American Academy of Gold Foil Operators Clinician of the Year Award

Abstract

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this year's recipient of the American Academy of Gold Foil Operators Clinician of the Year Award—Dr Dan Henry of Pensacola, Florida. Dr Henry is a most deserving awardee. He is an enthusiastic and tireless advocate for the use of gold foil as a restorative material, and like all the previous recipients, not only is he an outstanding clinical operator, but he has generously given his time and effort back to dentistry. He is a real character who is never without a funny story or a colorful phrase.Dr Henry graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1975, where he received the AAGFO Student Award for the highest proficiency in the use of direct and indirect gold restorations. After a few years in private practice, he realized that he would benefit from additional instruction in direct gold restorations and contacted the AAGFO. He registered for his first annual meeting and, before it was over, he had operated at the clinical session and became an active member of the Academy. Over the years, he has operated at six or seven clinical sessions of the annual meeting. This year, in Gainesville, Florida, he placed a beautiful Class II direct gold restoration, the result of many years of practice.In 1999, he attended the Gerald D Stibbs Gold Foil Seminar in Vancouver, Canada. Dr Henry brought his son as his assistant, then a junior at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Working together, they had a great week, placing nine gold restorations.In 2002, he joined Dr Clyde Roggencamp and they took on the task of photographing the clinical sessions of the AAGFO annual meeting. Together, they documented the sessions for three years. At this time, the Academy was still using film. Consequently, their time was spent running to photo labs, dropping off and picking up film, then sorting and labeling slides late into the night, all to be ready for the review of the clinical session the following day.In 2007, Dr Henry became president of the Florida Dental Association, the culmination of a seven-year commitment to organized dentistry. In 2009, Dr Henry was the newest member to join the Executive Council of the AAGFO, a five-year commitment to becoming president in 2014.At the annual meeting of the Academy of RV Tucker Study Clubs in 2006, Dr Henry presented a lecture on the use of easy gold and cohesive gold foil in restoring small Class I and Class II lesions. This lecture was later worked into an article that was subsequently published in Operative Dentistry in 2008.The one dental accomplishment that Dr Henry is most proud is the 23 dental missions he organized over the past 20 years to Costa Rica. These missions were conducted in conjunction with his church in Pensacola.In light of of his accomplishments, this award recognizes Dr Henry's past, present and future contributions to the pursuit of excellence in dentistry. Congratulations, Dan!