Our History

The Niagara Peninsula Dental Association can be traced back to its inception in 1945. Historical records indicate that when the late Dr. Joe Longley of St. Catharines was made an Honorary Member of the N.P.D.A. it was recorded that he was the founding president. The N.P.D.A. bell confirms Dr. Longley as the first president. The late Dr. Ken Phillips was his successor and both Drs. Longley and Phillips are Honorary Members of the association. Dr. Lou Channel, who was president in 1952, is the senior living Past President. Of the 54 Presidents, 40 still survive and 27 remain in dental practice in the Niagara Peninsula. Dr. Bill Tytaneck, an Honorary Member who went on to practice medicine after a successful career in dentistry, recalls that he was the 18th dentist member in the N.P.D.A when he joined in the late 1940s. He reminds us that, at that time, the fee for a crown or cap was $25.00 and the price of a silver filling was $3.00. The first year N.P.D.A. events and meetings were recorded was in 1949. The first annual Golf Tournament took place Lookout Point Golf Club on June 1 of that year with the late Dr. Ken Phillips scoring a very respectable 75 on the demanding layout. On October 7, 1949 seventy-five members and spouses attended Ladies Night at the Rathfon Inn in Port Colborne where the late Dr. W. A. Potter was congratulated upon his appointment as the President of the Ontario Urban School Trustees Association. The late Dr. Aubrey Crich, a well known oral surgeon and later photographer, gave a talk on November 11 at the Village Inn in Grimsby on his methods for controlling hemorrhage and treating dry sockets. He also presented many slides of interesting surgical cases. The last meeting of 1949 was held in December at the Leonard Hotel where the late Dr. Eton Butcher, president, appointed new committees for the following year. In 1950 there were several notable events.

The March meeting saw Dr. Robert G. Kesel of the University of Illinois speak on “Ammoniated Dentifrices”. In November, the Association increased its annual fees by 33% from $15.00 to $20.00. Dr. Hal Shaver felt that the new members were not well acquainted with each other and recommended that name tags be provided for all members at meetings – this practice is still in effect today. There were many other interesting occurrences in those early years. Dr. Don Moore spoke at the September 24, 1954 meeting at the Esquire Hotel on “Psychosomatic Rest and Sleep as it is applied to dentistry”. Sixty-eight dentists attending the meeting promptly fell asleep! Dr. Moore agreed to give a two day course in “hypno-dontia” for a fee of $40.00 per person. December 16, 1955 was the first “home brew clinic night” where Dr. Bill Simpson spoke on children’s dentistry, Dr. Ted Walker on caps & bridges, and Dr. Bert Jarvis on braces. At that meeting there was no “home brewing” of beer but a turkey draw was arranged and the proceeds donated the Children’s Aid Society.

Today the N.P.D.A. has a minimum of six meetings/lectures annually with a total membership exceeding 150 dentists, several of whom are specialists spanning a wide variety of dental services. We remain a non-profit organization with an annual membership fee of $425.00. Many thanks to Dr. Ivan Hrabowsky for providing the historical information.

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PO Box 29037,
125 Carlton St

St Catharines, Ontario
L2R 7P9

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Cynthia Letkeman
Executive Assistant

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