Alumni Profile Q&A: Dr. Paul Van Raaphorst – A Newly Retired Periodontist Whose ‘Continuing Education’ and Giving Back Are Still on Track as an Adjunct at the School of Dentistry

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Dr. Paul VanRaaphorst’s transition to retirement at the end of last year lasted a couple of years longer than he expected for a good reason: His patients needed and wanted his talents. Now, with the benefit of more time to reflect, he looks back on a very successful career of more than 40 years in Michigan, with most of that at his Rochester Periodontics & Dental Implants practice in suburban Detroit. He earned three degrees at U-M – a bachelor’s (1978); a DDS (1983); and a master’s in periodontics (1989). He practiced as a general dentist for four years before returning to the dental school for his graduate degree in perio. He has stayed connected with the dental school, working as an adjunct at various times, including his current appointment as Dean’s Faculty one day a month. He has contributed to the school financially, including for the newly established Dr. Hom-Lay Wang Chief Resident Award in the grad perio program. During a recent interview, Dr. VanRaaphorst talked about the most rewarding parts of dentistry, his retirement and continuing connection to the school, and why he may be the only grad in dental school history who can say that Santa Claus played a role in his admission. 

Q: You are candid about getting a slow start in applying yourself toward academics and having to take the dental school admissions test twice. Yet here you are, more than 40 years later, after earning three degrees from the University of Michigan and retiring from a lengthy career in dentistry. How did the early days evolve?

A: I always seemed to do well in science, but I did not apply myself in high school, according to my report cards. So I went to Macomb County Community College, which was a great stepping stone, because I actually began to open books and study. That went well and allowed me to get into the University of Michigan as a junior. I majored in biology with the idea of going into dentistry, but got distracted briefly by field botany and ecology with the idea of becoming a naturalist. My advisor suggested I stay with the dentistry plan. My two roommates were from Mexico and a couple of times I spent a month traveling in Mexico with them. While a great experience, it was not great to prepare for my Dental Admission Test. My test scores were mediocre and I did not get into the U-M dental school on my first try. I realized it was a setback and ended up taking a gap year, which turned out to be a fabulous year that I wouldn’t change. I found a job at the dental school, working in a research lab in biochemistry with Dr. Dominic Dziewiatkowski, who became one of my mentors. He got me interested in the research aspect of dentistry. That new focus and studying more for retaking the Dental Admission Test got me into dental school on the second try.

Q: And how did Santa Claus play a role in getting you into the dental school?

A:  Dental school professor Don Strachan, who was also the assistant dean of admissions, dressed up as Santa at the annual Christmas party. He was a researcher so I knew him a bit because of my research job that year. At the Christmas party, my co-workers made me sit on his lap, which was an excuse so that he could tell me, as Santa, that I had been admitted to the dental school.

Q: What was dental school like for you in the mid-1970s and who stood out as mentors?

A: It was not easy, but I was impressed with the education I got, that’s for sure. One of the stand-out memories was the program where we would provide dental care for migrant farmworker families and their kids in the Traverse City area. That provided us with very good hands-on skills in treatment and in dealing with the kids. Marilyn Woolfolk was the faculty member who coordinated that and I consider her one of my mentors. Then there were of course the Heys brothers (Ron and Don) who are super-dedicated. Later, in perio, Bill Mason (now also an adjunct) was more a colleague my age, but he was an important influence.  Raúl Caffesse and Billy Smith are perio faculty who were influential for me. Billy was a real gentleman, a practical guy, who had a lot of clinical and patient management skills that he taught us. And life skills as well – how to have a balanced life.

Q: Why did you decide to go into periodontics?

A: As I finished dental school, I knew a specialty program was in my future, but I needed both a break and time to decide on what program. After about four years of general dentistry, I was looking at either oral surgery or periodontics and decided my research experience was more in line with perio, so that’s what I pursued. Specializing in perio, which encompassed implants eventually, felt like a fit as you get to focus on a limited scope of dentistry and build up expertise in that area. Other than the connection to research, I picked periodontics for the continued care of a patient. It’s not like you do one procedure for a patient and don’t see them again. We stressed the importance of follow-up care with patients and over time you actually get to know the patient. So I’ve had tremendous group of patients that I’ve grown to know quite well and are still friends. For me, that’s probably the biggest thing, the relationship with patients. And then to have a quality staff – people that you treat well and they treat you well.

Q: Your practice website says you’ve placed more than 5,000 implants, which is now a staple procedure of dentistry but wasn’t when you were in dental school.

A: I had only minor formal training at the dental school with implants, though I did assist a senior prof on an implant project. Around 1990 was the tipping point when they brought people in to teach the faculty about implants and I was involved with that as an adjunct. I’ve always had a very big interest in Continuing Education. That’s how I kept in touch with a lot of the people at the dental school and in the professional groups. I was involved with the early implant groups like the Academy of Osseointegration, and I got involved early with placing Straumann implants, a Swiss company that has a very good reputation, and I got a lot of training through that. I was definitely in on the early stages of the move to implants and it helped my career tremendously.  

Q: How did you become an adjunct faculty member?

A: At the dental organization meetings, Dr. Hom-Lay Wang was very persuasive and persistent. We got along well so he would always tell me, ‘You gotta come back, you gotta come back.’ At first I said I would do the once-a-month adjunct schedule, but he said, ‘No, no, you have to do once a week.’ So from around 2017 to 2020, I taught in the grad perio clinic one afternoon every week even though I had an hour commute each way. Hom-Lay was right that once a week is better because you get connected with the students much better and they have some consistency with you, so that was a good recommendation. During Covid, I took a couple of years off, and then for the last three or four years I’ve done the once-a-month adjunct schedule. Working as an adjunct at the dental school is basically Continuing Education. You interact with the students from all over the world and with the clinical staff, so you learn a lot, and also from all the patients. I would bring in some of my cases from my practice and discuss them at the school, so it is a tremendous resource in many ways. And then there are just some superstar-type people I met in later years and became friends with. Will Giannobile (former chair of the Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, now Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine) was generous with his time. Former Dean Laurie McCauley (now Provost of U-M) I knew as a researcher and a mentor. And Hom-Lay Wang. They are great people with impressive careers and a good reason to stay close to the school. They are the sort of people who draw you in and make you want to stay connected.

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Q: People skills and building relationships with patients are important in dentistry. What was your approach to making patients comfortable in the dental chair?

A: You have to give yourself time to sit down and have a bit of a conversation. My feeling is you also need to open up yourself to get your patients to open up. If you talk a little bit about yourself in a candid way, I think that helps open up the conversation. When I would see an older patient who was super-anxious, I would ask if they had any grandchildren. And they start talking about their grandkids and then I’m looking at their pictures of their grandkids. Now I’m a grandparent and I’m showing my pictures. Relationship-building is a back-and-forth that way. As part of the agreement when I sold my practice (to his associate Dr. Joanne Yihan, U-M DDS 2009), I thought I would work there part-time for about three more years, but I ended up doing five. It was because of the patients. Anytime I would go in during the transition, the staff was happy to see me, which is great. I would get hugs from the staff and then from the patients. Everyone was saying I might not see you again. Being close to patients and staff is a very rewarding kind of thing.

Q: You and your wife Joanna have been philanthropists for many years. You’re involved with Rochester-area charities such as Neighborhood House, The Community Foundation of Greater Rochester, and Friends of the Library. You’ve funded scholarships for high school students, including one designed for students planning to attend a community college. Another is a human rights scholarship Joanna started because of her interest in social justice. And you’ve given back to the School of Dentistry as well. Why is giving back important to you?

Paul: We both know what education has done for our lives and it is tremendous in a sense. It wasn’t guaranteed growing up. We were very aware of the value of higher education and always discussed helping people with that aspect. We started many years ago doing three scholarships in our area. I was awarded a small scholarship to present my thesis project in San Francisco, and I remember how happy and appreciative I was. 
Joanna: We learned early that you don’t have to be a billionaire and give billions to make an impact. It’s not: why would you give?  It’s more: why wouldn’t you? 

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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral healthcare education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.  Email: [email protected], or (734) 615-1971.