Dr. Dennis McTigue
Achievement Award Winner
Award that Dr. Dennis McTigue received at the ODA Annual Session. The Photo is ODA Annual Session Committee Chairwoman Dr. Nanette Tertel, Dr. Dennis McTigue and ODA President Dr. Mark Bronson at the Callahan Celebration of Excellence.
Dr. Dennis McTigue, a pediatric dentist and professor at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry, has been awarded the Ohio Dental Association Achievement Award.
“I’m incredibly honored,” McTigue said. “There are so many people that I think are more deserving than I am. I think to be recognized by your peers is the greatest honor.”
McTigue received the Achievement Award on Sept. 14 during the 2012 Callahan Celebration of Excellence Dinner in conjunction with the ODA Annual Session in Columbus.
He received the award for his contributions to the community through helping patients in need and educating future dentists.
“His combined national service contributions to clinical dentistry, dental education, and quality maintenance put him in a unique place in the history of volunteer service to the dental profession,” wrote Dr. Denise Hering, chair of the Columbus Dental Society Honors and Awards Committee, in her nomination letter. “Here in Ohio, he has been instrumental in fostering programs aimed at caring for the underprivileged and underserved through the Division of Pediatric Dentistry at the (Ohio State University) College of Dentistry.”
After graduating from Loras College in Iowa in 1970, McTigue earned his D.D.S. in 1974 and M.S. in Pediatric Dentistry in 1976 from the University of Iowa.
McTigue is currently a pre-doctoral and post-doctoral pediatric dental education professor at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. He also has served as chairman of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and associate dean for Academic Affairs. McTigue also has a private practice in pediatric dentistry. Before coming to Ohio State in 1984, McTigue taught in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Louisiana State University and was chairman of the Dental Department of Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.
“The best thing about being a dentist is you have the ability to help people. You have the ability to really make a difference in somebody’s life on a very personal basis,” McTigue said. “My passion is to teach; that’s why I’ve stayed in academics.”
McTigue has volunteered his services in areas including Head Start, Easter Seals Society, the U.S. Air Force, Public Health Service and is currently an advisor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Committee on Training in Primary Care in Medicine and Dentistry. McTigue also created the Children’s Dental Clinic of Coshocton County, which has served poor children for almost 30 years and is one of Ohio’s longest standing safety net clinics.
McTigue has served as president of the Academy of Dentistry for the Handicapped, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and he has served on and became director of the Commission on Dental Accreditation. Currently he is serving a five year term as the outgoing president of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry.
Along with leadership and membership in various professional organizations, McTigue’s career also includes extensive publication.
McTigue and his wife, Marty, live in Worthington, and they have three grown children and four grandchildren.
The Achievement Award is given to someone with a personal and professional commitment to the dental profession and the public’s oral health, and who is an ambassador for the dental profession with solid respect for the profession.
The ODA serves more than 5,400 members, about 80 percent of the state’s licensed dentists, through programs, services and member benefits. In addition, the ODA reaches out to consumers, educators, health professionals and others through education, advocacy and public service programs.
To learn about public service programs, oral health issues and dentistry in Ohio, visit www.oda.org, Ohio’s resource for oral health information. For more information, call the ODA at 614-486-2700.