Meet Your President — Dr . Dennis J . Charlton
Christmas 2010 , Son-in-law Dan , daughter Dana , Lynn , Denny and son Eric .
Denny and his mom Neverta at a Steelers play-off game on Jan . 15 , 2011 .
Day on The Hill June 14 , where he discussed our general anesthesia bill at a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda .
Rep . Stan Saylor , the sponsor of the bill has said that the bill is a “ priority ” for legislative action this session and the House Insurance Committee will likely move the bill forward in the fall .
The non-covered Services bill was voted out of committee during the last legislative session but the calendar ran out before it could advance further . PDA is in strong position to reintroduce this bill and advance it further this time . Dr . Charlton credits Dr . Spruill for the work he has done visiting legislators , crafting our message and giving us the opportunity to build some legislative successes . Dr . Charlton ’ s year as president-elect came during a time when dental workforce continued to emerge as a serious challenge in a variety of states across the country .
He talked with colleagues in Texas about the prospect of mid level providers and also participated in the Dunning Symposium at the Columbia University School of Dental Medicine to discuss “ the dental practice of the 21 st century .” Dr . Charlton is monitoring this emerging issue , as he mentioned in his address to the House (“ We are ever vigilant and preparing to protect our current dental delivery system .”) He spotlighted this challenge by writing a front page column in the June issue of Transitions (“ The Midlevel Mishap ”).
It is his hope that the Community Dental Health Coordinator ( CDHC ) pilot program at Temple University ’ s Kornberg School will be a shining example of a better solution to workforce issues here in our state .
“ I hope we can begin to think about a legislative action to make CDHC an ongoing reality in Pennsylvania ,” Dr . Charlton said . “ If that gets started in my term , I ’ d be proud to have that as part of my legacy .”
Dr . Charlton has practiced in Sandy Lake since 1982 and he has a branch office in Meadville .
He graduated from Springdale High School in 1970 , and in 2008 was inducted into Springdale ’ s Hall of Fame . After graduation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Education , he earned his DMD from the University Of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine .
It was during his first year of college at IUP that he met Lynn , his wife of 38 years .
“ Our story is kind of fun ,” he said . “ We both were among a group of friends and one of my friends was dating one of Lynn ’ s friends . As the group started doing things together , we became friends and then started dating shortly after that . It seemed from that time on we were always doing things together .”
They got married during their junior year
38 July / August 2011 • Pennsylvania Dental Journal