Stanley Spiro
Stanley Spiro (May 27, 1919 – October 6, 2011) was a pioneer in the practice of modern dentistry and anesthesiology, author and educator. Dr. Spiro dedicated his professional life to the much needed relief of pain, anxiety, and fear for the dental patient.
Biography
Early life and education
Stanley Robert Spiro was born on May 27, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, son of David and Rose (Meyer). He was awarded his A.B. undergraduate degree at Brooklyn College in 1940, and received his D.D.S. at Temple University in 1943. He was also a member of professional fraternity Sigma Epsilon Delta.
Military Service
Stanley Spiro was a veteran of World War II, having served as Captain of Dental Corp 1257th Combat Engineering Battalion, U.S. Army European Theater of Operations from 1943 through 1946. Captain Spiro was decorated with the Combat Medics Badge with 2 stars.
Professional career
From 1948 to 1951, Dr. Spiro was appointed to the Department of Anesthesiology, Queens General Hospital, Jamaica, New York as a three year resident-trainee. Thereafter, he gained the position of Associate Professor of Dental Surgery (Anesthesiology) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York. He was also Chief of the Section of Anesthesiology, Department of Dentistry at The Bronx Municipal Hospital, Chief of Anesthesiology Service at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical in Brooklyn, and Chief of the Section of Anesthesiology, Division of Handicapped Patients, Lutheran Hospital, Brooklyn, New York.
Dr. Spiro established his private practice at the Medical Arts Hospital on W. 57th Street in New York City, and later continued his practice at Hempstead Medical Center on Long Island, New York.
To many, Dr. Spiro was way ahead of his time in procedures dedicated to operative restorative dentistry under general anesthesia for handicapped or difficult patients. Stanley Spiro eventually was one of the first to establish the model for an organized team approach to outpatient in-office painless dental procedures in a safe, monitored office environment. His professional life was devoted to the much needed relief of pain, anxiety, and fear for the dental patient. Stanley Spiro was a member of the American Dental Association, American Dental Society of Anesthesiology, International Anesthesia Research Society. Dr. Spiro was a frequent contributor to professional journals as well as authoring two books, "Amnesia-Analgesia, Techniques in Dentistry" and "Pain And Anxiety Control in Dentistry".
Beyond his professional accomplishents, Dr. Spiro had a boundless curiosity and enthusiasm for many areas of life, most notably as an accomplished jazz musician. For 38 years he practiced dentistry, and then at the age of 65, Dr. Spiro decided it was time for a change. He closed his practice, and wife Thelma and he headed off to Marco Island, Florida where Dr. Stanley Spiro became Stan Spiro jazz musician and bandleader of Stan Spiro and The Townsmen Orchestra.
He started filling up his one-time appointment calendar with big band jazz gigs. In no time he attracted the attention of southwest Florida's WIXI radio station, became the subject of a Time Magazine article, and was profiled in acclaimed author Denis Waitley's 1988 book "Being The Best".