A veteran dentist from Chickasha, Oklahoma has been named the 2010 National Gold Medal Dentistry award winner for his contributions to the practice of safe sedation dentistry.
Dr. John C. Phillips III, 39, was chosen by a jury of his peers to represent the more than 20,000 specially trained dentists across America who provide their adult patients safe, comfortable and anxiety-free sedation dentistry.
Presenting Dr. Phillips with this year's Gold Medal Dentistry award, sedation dentistry's highest honor, is Gary Hall Jr., a three-time Olympian and winner of 10 Olympic swimming medals for the United States. Hall is the Honorary Celebrity Chairman of the 2010 Sedation Dentistry Safety Week, which administers the annual recognition.
"Dr. Phillips is a worthy Gold Medal Dentist for all of the dedication and excellence he and his team have brought to serving each and every one of their patients safely, compassionately, comfortably and effectively," says Hall. "Like a true Olympian, Dr. Phillips continually strives to improve."
Although Dr. Phillips' 29th Street Dental Care practice is located in tiny Chickasha, with a population of just over 17,000 residents, the dentist operates one of the country's top oral sedation practices, drawing grateful patients from nearby Oklahoma City, Lawton, Duncan, Clinton and even parts of Texas, Arkansas and Kansas.
Dr. Phillips, a lifelong resident of Chickasha and 1996 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry, describes himself as a "safety fiend." Dr. Phillips originated the concept of "six-handed" sedation dentistry, in which each specially trained sedation dentist is aided at all times by not one, but two dental assistants.
Having two dental assistants increases the dentist's ability to monitor each patient for safety and comfort as well as enables the dentist to work at peak efficiency.
Dr. Phillips is one of the founding members of DOCS Education, the 10-year-old organization that has grown to become the leading global trainer of sedation dentistry professionals. For more than three years, Dr. Phillips was the instructor of a 20-hour, live-patient DOCS Education course. In total, Dr. Phillips has helped instruct more than 1,000 other dentists in safe, sedation dentistry protocols.
"Through his hard work, educational efforts and passion for patient safety and comfort, Dr. Phillips has helped improve the oral health of tens of thousands of adult patients who once avoided the dentist altogether out of fear and anxiety," says Dr. Michael Silverman, co-founder of DOCS Education and National Chairman of the 2nd Annual Sedation Dentistry Safety Week. "Dr. Phillips and his team personify the many thousands of quality sedation dentistry professionals nationwide who participate in all the ongoing education, planning and practice that is required to do the job right."
Dr. Phillips, whose mother is a public school teacher and father a retired postal carrier, has wanted to be a dentist since the age of 12, when a local dentist with patience, kindness and skill helped Dr. Phillips rebuild his oral health after a serious motorcycle accident.
Dr. Phillips and his wife, Angi, who works alongside him at 29th Street Dental Care, have always made community involvement a top priority.
In February, for the third consecutive year, Dr. Phillips, his staff and a number of other oral health professionals who he recruited, donated a full day of free exams, x-ray, fillings, extractions and other oral health care to needy area residents as part of the Dentistry From The Heart program. In 2010, Dr. Phillips and his team treated a total of 361 patients and provided free services worth more than $250,000.
Dr. Phillips is the second-ever recipient of the "Safe Sedation Dentist of the Year" recognition. In 2009, Dr. Anthony Carroccia, who operates St. Bethlehem Dental Care in Clarksville, TN, was named the inaugural award winner.
The announcement of the 2010 Gold Medal Dentistry award winner marks the culmination of this year's Sedation Dentistry Safety Week – five days each springtime designed to showcase the availability of pain-free, anxiety-free sedation dentistry using state-of-the-art techniques that put even the most fearful dental patients at ease. More than 2 million once-fearful adults in the United States have availed themselves of the benefits of sedation dentistry and no longer avoid dental visits.
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