NOT EVEN THE upcoming Midwinter Dental Meeting, dare we say, can possibly compete with the three-day Lucy Hobbs Celebration, the annual gala celebrating the achievements of women in dentistry, held in Chicago this past October and cohosted by Cameo Dental Specialists.

The seventh annual event, held at The Blackstone, honored six pioneering women from around the country and featured panel discussions, seminars, guest speakers and “Mind+Body+Soul”
workshops to help attendees achieve their ideal, if elusive, work-life balance. (Pro tip: A visit to Anish Kapoor’s gleaming “Bean,” at right, can be as therapeutic as a tub soak, in our experience.)

Among the panelists were CNN Newsroom anchor Poppy Harlow, as well as a number of industry luminaries. This year’s beneficiary organization, meanwhile, was Let It Be Us, a nonprofit group that works to benefit foster children and parents in Illinois. thelucyhobbsproject.com

Let It Be Us founder and executive director Susan A. McConnell (left) with Rachel Pugh, Benco Dental’s Branding and Communications Manager;

Incisal Edge photographer Jimmy Musto (left) goes wherever he needs to go to get the right photograph

CNN Newsroom anchor Poppy Harlow is interviewed by Dr. Vladana Babcic Tal (not pictured), representing event co-presenter Cameo Dental Specialists;

“Healthy Me” panel experts (from left) Dr. Betsy Carmack, Dr. Sheila Farahani, Nicole Zwiercan and Dr. Julie Arabia;

Benco Senior Event Planner Keely Brazil (left) and Inside Sales Manager Bernard Long prepare dental-hygiene kits for the Illinois foster children served by Let It Be Us;

Dr. Vladana Babcic Tal (left) with Kimberly A. Raleigh of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry;

Amanda Butterworth (left) and Dr. Carrie Etheridge, two “Healthy Team” panel experts;

(from left) Benco CMO Terry Barrett, Incisal Edge Digital Editor Kristie Ceruti, Director of Equipment Merchandising Sue Evans, Branding and Communications Manager Rachel Pugh, Branding and Graphic Design Specialist Donna Shrader and Senior Event Planner Keely Brazil;

(from left) Michael Paquette, 2018 Trailblazer Award winner, with Benco National Sales Trainer Sharon Shivetts and Friendly Benco Rep Christina Catalano;

an encouraging note for a foster child;

“Healthy Team” panelist Amanda Frankini of Water Tower Dental Care in Chicago;

a morning Gyrokinetics session in the hotel led by wellness expert Anelody Tice;

Dr. Vladana Babcic Tal onstage (left) with CNN’s Poppy Harlow;

(from left) Benco Territory Rep Chad Jarecki with Hu-Friedy’s Tom Rimmer and Nick Farstveet.

Trail Blazer | Chris Dower

The personal and the professional blur for Benco Territory REPRESENTATIVE Chris Dower—and he Wouldn’t have it any other Way.

DENTISTRY RUNS IN THE FAMILY for Benco Dental’s Chris Dower. He and his wife, Dr. Darcy A. Wakefield, are business partners in her Cambridge, Ohio, practice. Dower, who has been a Territory Rep for Benco for 16 years, brings to his work both a passion for dental innovation and a commitment to education.

Dower has watched his wife’s successful dental career firsthand. “I’ve been lucky to work alongside her for 15 years to build her practice into what it is today,” he says. “She’s able to share with me the challenges she faces as a dentist, business owner, wife and mother to our two children. I can connect with her colleagues, and she’s able to connect with mine to deliver the best patient care. It’s a unique, special relationship.”

He puts his own experience to work for customers in one of Benco Dental’s largest territories, encompassing West Virginia, eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and northeastern Kentucky. His infectious love for dentistry and its life-changing impact drives his desire to help his doctors achieve more.

In the past four years alone, Dower has personally helped place in jobs more than 200 graduates of the dental schools of West Virginia University, Ohio State, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Kentucky. He’s Benco’s WVU representative and collaborates closely with the school, its students and faculty—and he’s currently working to bring a Lucy Hobbs event there.

“Lucy Hobbs was a trailblazer and an ultimate leader for women in dentistry,” he observes. “Like her, I try to lead by example with my peers. I’m honored merely to be associated with the Lucy Hobbs Project, and grateful beyond words for 16 years in dentistry that have been rewarding and memorable.”

Lucy Hobbs was a trailblazer and an ultimate leader for women in dentistry. Like her, I try to lead by example with my peers.”

The Kids Are All Right

Illinois foster-children nonprofit Let It Be Us
was this year’s Lucy Hobbs beneficiary.

KIDS COMING OUT of the hospital. Kids who have never celebrated a birthday with loved ones. Kids requiring foster parents who know sign language. Kids simply in need of love and hope. There are 18,000 children in the foster system in Illinois, and the beneficiary organization for the 2019 Lucy Hobbs Celebration, held last October in Chicago, was Let It Be Us, a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping those needy youngsters.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Barrington, a northwest Chicago suburb, Let It Be Us helps build bridges between would-be foster parents and the children who might make an excellent fit in their homes. Attendees at this year’s Lucy Hobbs Celebration in Chicago helped benefit the organization. Want to do the same? Please visit LetItBeUs.org.