The first issue of Dental Economics was published in January 1911. At the time, it was called Oral Hygiene: A Journal for Dentists. Published by Lee S. Smith & Son Co., a dental laboratory based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, its primary mission was to help dentists educate the public about the value of oral health. George Edwin Hunt, MD, DDS, was the first chief editor, and he collected stories on the changing economic landscape of the profession, philosophies of practice management, cutting-edge material science and technology, and financial matters. These are the stories we continue to present to you today.
This will be my last issue as chief editor of Dental Economics. I will now be serving as chief dental officer at Tend, a new company looking to innovate in the dental service organization space. I’ll continue to encourage and educate dentists who seek to realize their potential as small-business owners. Private practice is alive and well. I believe there are many viable practice models that allow us to take really good care of our patients and embolden our profession. I am excited to begin a journey discovering these new models.
Your new chief editor of Dental Economics will be Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, DMD. You perhaps already know her as the chief editor of DentistryIQ and the Dental Academy of CE (DACE), as a prosthodontist practicing in Salem, Massachusetts, or as a leading educator and key opinion leader. She is passionate about dentistry and fascinated to see how it will evolve in the years ahead. She will carry on the responsibilities that Dr. Hunt began more than 110 years ago.
I want to thank Craig Dickson, Chris Page, and the rest of the Endeavor team for the opportunity, the support, and the inspiration. I wouldn’t have wanted to go on this ride with anyone else.
And I want to thank you. It has been the greatest honor of my professional career to be able to reach out, every month, for the past seven years. I’m raising a glass to toast you—the dentists and leaders of the dental industry—who champion oral health in your own unique ways. We have such a wonderful chance to help people. I’m so glad we get to do it together.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the August 2021 print edition of Dental Economics.
