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Endodontics guru dies
14th Mar 2006
A Boston dental surgeon who refined the instruments and techniques used to perform root canals, making the procedure safer and more successful, died on 25 January at his home in Newton, Massachusetts. Dr Herbert Schilder was 77 years old. In the 1960s, while teaching at the Boston University School of Dental Medicine, Dr Schilder developed the Schilder technique; a system to save teeth severely damaged by infection in their internal tissue. Dr Schilder experimented with materials to pack the tooth permanently and succeeded in shaping gutta percha. His method of compressing and then heating it managed to fill the tooth effectively. The Schilder technique and tools are still widely used today, even as some endodontists have started to pack teeth with plastics. His technique even made it to Hollywood; it was mentioned in the film Finding Nemo. Hert Schilder was born in Brooklyn and received his undergraduate and dental degrees from New York University. After teaching briefly at Tufts and Temple, he arrived at Boston University in 1958. He was chairman of the department of endodontics from 1966 to 1999 and retired as a professor of endodontics in 2003. He also had a private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. He served as president of the American Association of Endodontists and the Massachusetts Dental Society and was the first vice president of the American Dental Association.
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