Critical Relationships We Must Protect the Dental Profession
By James Antoon, DMD
Attending Dentists’ Day on the Hill in 1988 (from l to r): Dr. Bob Downey, Mrs. Carol Nissen, Dr. Larry Nissen, Mrs. Jerilyn Bird, Dr. Jim Antoon, Dr. Curt Hill, Dr. Jerry Bird and Dr. Victor Apel.
Sometime after Christmas in 1998, Dr. Bob Downey invited me and three other local dentists, Drs. Jerry Bird, Larry Nissen and Curt Hill, to drive to Tallahassee with him and discuss the Florida Dental Association’s (FDA) legislative priorities with legislators. I met Bob when he was the mayor of Indian Harbour Beach, and I was in high school. He invited students to city hall to encourage us to consider careers in public service. Later, when I received my “white coat” at the University of Louisville, the dean shook my hand and told me he had spoken to Dr. Downey and would be watching me closely. Twelve years later, I was on
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