|
|
| Year : 2006 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 3 | Page : 117-118 |
|
| Legends- Dr. Clifford M Sturdevant |
|
|
Gurmeet Singh Sachdeva, Parvinder Singh Baweja
PG Students, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College, Chennai, India
Click here for correspondence address and email
|
|
 |
|
How to cite this article:
Sachdeva GS, Baweja PS. Legends- Dr. Clifford M Sturdevant. J Conserv Dent 2006;9:117-8 |
Dr Clifford Sturdevant [Figure 1], or "Dr Cliff', received his DDS degree in 1943, graduating with honors from Atlanta-Southern Dental College, later known as Emory University. Dr Cliff came to Chapel Hill in 1950 with his father, Dr Roger E Sturdevant, who was the first chairman of operative dentistry. In fact, Dr Cliff taught the first freshman class admitted to the School of Dentistry University of North Carolina (UNC), which graduated in 1954. In 1959 Dr Cliff was appointed chairman of operative dentistry and served in that capacity for 20 years. In 1980 he was the first member of the Dental School faculty to retire with 30 years of dedicated service.
Dr Cliff has been known world-wide as a leader in dental education and as an authority on operative dentistry. Throughout his long career, he has been actively involved in numerous dental organizations, and was a charter member of the Academy of Operative Dentistry. Among his most noteworthy accomplishments was the textbook, The Art and Science of Operative Dentistry, first published in 1968, which is still recognized as a leading textbook in operative dentistry.
In the 1970s Dr Sturdevant implemented the Project ACORDE, one of the first formal attempts by operative dentistry educators to consolidate philosophies and generate teaching materials regarding conservative cavity preparations and restorations of teeth. Dr Cliff also has been an innovator in the realm of operative dentistry for years. Not only did he invent or codesign many devices such as the light body injection syringe for impression materials. "Jiffy tubes" for cement application, and various instrument and bur designs, but he also introduced numerous progressive concepts in operative dentistry that are still used today.
In fact. Dr Cliff had always been a bit of a maverick, with the foresight and vision to continually seek to improve clinical operative dentistry through new and improved materials and techniques. Nonetheless Dr Cliff had always striven to keep operative dentistry abreast of the numerous and exciting developments and advancements that have occurred in dentistry. This desire for continual improvement in operative dentistry materials and techniques led to Dr Cliffs establishment at UNC of one of the first clinical research programs in operative dentistry and biomaterials in the late 1960s. Consistent with his constant pursuit of clinical excellence, the goal of the UNC Clinical Research Program in Operative Dentistry was to improve the practice of operative dentistry through clinical investigations. In fact to recognize Dr Cliffs efforts in establishing this Clinical Research Program 25 years ago at (UNC), the Clifford M Sturdevant Endowment Fund for Clinical Research in Operative Dentistry was recently established at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill.
No one individual has embodied the spirit of clinical excellence in operative dentistry more than Clifford M Sturdevant. 1-1e had words engraved on a bronze plaque that rested on his desk during his years as department chair. They read, "If it's almost right, it's wrong" His unyielding pursuit of excellence and love for dentistry has had a profound impact on the dental profession. Through a lifetime of dedicated service and unswerving commitment to clinical dentistry, he has established a legacy of clinical excellence to which we all continue to aspire.
Correspondence Address:
Gurmeet Singh Sachdeva
PG Students, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College, Chennai
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
[Figure 1] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
