MANSFIELD — Dr. Norman Barbone has been selected as an “Honored Fellow” by the American Academy of Implant Dentistry.
Just nine of approximately 5,000 dentists from around the world received this distinction in 2015. These new Honored Fellows join 181 other dentists previously selected since 1951.
The Honored Fellow designation is awarded to members of AAID who, through their professional, clinical, research or academic endeavors, have distinguished themselves within implant dentistry.
Barbone could hardly believe it when he was notified.
“I was in shock,” he said.
He was recognized at AAID’s 64th annual conference in Las Vegas last October. He is one of four Ohioans and the first Richland County dentist to be named an Honored Fellow since AAID was formed in 1951.
This honor comes 11 years after he became a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral Implantology/Implant Dentistry. The ABOI/ID Diplomate designation symbolizes the highest level of competence in implant dentistry, according to the ABOI/ID website. Barbone also serves as an examiner for the ABOI/ID oral examination given once a year at the American Dental Association headquarters in Chicago.
Barbone has practiced general implant dentistry for the past 32 years, placing his first implant in 1984–just one year after graduating from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry.
In 1986, he founded Implant Plastics, Inc. where he designed and produced over 50 plastic patterns for casting implant components. By 1988, the company was one of the largest suppliers of “Hadar Clips” in the United States.
He later received two patents for implant component designs.
Throughout his career, he has developed numerous implant dentistry surgical procedures and tools, including a digital intra-oral photography system with hands-free capture of rapid images.
“Dentistry had been pretty much the same animal for hundreds of years, until about five years ago when we had a technological explosion,” he said.
Fittingly, Barbone’s office (located at 391 Glessner Ave.) is equipped with various technological devices–including a CT scanner–that help enhance operations and procedures.
“I get to play with such cool technology every day and it just keeps getting better and better,” he said.
But it’s not just the technology component of his job that he enjoys. It’s exciting to witness the transformation that people undergo when they’re treated, he said.
“When you take somebody who has trouble eating chicken noodle soup and then the next thing you know they’re eating buffalo wings, that’s pretty cool,” he said. “People ask when I’m going to retire, and I say, ‘Retire? I’m having too much fun.'”
