Let te r to the Ed itor
Steve,
Your editorials are always informative and thoughtful, but I
found your latest (“An Incomplete Decision” – November/
December 2017) to be especially provocative because my dad
served many years on the state examining board and I often
assisted him in his duties. What you relate about a recent
meeting of the SBOD illustrates the dramatic difference
between contemporary and historic America. Simply put,
Americans today are not joiners and those who do join often
don’t participate.
In 1948, when I joined the Erie County Dental Society, there
were half as many dentists in Erie County as there are today. All
but two or three dentists in the county belonged to the ADA
and its constituents, and attendance at meetings varied from 40
to 60 as compared to far less than half that number today. At
my church 60 years ago, there were four well attended Sunday
services. Today, there are two, and there are plenty of empty
spaces in the pews. We had five civic organizations in my town.
Now there are three, and two are begging for members.
As usual, it is easy to recognize the disease but often difficult to
identify the etiology. I believe it lies in precisely what we have
been told is America’s strength – our diversity. There is a glue
that holds a homogeneous society together that is lacking in a
heterogeneous one. An examination of the list of new members
of the PDA as published in the current issue of the Journal is
revealing. Were such a list to have been published 70 years ago,
the names would have been, with very few exceptions, male
and of European origin. Rightly or wrongly, there is a tendency
among humans to seek the company of those they resemble.
We do for family what we will not do for strangers. Similarity
breeds sympathy while difference begets indifference.
I doubt that we will ever again experience the unity of purpose
that typified our profession and our nation until the mid-20 th
Century. The much lamented recent performance by so many
NFL players is a sign of the irreconcilable differences that divide
us. It may all be for the better, but some of us mourn what has
been lost. Like the rest of modern society, the State Dental
Board is composed of factions harboring different and often
opposing goals. We can’t expect the same unity from a board
representing diverse elements that we had from a board
consisting of half a dozen male dentists. “Plus ca change, plus
c’est la meme chose” does not rule here.
Finally, please know how much your good work is appreciated
even here in the Arizona desert.
Dr. Tim O’Leary Jr.
Casa Grande, Ariz.
Retired Life Member
The PA Coalition for Oral Health wishes to thank
Dr. Bernie Dishler
for his years of service within our organization
supporting oral health for all Pennsylvanians.
JAN UARY/FEBRUARY 2018 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL
11