Dr.DavidHasson’70 Pediatric Dentistry Goes Far Beyond Mt. Airy

by Fr Donald Grzymski

Dr. David Hasson, a Golden Friar of the Class of 1970, says he wanted to be a dentist from the time he was nine years old. Indeed, the math and science courses he took in high school led him to UMBC, and a degree in biological science, but the goal of getting into the University of Maryland Dental School was not to be. “I didn’t make the cut” is how Hasson reflects back to that time, but now with the advantage of years. With no set plans, he opted for a cross-country road trip with Curley classmate Jim Caro to visit another fellow graduate, Dan Nooney, in California. Returning to Baltimore, Hasson found a research technician position in the Department of Behavioral Biology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. That led to a move to the University of Kentucky Medical School as a graduate student in physiology and biophysics. There, he decided to apply to their dental school, and was accepted the following year. Hasson shares: “I’m the poster boy for not getting into dental school on my first try, but I was blessed to finally realize my life-long ambition.”

While in dental school, on Saturday mornings he worked in the clinic that treated needy children. That led Hasson to his specialization. “Children presented the greatest challenge, and I wanted advanced training to specialize in children’s dental care for infants, young children and those with special needs.”

That special interest led Hasson to the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine for a two-year residency in pediatric dentistry. After graduation he practiced in New London, working in a private practice and caring for children in the operating room of a hospital, honing his skills. He also volunteered on the teaching faculty at the dental clinic at the Coast Guard Academy, while his wife Pam was practicing as a dental ceramist technician. Ready to start a family, the couple decided to leave New England, and that brought Hasson back to the Baltimore area.

While Hasson began working in dental offices around Baltimore, he knew he wanted to start his own pediatric practice in Mount Airy. He reflects that starting such a practice was probably his greatest life challenge. Over 35 years it has become “Mt. Airy Children’s Dental Associates— Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics,” growing from five to 14 dental chairs, with several associate specialists. He can say now, “Learning and practicing dentistry was the easy part. The business and managerial tasks, and the care of my coworkers and staff, had a steep learning curve.”

Dentistry has changed a great deal over Hasson’s 40year career, including the arrival of laser treatments, digitalized x-rays which provide more details as well as less radiation exposure, and treatments for young children which are more easily tolerated by a child than what traditional dentistry would have offered. Covid-19 presented its own challenges, with only emergency care provided for several months, and then all the new protocols of being gowned and masked, with a N-95 respirator and face shield. “I am amazed at how resilient and flexible kids are,” the doctor observes.

For the past 30 years Hasson has been a member of dental and medical teams through Ecuadent and International Health Emissaries that go regularly to Ecuador, Guatemala and Belize. He also had one trip in 1993 to a dental clinic in a town outside Moscow, Russia. Hasson reflects on going to an area that has limited or no dental care, from the Andes Mountains to the Ecuadorian rainforest, and from the river villages of Eastern Guatemala to the Belize jungle. Hasson explains: “I really think my first year dental student experience was my inspiration to volunteer. Since then, I’ve always wanted to be able to give back. A lot of people worked very hard to teach me how to deliver the best dental care to children of all ages and children with special needs and disabilities. I think of my career as a gift. When you finish a trip like that, you want to go again and again. It’s kind of corny to say ‘you get more out of that experience than you can give’ but it’s the honest truth.” In Mt. Airy, the practice and its staff also celebrate “Give Kids a Smile” every February during National Children’s Dental Health Month, and provide care to a bus load of school children from Carroll and Frederick Counties. Hasson, whose support of Curley includes a term on the School Board, reflects that he was well prepared for college, and benefited a great deal from the math and science classes he took at Curley. “Looking back, we had amazing teachers who were tough on us, but for a reason.” He encourages today’s students not only to do their best academically, but to work on their selfdevelopment through co-curricular involvement, whatever that may be. The brotherhood has also been important to Hasson: “I have kept a great group of my Curley classmates close to me and my family for over 50 years. I can’t even express what that means to me.”

Hasson and his wife Pam met in dental school, and will soon celebrate their 40th anniversary. They have two grown children, a son and a daughter. The couple enjoys boating around the Bay and along the East Coast, where Hasson observes, “Pam grew up on Lake Barkley in Kentucky; she’s the captain and I’m the deckhand.” He played in a band with Curley classmates Steve Weber and Dave Bell while in college, and continues to enjoy making music and attending concerts. Photography has also been a long-time hobby, with a more recent move into underwater photography. As this article came together, Hasson remarked: “Thanks for this opportunity to reminisce about my Curley years. I got out my yearbooks, and smiled more than a few times.” Hasson also helps many children, near and far, to have a good smile, and that is certainly a life-changing gift.