Chicago Dentist

Thomas K. Barber co-wrote an influential article in the late 1950s that advocated early and proactive orthodontics work on children based on projections of how their adult teeth would come in. A longtime professor and later an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s dental school, Dr. Barber, 84, died Thursday, July 24, in California of complications following heart surgery, UIC spokesman William Bike said. He was a resident of Arroyo Grande, Calif. Dr. Barber received his dental degree and a master’s in pediatric dentistry from UIC in 1949. Two years later, he joined the school’s faculty and in 1965 was named head of its Department of Pediatric Dentistry. With UIC colleague Earl Renfroe, an orthodontic specialist, he wrote a 1957 article for the Journal of the American Dental Association that stressed the need for “interceptive orthodontics”—guiding the shape of a child’s bite and adult teeth formation at an early age.

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Thanks to technical advances and consumer demand, cosmetic dentistry has come a long way. “It’s extraordinary what cosmetic dentists can do these days,” said Dr. Lorin Berland of the Dallas Dental Spa. “Early cosmetic dentistry consisted of unnatural porcelain crowns with metal rings around the gum, ‘tin-can’ braces, and in the extreme, removing ugly teeth and replacing them with dentures.” Now there are better whitening techniques, implants, veneers, porcelain crowns, clear braces and more. The demand for skilled cosmetic dental professionals is growing constantly – and not just for dentists, but also for their vital assistants and laboratory technicians. “Cosmetic dentistry has really become the standard for dentists who would consider themselves true artisans in their trade, and have the case photos to prove it,” said marketing professional Zach Hoffman of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In March 2007, he helped launch the American Cosmetic Dental Association with his father, Dr. Howard J. Hoffman, a general and cosmetic dentist.
ACE™ Dental Blog: Cosmetic dentistry is now the standard