JOSEPH P. CROWLEY DISTINGUISHED DENTIST AWARD: DR. KEVIN LAING
Dr. Kevin Laing is the 2024 recipient of the Ohio Dental Association Joseph P. Crowley Distinguished Dentist Award.
Dr. Kevin Laing has been involved at all levels of organized dentistry throughout his career. For his efforts, he will receive the 2024 Ohio Dental Association Joseph P. Crowley Distinguished Dentist Award on Friday, Sept. 13 at the Callahan Celebration of Excellence, held in conjunction with the 158th ODA Annual Session.
“Dr. Laing has spent his entire professional career in organized dentistry from the ADA, ODA, and in his local component,” wrote Dr. Joseph Mellion, a past president of the ODA, in his nomination letter. “He comes from a long line of dentists and family members who have also been involved in the dental profession. His oldest son is a dental hygienist and his youngest son is a dentist who worked with Kevin in their practice. Dr. Laing has a unique leadership style which I have seen him exhibit throughout his career. He has always been very professional and ethical in his decisions and comments and he has always been very involved in all aspects of his life.”
Laing said he was shocked to receive the award.
“To say I was shocked would be an understatement,” he said. “I have had the pleasure of working with so many excellent dental leaders over the years that I have admired and tried to emulate, but never felt that I was doing more than anyone else. I have just been having a great time working with friends to make the practice of dentistry, and organized dentistry stronger and member driven.”
Laing comes from a long line of dentists, which inspired him to become a dentist.
“I am a legacy dentist,” he said. “My grandfather graduated from Loyola Dental School in 1931, my father followed in 1957, and I graduated from the same school in 1980. We three all practiced dentistry in Van Wert, Ohio. I also had an uncle who was a Loyola grad and practiced in Montana. So after toying with various career choices, ranging from medicine to funeral directing, I settled into the amazing profession of dentistry – where I belonged all along!”
After receiving his DDS from Loyola in 1980, he went into practice with his dad for several years before continuing in solo practice. He retired in 2021 after practicing for 41 years. His son Robert is an OSU grad and has assumed the mantle to continue the practice. His son Michael also continues the dental legacy as a hygienist and practices in Columbus.
Laing said his favorite parts about being a dentist are carrying on his family’s work, interacting with his patients, and enjoying the companionship of other dentists.
Laing has been involved in organized dentistry since becoming a dentist.
“My dad was a past president of the Northwest Ohio Dental Society, and he made sure that we regularly attended our component meetings,” he said. “There I met a great group of people including Ken Clemens, Buck Buchannan, Barry Aab, and Jack Spratt. I was impressed that everyone interacted as colleagues and not competitors.”
Laing quickly began serving as a delegate to the ODA House of Delegates, where he said he began thinking about how regulations and legislation seemed lined up against the open and free practice of dentistry, and he observed a group of strong dentists and dedicated staff that were focused on keeping the hostile forces at bay.
A few years later, he also began serving as a delegate to the ADA House of Delegates.
“What an eyeopener! It quickly became obvious that Ohio was heads and shoulders above many states in having educated, talented, and dedicated leaders. It has been a joy to watch so many from our delegation excel in service to the ADA,” he said.
Since then, Laing has served in leadership roles at all three levels of organized dentistry.
With the American Dental Association, he has served as chair of the Council on Membership Services and served as chair of the ADA Council on Annual Session during the 2011 meeting in Las Vegas, along with serving on several other councils, committees and task forces.
Laing has also served as secretary and president of the Ohio Dental Association.
“It was so exciting to meet committee members from different types of practices and locations around the state that were engaged and ready to work on all aspects of dentistry,” he said. “It was a diverse group of people with strong personalities that could boldly discuss topics (sometimes with raised voices) but recognized the purity of intent that allowed them to become great friends.”
He has also served on many councils and committees with the ODA as well as the ODA Foundation Board and the Callahan Commission. With the Northwest Ohio Dental Society, he has also served in many roles including as president and program chair.
Laing said he thinks organized dentistry is important because of the collective power behind a group of dentists.
“No dentist, or small group of dentists can effectively deal with the regulatory agencies, the often-misinformed legislators, and certainly the insurance industry,” Laing said. “Organized dentistry helps to monitor that the education of undergrad dentists as well as the continuing education offerings which often are just infomercials. There is power in numbers, so it is paramount that we keep our market share of dentists as members.”
Laing is a member of the International College of Dentists, received the 2021 Pierre Fauchard Distinguished Dentist Award, and chaired the Ohio Section of the American College of Dentists.
Laing is also very involved in his community, including with the Elks, the Shriners, the Masonic Temple, his county planning committee and his Parish Church.
“Being involved and being ‘in the room where it happens,’ has always been a passion of mine,” Laing said. “At home I was involved in my church, several fraternal organizations, and several boards.”
Outside of dentistry, Laing enjoys traveling and live entertainment including lectures, theater and music.
Laing said he could not have been this involved in organized dentistry without the support of his late wife, Barbara, who passed away in January 2021 due to COVID-19.
“I could not have been as involved in dental leadership without the loving support of my (late) wife, Barbara,” he said. “She always made sure that I was able to attend the many meetings and was always able to know that my home and family were safe in my absence. When it was appropriate and possible, Barb attended and participated in dental events and was especially active with the Annual Session and Foundation activities.”
In late 2022, he reacquainted with a schoolmate, Jeanna, who has given him reason to smile again. They were married in March 2024.
The Joseph P. Crowley Distinguished Dentist Award is the ODA’s most prestigious award. It is given to a leader in the profession committed to the advancement of dentistry who is dedicated and committed to organized dentistry at the local, state and national level.
