything that comes over the Internet is not always accurate or true. DW has developed a network of assistants that enjoy debunking (or not) many e-mails that we never publish. We save them for future reference in case some of the statements come to light as suggesting to our leaders in dentistry to be aware of. There are two that we would like to mention for your contribution and assessment.

The first comes from Monica Castro, the BDC Service Coordinator for Mercedes-Benz of Chicago and Fletcher Jones Imports. In her missive to us, she refers to an NBC-Channel 5 News Report (Chicago) of about 23 February 2006 that their TV Investigative Team canvassed toothpastes, like Crest, Colgate, and other name brands, that are being sold in the “dollar stores” at discounted prices. They reported that these toothpastes were manufactured in other countries and are not approved by the ADA. One made in South Africa contains fluoride that is ten times greater in strength than is allowed in the United States. Now South Africa does not have fluoridated water as many cities in the United States have, so the amount may be necessary to achieve the same protection. Their concern was that kids often swallow their toothpaste. Using the discounted, foreign-made toothpastes could cause a health hazard. Spokespersons for the discount stores declined to comment on this, so the television station has launched a further investigation into the possibilities of using foreign toothpastes not approved by the ADA. They cautioned that shoppers check to see if the discounted toothpaste is approved by the ADA Council on Dental Therapeutics, check the ingredients and their amounts, or play it save and purchase them at reputable outlet stores.

The second e-mail was part of a series of cartoon cautions that were meant to be humorous warnings. One of their statements was that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend that you keep your toothbrush at least 10 feet from the toilet facility to avoid bacterial contamination. I must be the tenth dentist as I have never seen that reported anywhere. Correct me if any of you have seen any research on this. I cannot remember being in a bathroom that is 10 feet long. In measuring my home commode area, it was about six feet by six feet with 2.5 feet being taken up by the bathtub. Most water closets have a bathtub, the sink, and then the toilet. With the toothbrushes hanging off the water cup holder, they are barely three feet away.

While the premise has a certain logic to it, bathrooms do not seem constructed to accommodate keeping the toothbrushes 10 feet away. And keeping them elsewhere would probably reduce their use, certainly by children. In addition to that, if bacteria from the toilet is an important concern, more so than that contained in the mouth, or breathed in when shaving or showering, does it not escape the area as airborne? Like dust does.

Keeping them in the medicine cabinet, a mere three feet away, would certainly contaminate them when taken out for use.

At Loyola University Medical Center, the dental teachers shared a cafeteria with the medical staff. One day a group of dentists I was with sat with some proctologists for lunch. One dentist asked whatever made a physician want to become a proctologist. The proctologist answered that it was cleaner at his end than at ours. And because a majority of the population thought the same way, a proctologist could charge them more.

The Internet is a powerful tool in gathering and disseminating information. Some e-mails you have seen note that they have been around the world several times. So misinformation can spread as rapidly as truisms. Is this discussed statement a conundrum or is there valid research behind it?

We dentists talk about “extreme dental neglect” all over the world. There is so much dental treatment to be done! We are concerned about the poor, the uneducated people with rampant dental disease. We applaud the few dentists who give up a few days or weeks to leave their offices and go into remote areas of the world to help the underserved by relieving pain and suffering. It is our professional responsibility to help those whom we can.

Now look in your own backyard! Look in your own State! Look in the area of your own Section! What are YOU doing to relieve the underserved in your own backyard? We do not always need to go into remote areas to find those in need. If your Section Chair has not recognized an area of concern, then help your Section Chair find an appropriate project. We in the Foundation want to help you as a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy by funding your grant! There are new grant application forms on the Web site that are up-to-date and extremely user-friendly.

On a personal note, several years ago, we in Michigan heard about the Bay Cliff Health Camp in our Upper Peninsula. This facility is a non-profit, non-denominational summer health camp for children and adults. Their primary mission is to serve children and adults who have physical disabilities. They also provide dental treatment for their campers. At that time, our Section Chair was Dr. Virginia Merchant, who felt that this project was a worthwhile endeavor. Dr. Cheri Newman, Jim Kenyon (her husband), Stephanie Newman (her hygienist daughter), Kristy Dorland (her chair side assistant), Dr. Virginia Merchant, my wife Janet Campbell, and I traveled the 800 miles into Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula.

We found the camp to be in an isolated area and the dental clinic was supplied with old, worn equipment. The PFA Foundation had funded a grant to the Michigan Section to be used for the camp dental clinic. We treated patients every day, often running out of supplies. My wife, who was volunteering in the clinic office, made several trips to the nearest town (an hour round trip) to get the needed items from a local dentist, Dr. Donn Kipka who graciously supplied our needs.

Dr. Kipka was the PFA Fellow who had applied for the original grant. By the end of the week, we all felt we had contributed to our profession. We were also pleased to see how valuable our Foundation Grant was to this remote and valuable dental clinic.

When we shared our experiences at our Section Meeting, the Fellows of the Michigan Section voted to donate $7500 from our Section treasury to the Bay Cliff Health Camp for a compressor, lights, and handpieces for the clinic. This money was in addition to the original Foundation Grant. To sum it up, as one of our team did, “We came expecting disabled people. But we found ‘differently-abled people!’” Money cannot buy our pride and sense of accomplishment or the warmth and the appreciation of these patients.

Help YOUR Section apply for a Foundation Grant to help you do what only YOU can do … valuable dentistry!

Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.

The PFA Foundation was created by your Officers in 1986 to establish a charitable arm of the Academy to receive donations that would be used for dental programs. At its outset, most of the contributions to the Foundation funds were from the benevolence of its Fellows. The amount was not very great to do wondrous things with, but a few dental scholarships were awarded at that time. The creation of the Foundation was in response to a request from a major benefactor, Dr. Fernando Brenes-Espinach of Costa Rica, a 1984 Elmer Best Award recipient, who had written PFA into his will to receive most of his estate after his death. That estate amounted to over $5 million.

Upon chartering, the PFA Foundation had written its guidelines that its Board of Trustees would be past Presidents of the Academy and serve with no pay while directing the funds in its charge and keeping. The decision had been suggested by Dr. Robert Shira that funds received from its Fellows would be invested to accumulate a larger sum to possibly perform vaster dental projects. So when the Brenes-Espinach bequest arrived, the Foundation decided to invest the entire sum, and use the interest to award funds to dental service projects.

Under the exceptional and able leadership of the Foundation Treasurer George Higue, the principal grew as a certain portion of the interest was put back into the principal. The principal was safely invested wisely to result in about $300,000 a year interest. This amount became the benchmark for dental grant awards and dental scholarships for many years following. Individual Fellowship contributions were also turned into the principal.

Then when the investment market started fluctuating and the high-interest bonds required turning over, the percent interest was considerably less than what the Foundation had come to expect annually. IRS demands of a Foundation that it grant out 15% of the entire amount in charitable contributions and pay a 1% tax on the income.

When the interest rates dropped from the usual 7% and Fellowship contributions had stabilized to an annual figure, the Foundation was in danger of going into the principal to pay the taxes and still give out dental grants of a lesser amount.

For several years, then Foundation President Robert Shira had urged that the Academy commence an endowment plan to build up the principal against such investment shortfalls. But it was not until the last three years that past PFA President C. F. Larry Barrett took up the charge and researched the possibilities. The initial cost of beginning such a project without any guarantee of a return balked many Trustees. But when reality set in, Dr. Barrett was given the green light.

Dr. Barrett was prepared to launch his suggested Endowment Fund Raising Program last Fall after approval by the Foundation Board of Trustees. But the Katrina disaster occurred almost at the same time that the Foundation Annual Meeting was scheduled, and the immediate priorities shifted.

Foundation Trustee James Long led many Trustees in the desire to aid, in some way, those affected by the disaster. However, there were no legally established provisions in the Constitution to act with dispatch, no guidelines, and no direction as to where such funds might go. With tremendous resolve to help out, the best the Trustees were able to enact were (1) (through he Academy) waive the Academy dues for at least a year of those Fellows affected by the disaster; (2) create an Emergency Disaster Relief Fund to collect contributions; and (3) set up a committee to draw up guidelines and the legal clauses to allow the Foundation to act in such cases. This was presented to the Foundation Board at their Interim Meeting in April for approval.

In the meantime, Dr. Barrett’s Endowment Fund Raising Program has again been delayed due to the nation’s outstanding generosity to aid the Katrina victims and the ADA’s own requests for money to help out, not to mention our own Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund. Competition with the many other fund-raising groups out there seemed to suggest that starting another one with a less dramatic reason would not result in achieving the desired goals for the investment required.

Now that matters with the New Orleans area are stabilizing, and the Foundation need had grown, it has become a necessity to initiate the Foundation’s Endowment Fund Raising Program.

Besides the information supplied in Dental World and on the Web site of the Foundation, most every Fellow will receive a personal letter from Dr. Barrett representing his entire committee composed of both Academy and Foundation Officers.

The Foundation Officers themselves have already contributed in support of this project to underwrite much of the start-up costs necessary to contact you for your help.

Dr. Barrett’s Committee has established several categories of giving and levels for contributions.

The Memorial Tribute Program is established as an opportunity to memorialize a friend, mentor, loved one, or to pay tribute to the service of our great dental professionals that have served us as Dr. Robert Shira, past President of the Foundation, and Dr. Shig Ryan Kishi, the past Executive Director of the Foundation. Large sums were raised shortly after their deaths for the Foundation. But if you wish to memorialize any individual, you may designate who you wish to honor.

Endowment Fund Raising Program continued...

The Grants and Scholarship Program gifts will support the ongoing work of the Foundation and relieve, or partly relieve, the costs for these projects from around the world from complete Foundation support. You can co-sponsor a dental scholarship with a donation as little as $1000, or more, to have your name attached to the presentation of this award. Think of immortalizing yourself or family/friends by being a part of funding an international dental program serving the needy in an area of the world you may never visit. You will be personally reaching out to expand your sphere of influence to contribute in areas you may never have heard about. The Foundation is the vehicle to do that for you. The Foundation serves the globe’s dental needs, a project at a time. You have the funds to be a part of that project by plugging them into the Foundation’s Grants Program.

The Legacy Program is probably the easiest to be a part of. You just include the Foundation in your will (as Dr. Brenes-Espinach did), add the Foundation as a benefactor to your life insurance, or even take out a life insurance policy you pay for making the Foundation the benefactor. In this way, all the good work you have done as a professional will continue on after you have gone on to your reward. That is earthly immortality. Many Fellows already participate in this category as a means to continue their valued service to humanity after their skills have diminished, retirement, or death.

But donations can include stocks, bonds, or real property (title cleared, of course).

The Committee has established levels of contributions to be recognized in Dental World, on our Web site, and with an office certificate. Anyone (even non-Fellows) contributing $1000 or more will be recognized with a Dr. Robert Shira Fellowship. Currently, there are nine Officers that have earned this Fellowship. Anyone contributing $100 or more will also be listed on all our sites. Anyone can start out with a small donation and accumulate that yearly to a larger one, or a larger amount can be pledged and the pledge can be paid off in installments spread over three to five years.

Suggested contribution levels for our Fellows are $100 per year for a Fellow, $200 a year for Section Chairs, and $500 annually for PFA Officers and Trustees. Those eventually accumulating a total donation of $1000 or more will qualify as a Dr. Robert Shira Fellow.

If you want to get ahead of the letter being sent out, you can mail your contribution to the Foundation Treasurer William Kort at 6 Brighton Lane, Oak Brook, IL 60523; the check can be made out to the Foundation of the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

If you wish more information on the Endowment Fund Raising Program or wish to become a part of it, please call the Foundation Executive Director Fred Halik at 585/387-9519 or e-mail him at: FPFA@Rochester.rr.com.

Robert Shira Fellows

Other Contributors

Dr. Carl Lundgren, past Academy President, past Foundation President

Dr. James Brophy, PFA International Editor

Dr. William Kort, past Academy President, current Foundation Treasurer

Dr. Fred Halik, past Academy President, current Foundation Executive Director

Dr. C. F. Larry Barrett, past Academy President, current Foundation Vice President

Dr. James Long, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

Dr. Nicholas D. Saccone, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

Dr. Kevin Roach, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

The Canadian PFA Section

Dr. M. David Campbell, past Academy President, current Foundation President

Dr. Gary Lowder, past Academy President, current Foundation Grants Chairman

Dr. Michael Perpich, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

The Monroe County Dental Society

CANADA

Laval University of Quebec City dental school senior Razvan Pitic wrote Trustee Barry Dolman to thank PFA for presenting to him the 2005-2006 Achievement Award. “It is a great honor to accept this award. Thank you for your support. For me it is a great pleasure to represent the best profession ever. I am very grateful to see that my efforts made during the past four years at Laval University were noticed by the Pierre Fauchard Academy. As my DMD program comes slowly to an end, you can be sure that in the future I will continue representing our profession by the state of the art and with great passion.”

FRANCE

Chair Marie-Laure Boy-Lefevre, Dean of the Paris 7 School of Dentistry, held a ceremony at the Paris 7 School to present the Foundation Scholarships to dental students Romain Depape of Paris 7 Dental University by Dean Boy-Lefevre, and to Vincent Berthelot of the Brest Dental School by Dean Alain Zerilli. International Trustee for Europe Hubert Ouvrard was in attendance at the ceremony.

(L-R, Brest recipient Vincent Berthelot, Chair Marie-Laure Boy-Lefevre, and Paris 7 recipient Romain Depape

The Foundation-sponsored mobile dental clinic has had another banner year in servicing the dentally underserved poor of the Paris region. In visiting four permanent sites, their 2005 annual report states that they had 1911 appointments for 950 patients, 750 of which were new. Such categories as extractions were up 22.5%, root canals were up 9%, and periodontal treatment was up 6.5%. The population age average ranged between 25 and 39 with 40 to 65-year-olds up 30%, and 2% were infants; 14% of those seeking treatment lived permanently in the area, and the rest were itinerant.

INDIA

Secretary/Treasurer Dr. T. Samraj reports hosting their annual PFA Awards and Induction Ceremony last December to present the PFA Scholarship Award to dental student Amit Chhabria of the Government Dental College at Indore. The Award was presented by the Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh, President of the Indian Dental Association.

Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh also presented the PFA senior Student Award to dental student S. Vimi of the A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences in Mangalore.

Indian Dental Association President Dr. Bhagwant Singh presents the Scholarship Award to Amit Chhabria. Indian Chairman S. G. Damle is in the background

President Bhagwant Singh presents the Senior Student Award to S. Vimi

UNITED STATES

Illinois

Chair Chris Baboulas hosted their annual Luncheon last February and recognized the Foundation scholarship recipients Siddhi Doshi from the University of Illinois, introduced by Dean Bruce Graham (a PFA Fellow), and Ava Lauren Hood from Southern Illinois University, introduced by her Dean.

Scholarship recipient Ava Lauren Hood and Chair Chris Baboulas

Scholarship recipient Siddhi Doshi and Chair Chris Baboulas

Louisiana

Chair Guy A. Ribando reported that the LSU dental school has set up a temporary campus in Baton Rouge. Their Dean Eric Hovland expects that the dental school will be back in operation in New Orleans in Septemeber of this year or by January 2007 at the latest. Meanwhile, the Foundation Scholarship Award was presented to senior dental student David Balhoff at the Baton Rouge campus.

Dean Eric Hovland awards the PFA Scholarship to senior David Balhoff

1 May 2006

PFA Management Team Meeting,
Anaheim, California

1–4 June

OSAP Symposium (Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures) Tucson, Arizona

24–26 August

Canadian Dental Association Annual meeting St. John’s, Newfoundland

25 August

Canadian PFA Luncheon

18–25 September

94th FDI Congress, Shenzhen, China

18 September

PFA Region 9 Meeting
TBA Shenzhen, China

16–20 October

147th ADA Annual Session, Las Vegas, Nevada

16–19 October

Monday-Friday:
PFA Academy Board Meetings
PFA Foundation Board Meetings

17-18 October

PFA Annual Board Meetings
Academy and Foundation
Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

17 October, 11:30 am–2 pm PFA Awards Luncheon, Ballroom 3

17 October, 6:30–8 pm PFA President’s Reception, Ballroom 4

18 October, 6:30–10:30 pm PFA Dinner Party, Mesquite Room 1

CANADA

International Trustee for Canada Barry Dolman was honored by the Canadian Dental Association with its highest award, Honorary Membership, in a special ceremony at CDA President Jack Cottrell’s Installation Dinner at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa last April. This award is considered Canada’s highest award in dentistry.

Trustee for Canada Barry Dolman reports that the Canadian Dental Association will hold its annual Meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland, 24-26 August 2006. The Canadian PFA generally holds its annual Awards Ceremonies in conjunction with this event. Right now, they have scheduled a PFA Luncheon on Friday, 25 August. If anyone is planning to attend, please contact the CDA Convention Coordinator Una Folkson Singh at 1815 Alta Vista Drive in Ottawa, Ontario, K1G3Y6. The phone number is 613/523-1770, extension 2334, or 1-800/267-6354 or fax 613/523-7736.

The 2007 ODA Annual Meeting will be in Toronto 26-28 April 2007.

INDIA

Indian Section Secretary/Treasurer T. Samraj reports hosting their annual Section Awards Ceremony last December. In attendance were Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh, President of the Indian Dental Association, India Chairman S. G. Damle, International Honorary Fellow Dr. Major General Kartar Singh, Section Secretary/Treasurer T. Samraj, Section Editor Dr. V. P. Jalili, the new inductees, and the 2005 India Prize winners. New Fellow Dr. Bhuma Nikil Vashi offered the opening prayer. Then President Bhagwant presented the Foundation Scholarship Award, the Senior Student Award, and the awards to the 2005 India Section Prize Winners. Thirteen new Fellows were inducted into the Academy.

POLAND

Chairman Professor Eugeniusz Spiechowicz noted that the Polish Stomatological Association publishes two scientific magazines to their members and organizes lecture series for continuing education. The Association of Polish Dentists has held conferences and hosted several foreign lecturers for their workshops. The Presidents of both organizations are PFA Fellows. Dr. Professor Marek Zietek is President of the Polish Stomatological Association and Dr. Zbigniew Klimek is President of the Association of Polish Dentists.

The Polish Stomatological Association has organized some 28 educational meetings in Bialstok over the last two years. The Association of Polish Dentists has held more than 30 such educational events. Many of these lectures and papers are printed in their scientific journals. Their Section expects to induct five new Fellows into membership this year.

Their Section Officers are Chairman Professor Eugeniusz Spiechowicz, Vice Chair Professor Elzbieta Mierzwinska-Nastalska, Secretary Dr. Zbigniew Klimek, and Treasurer Zdzislaw Malenczyk. Professor Stokowska from Bialystok was the newly inducted Fellow for 2005.

UNITED STATES

California, Northern Section

Fellow Dr. Lawrence M. LeVine of San Rafael, a 1962 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Dentistry, was named Vice Chairman of the Northern California Section of the American College of Dentists.

UOP Dugoni School of Dentistry Dean Arthur Dugoni, a PFA Fellow, was listed in the March issue of the ADA News as having contributed several thousand dollars to the ADA Foundation, along with several other PFA Fellows from around the country. Dean Dugoni also contributed to the ADA Disaster Response Tribute along with other Fellows and the South Carolina PFA Section.

California, Southern Section

Their Annual Spring Luncheon honoring Dr. Cherilyn Sheets as well as their selected candidates for Teachers of the Year and Students of the Year was held on Sunday, 30 April, at the Sheraton Park Hotel with cocktails at 11:30 and lunch at noon. New Fellows were also inducted into PFA membership.

Fellow Stephen Flanders of Whittier is a third-generation dentist who is celebrating the 101st year of his dental practice within a five-block area of Whittier. His grandfather, George Flanders, graduated in the first USC dental class and started his general dentistry practice in Whittier, a former Quaker settlement, just east of Los Angeles in 1905. His father, Maxwell Flanders joined the practice after graduating from USC in 1933. And Stephen Flanders started with him after graduating from UOP in 1965. This mutual relationship was a wonderful mentorship as the practice changed from generation to generation.

Illinois

Section Chair Chris Baboulas co-hosted their annual Luncheon Meeting with ICD and ACD last February at McCormick Place in Chicago during the annual Chicago Dental Society MidWinter Meeting. In attendance were dignitaries like the ADA President Richard Haught and PFA Officers Secretary General Richard Kozal, Foundation Treasurer (and past PFA President) William Kort,

Secretary General Richard Kozal and Chair Chris Baboulas

Editor James Brophy, and Assistant Secretary Judy Kozal along with the ICD and ACD Registrars and their officers.

Chair Chris Baboulas presented their 2006 Distinguished Service Award to Dr. Robert Unger, past Illinois State Dental Society President. Dr. Baboulas also recognized the Foundation scholarship recipients at the Luncheon.

Dorothy and Robert Unger at the PFA Awards Luncheon

Louisiana

Fellow and former PFA Chair Frank Martello of New Orleans was presented the Louisiana Dental Association’s Distinguished Service Award in Baton Rouge at their 126th Annual Session last March. This is the highest award bestowed by LDA and is given to an individual who has exemplified the highest standards of professional conduct in dentistry, to organized dentistry, and to their community. Dr. Martello, a graduate of LSU’s School of Dentistry, has a general practice in New Orleans and serves on the staff of Touro Hospital. He has also served as President of the New Orleans Dental Association (1993) and is a Board member on the Louisiana State Dental Board of Dentistry (1995). He is a Fellow in PFA, ICD, ACD, and AGD. He had also received the National Service Award (1998) for his dedication as Director for the Department of Dentistry for the United Cerebral Palsy of New Orleans.

Dr. Frank Martello

Massachusett

Chair Norman Becker of Revere was honored by the Massachusetts Dental Society at their Yankee Dental Congress in Boston last February. Dr. Becker was presented with the James W. Etherington Award for his numerous contributions in the field of dentistry. As a member of MDS for 60 years, he has served as a Trustee to the House of Delegates and has filled many capacities in establishing the Yankee Dental Congress as the fifth-largest dental meeting in the country. Dr. Becker has just recently retired as Editor of the Journal of the Massachusetts Dental Society after 25 years, a term that saw him become President of the American Association of Dental Editors, and in 2002 received the ADA’s Distinguished Editor Award. He is a Fellow in PFA, ACD, ICD, and AGD.

Dr. Norman Becker

New York

Fellow Stephen B. Gold of Setauket has been elected Vice President of the New York State Dental Association (NYSDA), which has a membership of 13,000 dentists. Dr. Gold, a pedodontist, will then serve as the NYSDA President in 2008. He is past President of the Suffolk County Dental Society and serves on their Executive Committee and Board of Delegates. He was an ADA Delegate from 1988 to 1996 and ADA Alternate Delegate in 2005. Currently, he is Director of the Department of Dentistry on the medical Board for St. Charles Hospital where he earned their Theodore Roosevelt Award for Meritorious Service. He is a Clinical Professor in pedodontics at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine. He is a Fellow in PFA, ICD, and ACD.

Dr. Stephen B. Gold

Utah

Chairman Richard O. Petty hosted their PFA Annual Breakfast Meeting last February in conjunction with the Utah Dental Association’s Annual Convention. In attendance were the 14th ADA District Trustee Joel Glover, past PFA President Gary Lowder, and many officers of the Utah Dental Association. Dr. Mark Cowley gave the Invocation for the some 48 guests. Dr. Tom Hilton of the Oregon Health and Science University gave a presentation to invite dentists to join in a program called PRECEDENT (Practice-based Research Collaborative in Evidence-based Dentistry).

Drs. Gary Lowder and Richard Petty conducted the induction for two new Fellows in membership, Drs. Paul Baugh and Robert Capener. Their Distinguished Service Award was presented to Dr. Richard Engar for his many years of service to the Utah Dental Association and as attorney of the Utah Professional Liability Company (PIE).

Dr. Lowder, a PFA Foundation Officer, presented a video of a Foundation Grant recipient project in Mexico. He urged the Fellows to seek opportunities for such service and to apply for Foundation grants to implement their projects.

ADA Trustee Joel Glover spoke about the evolution of the UNLV School of Dentistry, the pros and cons of such a venture relating to a similar effort taking shape in Utah.

Wisconsin

PFA Vice President James Englander and Editor James Brophy held a Publications Committee Meeting in Milwaukee last January and toured the new University of Marquette School of Dentistry. The school houses a dental museum sponsored by the Englander dental family.

Museum Curator Peter Jacobson is also a historian for the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table and was written up in the February 1st edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

PFA Vice President James Englander and Editor James Brophy standing in front of one section of the Marquette Dental Museum

The Milwaukee Civil War Round Table is the second oldest in the country. The oldest is the Chicago Civil War Round Table of which Fellow Gordon Damman, a Civil War Medical historian, and Editor Brophy of Illinois are members.

PFA Vice President James Englander in one of the new classrooms of the Marquette University School of Dentistry

Washington State

Fellow Dan G. Middaugh was elected President of the Washington State Dental Association. But there is more to this health care leader than dental politics. He earned his first degree from the University of Minnesota College of Education and then entered the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. In 1963, Dan became one of the first four faculty members to be recruited by the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia, where he helped build the new curriculum from the ground up and in the design of the new facility. By 1967, the University of Washington Center for Research in Oral Biology recruited him to develop appropriate local scientific review systems and to design the new building to expand the space in the School of Dentistry. He was appointed Assistant Dean in the school and designed the D-Wing, allowing for an increase in class size. In 1972, Dr. Middaugh became the Assistant Dean for Continuing Education under whose guidance the UW Continuing Dental education Program became one of the most respected in the country. He became the first President (1991) of the American Association of Continuing Dental Education.

Dr. Middaugh worked with the Washington Academy of General Dentistry and served on their Board, eventually becoming their President. In 2003, he was elected President of the Seattle-King County Dental Society. He is a Fellow in PFA, ICD, and ACD. He established on his own the Dan G. Middaugh Student Award for Professional Service, which grants a $1000 student award to each of the class Presidents and to the Student Council President while establishing a $100,000 endowment to continue these awards to continue to support developing leadership skills that will be important in the future of our profession. He has twice been the recipient of the WSDA Presidents Award (1995 and 2001) and of the Dean’s Club Honorary Lifetime Membership Award (2004).

In memory of the passing of another dental legend, PFA reports the loss of Fellow Johnny Johnson last October. Dr. Johnson, a graduate of the University of Washington School of Dentistry in the 1950s, served on their UW Dental Alumni Association for some 50 years, serving as President from 1967 to 1968. He was recognized for his achievements with their Distinguished Alumnus Award. He founded the UW School of Dentistry Dean’s Club and was elected its first President of the Dean’s Club Board of Trustees in 1983. He was later honored with their Dean’s Club Honorary Lifetime Membership Award. They also established the Johnny N. Johnson Student leadership Award to provide a scholarship for outstanding dental students active in leadership roles. Dr. Johnson served on the faculty (1990-2005) in the Department of Oral Medicine. He pioneered the field of serving people with disabilities and special needs. Through his efforts, he initiated a student rotation through the United Cerebral Palsy Dental Clinic of King-Snohomish. He was honored for his dedication with the United Cerebral Palsy Association Volunteer of the Year Award and the ADA Access Award. He helped establish the United Cerebral Palsy Dental Clinic in 1962, the first of its kind in the country. And Dr. Johnson participated in its dental treatment for 43 years up to the time of his passing. This year, the new clinic facility will be moved to Lake City and renamed the Johnny N. Johnson Dental Clinic. Dr. Johnson has served as President of the Washington State Dental Association and as President of the Seattle-King County Dental Society. He was a Fellow in PFA, ICD, and ACD.