President Dr. Charles Eller
It is an honor and a privilege to be able to have you spend some of your time reading a President's Message.
I am often asked how I became involved with the Pierre Fauchard Academy. To be truthful, it was because I did a favor for a very dear friend. Dr. Shig Kishi, a past President of the Academy and past Executive Director of the PFA, called me one evening 12 years ago, and asked me if I could help him. As a friend, I said, "Of course. That is what friends are for." ("I neglected to ask him what he needed!")
He said, "Good. You are now the new PFA Section Chair for Southern California."
My reply was, "Shig, I have been a PFA Fellow since 1962, and frankly, I don't know exactly what the PFA does these days."
He said, "You'll learn!"
As we all know, there are groups like these where you belong; you pay dues; but you really do not pay much attention to what is going on.
Our Southern California Section was in excellent shape due to Section Chair Dr. Steve Ferriot. He wished to relinquish the job for personal reasons.
Why this Section is so strong is because of the multitude of activities undertaken by the Southern California Fellows. Since its inception, the Section has received nearly half a million dollars in PFA Foundation scholarships and grants. It has been my pleasure to visit many of the projects to make certain that the Foundation funding is well spent and greatly appreciated. And, believe me, it is!
For example, several dentists, including PFA Fellows, examined more than 300 children in 10 orphanages in Tijuana, Mexico; more than 200 of them were found to be dentally deprived. I was able to visit the "clinic" where the dental work was to be done. "Clinic" is a misnomer! It was a room measuring 8 feet × 10 feet with two donated dental units--not state-ofthe-art, but functional. Fortunately, the two young lady dentists from Sonora were completing their "service to the country" obligation after graduating. Both were less than five feet tall and very slim. "Crowding" is an understatement.
Challenge: Insufficient restorative material was available to fill the need.
Solution: I called my friend, Dr. Robert Ibsen, Dent-Mat Corporation President, and told him of the need. Three days later, Dent-Mat sent me a large box filled with restorative materials that were needed. I delivered the supplies personally to the Mexican clinic.
We are fortunate to have Fellows like Bob Ibsen to help us out--no questions asked! This was action above and beyond our PFA Foundation grants. And this is only one such example of the quality of character, a trademark of our PFA Fellows.
My style is not to be erudite of philosophical. I want you to hear my gut feelings for what the PFA Fellows in the trenches are accomplishing.
More next time!
Charles G. Eller, DDS, BS