2017 Alumni Award of Merit Recipient
The Alumni Award of Merit, presented annually by the Penn Dental Medicine Alumni Society, recognizes love for and loyalty to Penn Dental Medicine, excellence in the profession of dentistry, and community involvement. The award acknowledges graduates who have maintained their ties with the School through their support of alumni activities, demonstrated leadership in the dental profession, and fostered and maintained the ideals that the School. This year’s recipients are Dr. Harold Baumgarten (D’77, GD’82) and Dr. Robert Summers (C’61, D’65, GD’67).
Dr. Summers, has deep ties to Penn — earning his undergraduate degree here and completing his DMD degree and his specialty training in periodontics at Penn as well. Dr. Summers has been active in the field of periodontics and implantology for more than 30 years, estimating that he has placed more than 18,000 implants in his clinical practice and teaching careers. He presently continues to practice in Narberth, PA.
An innovator in the field, Dr. Summers developed “The Summers Osteotome Technique” in 1993, which grew to become a widely used dental implant procedure in the United States and beyond. Dr. Summers also developed the first set of surgical instruments used specifically for this technique.
Dr. Summers has lectured extensively on his surgical technique throughout the United States , Canada, Europe, South America and the Middle East, training more than 1,100 dentists in Italy alone. Throughout his career, he has also been a featured lecturer at many universities and teaching hospitals, including among others, the University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University Dental School, New York University, and University of Milan. Dr. Summers also served as a visiting lecturer and clinician at The University of Zurich for two years. Among his previous recognition awards are honors from the American Society of Periodontists and the American Academy of Implant Dentistry Western district.
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– Originally published in the Penn Dental Medical Journal, Spring 2017
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