Who am I?

In retrospect, looking back at my involvement with dentistry, one could say that I’m a pioneer in many facets of the profession. Maybe there was an individualistic aspect to my drive; I’ve always wanted to do well in any endeavor I attempted, but basically everything I did was for self-gratification, not for self-aggrandizement or self-promotion.

The self gratification I experienced was due to the role I played in providing tens of thousands of patients the proper care they deserved and the role dentistry played in bridging me to the outside world.

1960’s & 1970’s

I graduated NYU dental school in 1964, followed immediately by a two-year surgical residency in the army. I entered private practice in 1966. With the upstart surgical background and a position on the oral surgery staff at Maimonides Hospital my curiosities immediately lead me to become deeply involved in all facets of dentistry including advanced periodontia, implant dentistry, and oral surgery at a very young “dental” age. By my sixth year as a dentist, I was lecturing at the Greater New York Dental Convention and local Dental Study Clubs on the “first generation” composite filling materials and their applications.

Over the decade of the seventies, I was able to own and oversee about thirty-five dental offices with several hundred dentists under my employment. These circumstances allowed me the ability to practice the type of dentistry one only dreams about; full mouth rehabilitation cases with “three-hour” patient appointments…at my leisure, wow!  

During those formative years of the seventies, I was privileged to be a member in the Academy of Dental Practice Administration, the Academy of General Dentistry, the Society of Oral Physiology and Occlusion, the Collegium Internationale Oris Implantatorum, the American Academy of Oral Medicine and, more recently, in 1993, one of the pioneer members of the Academy of Laser Dentistry.

I was both teacher and mentor to all my dentists. I wanted all my patients to receive the best possible care while, at the same time, maintaining efficient and financially secure dental facilities. 

1980’s

The nineteen eighties brought much adventure and excitement. In the early years of that decade I was summonsed to Washington to meet a Congressional group interested in enlisting me to represent them with “dental trade issues” in their newfound relationship and open door policy with China. This introduction created opportunities that eventually led me in 1986 as president of  “Sino-American Health Industries, Inc.”  to sign the nineteenth joint venture between Tianjin, the industrial city of China, and the U.S.A.

The negotiations took several years and many trips to China during a period of time where there was no formal working relationship between United States and China. We had partnership with the Chinese Government, as there was no private enterprise allowed during those years. The joint venture factory produced dental gauze sponges. As part of our agreement with the Chinese government, our joint venture responsibility was to import from England the most sophisticated weaving equipment that allowed gauze sponges for the first time to be compressed in volume for more efficient and less expensive export shipping costs

During this period of time I maintained my professional relationship with the Chinese community as the first American dentist to lecture at the Beijing Hospital University to all their dentists. At the time, I estimated that they were about 40 years behind us in technology.

The early eighties brought additional opportunities. I was appointed Dental Director of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE,) 2ad District under Edward Karalis (NVP), covering New York and New Jersey. As a dental actuary, I formulated the self-insured dental plan for District #2 members. In addition, I created a panel of over seventy dental offices to help deliver dental services to 200,000 covered members and family.

1990’s….to the present

The nineteen nineties brought more excitement back home. I divested myself from all professional obligations and concentrated on providing a major portion of the dentistry for the New York City District Council of Carpenter’s 30,000 members with a thirteen-chair facility in NYC.

Professional challenges were abundant during my lengthy professional career, but none more than the desire to help patients successfully fight Temporo Mandibular Disorder (TMD) commonly referred to as Temporo Mandibular Joint (TMJ). Considered the “mystery” disorder for many years, TMD was not recognized as a true disorder by the medical profession and not promoted by the dental community with access to post graduate TMD study. TMD was never taught in dental schools or at local dental societies. One had to search the far reaches of the dental community to advance one’s TMD knowledge base.

My “holistic” approach to TMD developed via my growing contact with the “Alternative Medicine” community coupled with my waning interest in drug therapy.

The dental community never exposed me to the virtues of acupuncture / acutherapy and its explosive potential when used in combination with the Orthotic protocol in order to combat TMD. It took the Alternative Medicine community to do that. Further, my involvement with “direct-current” electro-acupuncture was a dramatic advancement in my ability to treat TMD cases with greater success.

I decided to retire from dentistry in 1997 and devote my time and energy to the advancements I was able to create in TMD treatment protocol. The introduction of the NTI Orthotic with its treatment philosophy and physical size fit perfectly in combination with “Neuro-Mechanical Acupuncture” utilizing “direct current” to provide what I consider the ultimate in basic dual protocol TMD treatment.

From 1997 through 2010, I have limited my practice to treatment of TMD, and lecturing on “TMD Awareness” to “Physicians”, ”Dentists”, “Nurse Practioners of Rockland County” and local community groups.