Dr. Garry Pitts named a Fellow in the International College of Dentists

By B.L. Azure
THHS Public Information Officer

Dr. Gary Pitts, manager of the THHS Dentistry Division, was recently named a Fellow in the International College of Dentists. (B.L. Azure photo)

POLSON — The extraordinary 30-year career in dentistry of Dr. Garry Pitts, manager of the THHS Dental Program, was recently acknowledged and honored by the International College of Dentists. This past October, Dr. Pitts was named a Fellow in the ICD at the National American Dentists Association meeting in San Francisco. The NADA is the American component of the ICD.

Pitts said he was a tad surprised by his nomination to the ICD as well being inducted as a Fellow in that organization.

“All I knew about the San Francisco gathering was that I was invited to be there,” Pitts said. “I was also told that it was an important event to attend.”

And so he went — it was his first time ever to the City on the Bay.

“On the trip over, I got to thinking about why they wanted me there,” Pitts said, adding that once he got to the ICD convention he soon realized what was happening. “All of a sudden a light went off and I realized what was going on, that I was being inducted as a Fellow in the International College of Dentists. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the honor. The Fellowship was based on the work I have done in the last 30 years I have practiced dentistry.”

The ICD lauded Dr. Pitts for going to great lengths to deliver dental care to people during his extraordinary 30-year career. The recent Halloween outreach effort at the Polson THHS Clinic was one of the fun ways to accomplish that mission. (B.L. Azure photo)

In accordance to his nomination and induction he had to successfully pass muster in three levels of review. The three-tier assessment of his 30-year career of, among other things, providing dental care to the less fortunate folks throughout the United States with the Indian Health Service and THHS on the Flathead Indian Reservation easily propelled him over the muster hurdles. Pitts said there are more than 70 million people of all ages that don’t have access to dental care.

Included in the assessment was the dental administrative curriculum aimed at international students he helped design as his Master’s of Public Health thesis at the University of Hawaii.

Pitts said he didn’t know a whole lot about the ICD prior to being named a Fellow.

The International College of Dentists is the oldest and largest international honorary dental organization in the world. The ICD was established in 1928 and has more than 12,000 members worldwide in 122 countries that are designated Fellows.

There are 11 dental districts in the United States; Montana is in the 11th Dental District along with Washington and Idaho.

Dr. Garry Pitts, head of the THHS Dentistry Division, received his Fellowship at a conference in San Francisco this fall. (courtesy photo)

Fellowship in the ICD is extended by invitation only and is granted in recognition of a dentist’s “outstanding professional achievement, meritorious service and dedication to the continued progress of dentistry for the benefit of humankind.”

Prior to recognition as an ICD Fellow, a candidate’s qualifications and achievements are evaluated by a series of credential committees in order to ensure that the candidate is deserving of the prestigious honor, and that they adhere to the ICD motto, goals and objectives. Once inducted a Fellow in good standing is authorized to use the acronym “FICD” after his or her name.

The five goals of ICD are related to demonstrated leadership by upholding the highest standard of professional competence and personal ethics; recognition of distinguished service to the dental profession and the public worldwide; humanitarianism by fostering measures for the prevention and treatment of oral disease by encouraging and supporting humanitarian projects; professional relations by providing a universal forum for the cultivation of cordial relations within the profession and assistance in preserving the highest perception of the profession; and, education by contributing to the advancement of the profession of dentistry by fostering the growth and diffusion of dental knowledge worldwide.