Dentistry

A memorial service for U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paul E. Farrell, 86, who died Friday, Oct. 19, in Virginia Beach, Va., will be held Tuesday, Jan. 29, at Arlington National Cemetery. A 12:45 p.m. service will be followed by burial with full military honors, said his son, U.S. Navy Capt. Paul Farrell Jr. Born in Upper Darby, Adm. Farrell graduated West Catholic High School and La Salle University. He was a Navy hospital corpsman in World War II, then served aboard the USS Fargo.

WAYNE Marcellus Taylor was a skilled and popular West Philadelphia dentist, but his true love was dogs. "If he could have made a living with his dogs, he would have given up dentistry," said his sister, Sheryl Taylor Bailey. Fortunately for his loyal patients, he stayed with dentistry. But he kept six dogs, four at his home in Yeadon and two at a dog club in Quakertown. He also bred dogs and hunted with them. Wayne Taylor, a dentist for 30 years who often did free work for seniors on fixed incomes, died March 7 of an apparent heart attack.

Nathan N. Mendelzon, 76, a longtime Delaware County dentist who went on to direct state public-health dental programs, died Monday at his home in Albuquerque, N.M. He previously lived in Broomall and Prospect Park. A 1937 graduate of the Temple University School of Dentistry, Dr. Mendelzon practiced general dentistry in Prospect Park for 30 years, until 1968, when he turned his efforts to public-health dentistry. At that time Dr. Mendelzon moved to Charleston, W.Va., where he lived for about eight years and served as state assistant director of dental health.

It was just supposed to be a tooth extraction. But something went wrong Tuesday as anesthesia was being administered to 6- year-old Ashley McClain at the Temple University School of Dentistry, a Temple official said. The girl developed breathing problems and, "despite all efforts," died at 3:30 p.m. yesterday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, the official said. The girl's body was taken to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy today. Police said they are waiting for a cause of death to determine whether an investigation is warranted and who should conduct it. Ashley was taken to the School of Dentistry by her mother for a tooth extraction on Tuesday, said Brian Smith, D.M.D.

Claude Lewis is correct in stating that an era is ending for dentistry ("Dentistry is changing severely," Op-ed Page, April 14), but questions arise regarding the conclusions he presented. Trends such as dentists being hired by unions or corporations as salaried employees, reduced rates for dental care, an overcrowded profession and of course the disappearance of the "classic" fee-for-service plan are, he implies, supposed to herald a new era of lower quality dental care in America.

BOB GALLAGHER was a dentist with a difference. Long before it became common dental practice, he emphasized prevention and good nutrition for his patients and was among the first to have hygienists on his staff. He also practiced restorative dentistry when it was not often done, and he believed in keeping himself educated on the latest developments in the field. Dr. Robert F. Gallagher, who practiced dentistry in Chestnut Hill for 60 years and was an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, during which he flew supply planes over the "hump" in the China-Burma-India theater, died Nov. 17 of heart failure.

Raymond Werther, 85, a pioneer in dentistry for children and the handicapped, died Wednesday at the Bryn Mawr Terrace Convalescent Home. He was a resident of Wynnewood. "He had a sense of deep feeling for children," said Manuel M. Album, a dentist who worked with Dr. Werther years ago at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "He was humane in every respect in the treatment of children and felt all children - normal or handicapped - deserved to have good treatment. " "It just seemed to be so natural for him," said his wife, Janet.

Emanuel Fischhoff, 87, of Norristown, who for years was the only dentist in the Philadelphia area who made house calls, died Sunday at Suburban General Hospital in Norristown. Dr. Fischhoff began practicing dentistry in the home and in institutions throughout the Philadelphia area when, as a fourth-year student at Temple University's School of Dentistry in 1934, he pulled a friend's tooth at a party. A few weeks later, he was called by his friend's barber, who desperately needed a dentist to care for his wife.

Isadore Cohen, 85, who practiced dentistry in the Oxford Circle area for 55 years, died Saturday at Jeanes Hospital. "Every patient he had was his friend," said his daughter Gloria Bader of Silver Spring, Md. "He loved being a dentist. He just loved it. That was part and parcel of who he was. " A Philadelphia native, Dr. Cohen had other passions, she said. He was a founding member of Temple Sholom, at Roosevelt Boulevard and Large Street, and was active in many of its organizations and programs.

Carlos Weil Sr., 84, of West Chester, a retired dentist, died Saturday at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital in Malvern. Dr. Weil practiced dentistry on Shadeland Avenue in Drexel Hill from 1939 until retiring in 1985. From 1948 to 1965, he worked part-time while serving as professor and chairman of the department of operative dentistry at Temple University. Dr. Weil, who was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Upper Darby High School in 1930 and from Duke University in 1934.