Shuman recognized as MDDS Guest of Honor

Stephen Shuman, DDS, MS, FGSA, professor, director of the Division of Hospital and Special Care Dentistry and director of the Oral Health Services for Older Adults Program in the School of Dentistry, was the 2024 Guest of Honor for the Minneapolis District Dental Society (MDDS) on April 15.

A component of the Minnesota Dental Association and the American Dental Association, the MDDS represents approximately 80% of practicing dentists in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas.

Each year, members of the MDDS Executive Council review nominations from MDDS members for an exceptional member who provides value to organized dentistry, their fellow dentists and their community. That individual is honored at their annual Officer Installation Dinner, provided with a recognition plaque and given the opportunity to address the audience.

Shuman was chosen “for his exceptional contribution to the field of geriatric dentistry,” according to the society. “His commitment to enhancing oral health for the elderly is extraordinary. His contribution to the betterment of the oral health of Minnesotans is why he is a worthy recipient.”

Shuman found the nomination to be a “very pleasant surprise” and a testament to the work he has tried to do for older adults and the dental profession. “It made me believe that folks have awareness of the work we’ve been doing recently, such as our dementia-friendly dental practices training and other efforts,” he said. “It’s nice to know that people are aware of what you are doing.”

At the dinner, Shuman reflected on his own pathway to oral health care for older adults, which stemmed from an unexpected career turn. In 1984, Shuman’s wife was assigned to a rural clinic in west central Illinois, following her medical residency—a far distance from where Shuman was comfortably employed in a private dental practice in Philadelphia.

After much thought and reflection, Shuman decided he needed to take the journey with his wife and took a position as a dentist with the Peoria Health Department, where he was asked to provide care for the 400-bed county nursing home, 400 developmentally disabled adults in  group homes, and the medium security county jail.  “It was every dentist’s dream practice,” Shuman said with a smile. But that new world of health care opened Shuman’s eyes to the need for better dental care for patients with complex underlying conditions and how little he had learned about it in school, eventually inspiring him to pursue a geriatric fellowship and Master of Science at the University of Minnesota, which brought him to where he is today. “I think part of the reason I selected this career path was to help other dental professionals avoid learning to provide this type of complex care on the job like I did back in Peoria.  

I’ve seen so many great things come out of unusual circumstances, even difficult ones—things that didn’t look great at first, but turned into great opportunities. I think that’s what happened to me and I wanted to leave the MDDS with that message.”

Shuman closed his remarks by reflecting on two favorite quotes, whose messages he tries to live by:

    “The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life—the children—those who are in the twilight of life—the elderly—and those who are in the shadows of life—the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” 
               -  Hubert Humphrey

  “How far you go in life depends on being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong—because someday in your life, you will have been all of these.” 
             -  George Washington Carver

The experience of being honored at the event, by Shuman’s peers, was a very special one for him.

“I look around our dental school and community and I see all sorts of really accomplished people who are experts in their fields, and to be recognized for my work when I work among such amazing people is an honor,” Shuman reflected. “I think we tend to focus on the work we’re doing right now, and not reflect on the arc of how we got here—so to have this kind of recognition, for people you interact with frequently to take a moment and say they’re impressed with what you’ve done, is really something.”