Having spent nearly 42 years standing above the dentist chair, Dr. Harold W. Wilson says he’s ready to spend the next 42 standing above the ninth hole.
Wilson, a dentist practicing with Wilson-Hart-Bausback Dental in Slingerlands, has announced that he is retiring from the practice that he founded with Dr. Joseph Hart in 1976.
Wilson, who lives in New Scotland with his wife, Carol, said he wants to spend more time with his family and be able to pursue more of his favorite activities.
He sent out a letter in the beginning of the year to patients informing them of his decision.
What I alluded to in the letter was that I was going to spend more time with our family. Between my wife and me, we have four children and eight grandchildren in four different states, Wilson said. `We’re going to spend more time playing golf and skiing. We still go out to Colorado every year for some skiing.`
The Wilsons also own a home in Florida and can now split their time between there and the Capital District, as well as make the rounds in more frequent visits to their children’s home states.
Before becoming a community icon, Wilson found his way to Bethlehem from New York City, where he was born and raised. Receiving his doctorate from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery at the University of Maryland, Wilson served two years in the Navy, one of which was active service in the Vietnam War.
Always stressing the importance of continued education, Wilson completed the entire continuum of the L.D. Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education.
Whether you knew him as Dr. Wilson, or simply as `Hal,` as he is known by friends and colleagues, he always greeted his patients with a smile, even if the patient was afraid to show him a smile of their own.
Wilson said patients are often surprised, not to mention relieved, once they take that first step over the threshold of his office and over the anxiety that comes with it.
`I think when a patient understands what is needed and the process involved, then it is not as fearful,` he said.
`People fear the unknown, whether it’s the unknown diagnosis or they fear their problems are much worse than they really are. Once they actually can see what it is, it’s not such a fearful experience.`
His longtime business partner, Hart, said it was an honor to work with him and that Wilson will be missed by the entire Capital District.
`Hal is a very, very competent practitioner,` said Hart. `Both technically and philosophically, he does great work, which was part of the reason why I was pleased to stay with the practice.`
The practice has changed over the past four decades, according to Wilson. Bonding work has changed and the use of computers and digital X-Rays have dramatically altered the industry. Wilson and Hart joked that the only lasers around in the late ’60s when they started were those used as experimental military weapons.
`We didn’t have computers in a dentist office back then,` said Wilson. `When I started you couldn’t rely on bonding at all for retention and now we can do all sorts of crazy things that didn’t even exist, and then of course, we didn’t have the option of placing implants for missing teeth now there are so many choices.`
These days, Wilson said, dental X-rays are done digitally so other dentists can look at X-rays instantaneously, and it’s less harmful to patients.
`If you go back to my earlier years, a lot of my time was spent repairing decayed teeth,` Wilson said. `Now, you see less and less of that.`
Hart said the social mentality about oral hygiene is a big part of that.
`Each generation, generally, has had healthier mouths, and we credit the parents of the community as whole because of that,` Hart said.
The other big change is the trend of cosmetic dentistry.
`If you travel the world, you realize that cosmetics is much more important in America than anyplace else,` Wilson said.
`In fact, if you go to Europe with your teeth whitened or beautiful veneers on them, they would say, ‘Oh, you’re an American’ or ‘You have American teeth.’`
Wilson said this trend may eventually hop across the pond.
`Europe is much more accepting of yellow teeth as they age or crooked teeth, but I think this cosmetic boom and demand by the patients is somewhat of a uniquely American phenomenon. But it’s probably going to be followed by rest of the world.`
Sitting in their 840 Kenwood Ave. office, Wilson and Hart reminisced about their start in the business with The Spotlight.
`[Wilson] became a dentist and came to the area in ’67 after a stint in the Navy,` Hart said of his colleague. `He and I have been together since ’73, when I left military service.`
Wilson joined with Dr. Robert King in Delmar before Hart joined.
`As he did with Dr. King, we share a lot of the same philosophies on how patients should be treated,` said Hart. `I mention Dr. King because he was essentially the founder of all of this.`
Wilson described local support over the years as `incredible.`
`I have probably received no fewer than 50 letters and cards from patients, most of them being in our practice 30 or 40 years, and by second- and sometimes even third-generation patients,` Wilson said. `Yesterday a patient I saw said, ‘You know, I grew up in this practice as a child, my parents were your patients,’ and then their children become patients.`
Some of the letters reminded Wilson of why he got into the business to begin with.
`There’s a lot of hugging, but the letters and cards, I was really surprised by how many,` he said. `There was one and she reminded me that 35 years ago she was having some financial problems, and we made some special arrangements for her to get her work done and it’s something she uniquely remembered, and she valued it and she was a faithful patient for all these years.`
Helping others improve their own self-image and self-esteem was another big part of Wilson’s motive in the dentistry field. Focusing on reconstructive oral surgery, he said changing one’s dental appearance can have a `significant effect` on one’s life.
He’s said he’s grateful to the community.
`I think it’s been a wonderful town to practice in,` Wilson said. `I think we’ve always appreciated the fact that Bethlehem has a fairly well-educated community of people who are really receptive to comprehensive and high-quality care, which really has always been our goal.`
Wilson-Hart-Bausback Dental is hosting an open house on Friday, May 15, from 4 until 7 p.m., at its offices, 840 Kenwood Ave., Slingerlands. Light refreshments will be provided by Glen Sanders Mansion. RSVPs can be sent by e-mail to [email protected], or by phone at 439-3702.
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