Dentistry

Baltimore wanted the chair, a black Windsor chair with an adjustable headrest and right desk arm. Dating from the 18th century, the chair is widely believed to be the oldest dental seat in the United States, having belonged to Josiah Flagg of Boston, the father of American dentistry. Temple University kept the chair, and created - if you'll pardon the expression - a sweet little place, the Dr. and Mrs. Edwin Weaver III Historical Dental Museum, named after a graduate and benefactor and his wife.

First, fillings. Then braces. Now whitening. The latest effort in America's quest for the perfect smile is focused on erasing the yellowing ravages of time and bad habits. To counter the effects of age, coffee, cigarettes and wine, more and more people are bleaching their teeth to a youthful gleam. "It is incredibly popular," said Mark Meraner, a Temple University associate professor of restorative dentistry. "It is representative of trends in dentistry in general toward aesthetic procedures.

Joseph F. Leary, 91, a dentist who made his patients smile for 46 years and cofounded the Conshohocken Historical Society, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia in Montgomery Hospital in Norristown. A lifelong resident of Conshohocken Borough who married the former Anne Carroll of Norristown in 1940, Dr. Leary predicted his "one-horse town" would become the "in" place to live, said his youngest daughter, Beth Hegedus. "Daddy told me in 1960 that Conshohocken would be the place to live in the year 2000," Hegedus said.

Joshua Simon Somers, 97, of Lafayette Hill, a retired dentist who became a local celebrity for his walks along the Wissahickon, died Saturday at his home. Dr. Somers practiced dentistry for 64 years in an office in his home in the Logan section of Philadelphia. After his wife, Jean Davidow Somers, died in 1992, he retired to Lafayette Hill and discovered a new occupation - walking on Forbidden Drive, along the Wissahickon Creek, and looking for conversation around every bend. "When I moved up here, I didn't know a soul," he told a newspaper reporter last year.

Marcia Leek and Mary Holben have been named the recipients of the De Martini Foundation's exceptional-teacher awards. Leek, a department supervisor and chemistry teacher at Timber Creek High School in Lindenwold, will receive $2,000, and Holben, a culinary-arts teacher at the Sicklerville campus of Camden County Technical Schools, will receive $1,000. Leek has spent her entire career in the Black Horse Pike Regional School District, first at Triton, then Highland and now at the new Timber Creek school.

Even with a shiny, pointy, silver instrument poised over his open mouth, Jerry Morris still regards his visits to the dentist as a gift. It's not the fillings or the fluoride treatments that make him grateful for his appointments with Andrew Youngblood. It's the fact that some dentists would not treat him at all. Morris, who lives in Barrington, Camden County, is HIV positive. "A lot of dentists don't want to be bothered with people that have diseases," said Morris, 38, leaning back into his chair.

Pepperidge Farm Inc.'s plant in Downingtown was one of 10 Pennsylvania firms to receive a regional Job Creator Award from the state Department of Labor and Industry. Pepperidge Farm, which makes frozen-food products such as puff pastry and Texas toast at the Downingtown plant, was cited for its accomplishments in job creation, hiring and training employees, and community service. "The Pepperidge Farm Downingtown plant is a Pennsylvania economic success story that benefits people around the country," said Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler, who presented the award Oct. 25 at a luncheon at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg.

Emanuel Hayes Malamed, 80, a retired professor of dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania who for 40 years deftly divided his time between teaching and private practice, died Wednesday of a chronic blood disorder at Holy Redeemer Hospital. Dr. Malamed, who lived in Huntingdon Valley, specialized in periodontics, the care and treatment of the gums, and had wide-ranging influence in his field, said Dr. D. Walter Cohen, former dean of dentistry at Penn and a onetime chancellor of the Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Joffie C. Pittman, a retired Philadelphia dentist and former Temple University professor known for his compassion, community service and mentoring, died Saturday of cancer. He was 63 and lived in Center City. Pittman, who had practices in Wynnefield and Willingboro, N.J., taught at Temple from 1980 to 1989. Until 1980, he also had a practice in Washington, D.C. A family member described him as "an extremely dedicated individual who volunteered his time freely to professional and community organizations.

Arthur L. Young, 71, a Temple University School of Dentistry official for more than two decades, died Monday of a heart attack at his winter residence in Satellite Beach, Fla. He was a Gibbsboro resident for the last four years and previously lived in Voorhees for 34 years. He was born in Haverhill, Mass. Mr. Young served as assistant to the dean of administration and finance for Temple University School of Dentistry, where he worked for 22 years before retiring in 1991. Known to all as "Mr. Wonderful," Mr. Young "ran the school out of his back pocket," Dr. Martin F. Tansy, dean of the School of Dentistry, said in a statement.