Local dentist Mark S . Pechersky is changing the life of injured birds — one beak at a time . Pechersky , 70 , lives in Monroeville with his wife , Debbie , and they have three children — Brett , Liz and David — and six grandchildren .
Pechersky grew up in Squirrel Hill and attended Taylor Allderdice High School . He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in 1968 from the University of Pittsburgh , majoring in anthropology . He received his Doctorate of Dental Medicine from Pitt Dental School in 1972 and completed his residency in pediatric dentistry at Allegheny General Hospital in 1974 .
Pechersky has practiced pediatric dentistry for 43 years . “ I was drawn to the profession by its nature of being a true art and science and chose dental school over Air Force flight school ,” he says . “ Pitt had just opened a new clinic with a very modern curriculum and upon being interviewed and accepted , made my choice . I decided to pursue a pediatric residency after treating and interacting with my young patients in the clinic and at a time when dental materials , equipment , and technology were making quantum leaps forward .”
Dr . Pechersky chose to open his practice in Monroeville because it was a rapidly growing community in need of a
Dr . Pechersky prepared a red-tailed hawk beak to test his materials . pediatric dentist , was close to his family and had a great school system .
While attending an adult education course at the National Aviary on the North Side , given by Dr . Pilar Fish , Director of Veterinary Medicine , Pechersky had the opportunity to visit behind the scenes and tour the medical facility used in the treatment of all species of birds . During the tour , Dr . Fish explained the techniques used for repairing beak fractures and defects . “ It was obvious to me that the materials she was taught to use were similar in nature to some dental materials , except in dentistry the materials had advanced at least seven generations chemically , with much better bio-compatibility , durability , ease of use and speed of cure and color — to name a few ,” he explains . “ I asked her if she would let me experiment with some beak material and see if the materials that I used daily on children might work better .”
Dr . Fish gave Dr . Pechersky the skull of a red-tailed hawk , which he took back to his office to work on . “ I began testing my various materials on the beak ,” he says . “ With my dental instruments , I created fractures and defects and found that some of the modern dental bonding materials in combination repaired the defects beautifully .”
During the Aviary ’ s adult education course , Dr . Fish explained that birds often fracture their beaks in collisions with buildings and other traumas . Without a functioning beak , the bird cannot eat , defend itself , preen itself or spread oil from
Dr . Mark Pechersky
special glands to stay waterproof . Most often a damaged beak will lead to the bird ’ s demise .
“ The old technique that she described took long periods to dry the materials , and the fumes produced by those materials were very toxic to the bird ,” explains Pechersky . “ Because of the time needed for those materials to dry ( cure ), the birds most often needed general anesthesia to be manageable .”
With Pechersky ’ s new technique , the repairs can often be made in seconds or minutes — just being held by assistants — without any anesthesia , which is a major risk by itself in birds . The new materials can also be clear in color , which is a great advantage in birds with multi-colored beaks , where color matching can be a time consuming and sometimes unsolvable problem . The durability of Pechersky ’ s dental bonding materials has proven to be much greater .
Techniques prior to Pechersky ’ s needed frequent replacements . “ So far , our first and second live bird procedures are approaching a year , and the birds are functioning normally ,” says the dentist . “ Dr . Fish and I worked together on a fractured toucan ’ s beak and Dr . Fish recently repaired the beak of a bald eagle — the worst fracture she had ever seen . Using the technique , the eagle named “ Indy ” ( for Independence ) is doing just fine .”
Pechersky ’ s story has reached many and was recently picked up by the Associated Press . As a result , Dr . Fish receives calls at the National Aviary from aviaries and clinics all over the country , inquiring about Pechersky ’ s technique .
“ I have donated instruments and materials to the National Aviary and I have no interest in pursuing a patent for the procedure ,” says Pechersky . “ I truly believe that just being in a position to help some of God ’ s most beautiful , diverse and majestic creations is payment enough .”
The procedure being tested and proven at the National Aviary is already bringing it the attention it deserves . “ Our National Aviary is a gem that everyone should visit ,” adds Pechersky .
The dentist ’ s future plans in retirement include more adult education , gardening , working out , racquetball and lots of babysitting . “ My grandchildren love our National Aviary !” he says .
For more information , contact Dr . Mark Pechersky at 412.856.9685 . n
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