Honoring a Family's Connection to the Profession

David Smeltzer, DDS ’95, wouldn’t be the successful oral surgeon he is today if not for his older sister, Debbie York, DDS ’00. While working on his undergraduate degree in biology at Bowling Green State University, he lived with Debbie, who was a dental hygienist at the time. After his sister introduced him to some of the dentists she worked for, Dr. Smeltzer began his path to dental school at Ohio State. “I was searching for something that I felt I was good at. I’d been in construction and had pretty good hand skills, so the combination of that with my biology background got me thinking about dentistry,” Dr. Smeltzer said.

Dr. Smeltzer went on to train as an oral surgeon for four years after earning his dental degree. Today, he owns an oral and facial surgery for adults and children practice in Columbus. Amazingly, with her employer’s encouragement, Dr. Smeltzer’s sister decided to follow her younger brother’s trajectory. She too earned her dental degree from Ohio State and, today, Dr. York practices at Columbus’s Community Dental. “She’s six years older than me, but everybody thinks she’s my younger sister because she went to dental school after me,” Dr. Smeltzer said with a laugh.

“It just keeps going back to how much dentistry has done for you and your family. This is a way we can continue to promote excellence in the field we’ve chosen.” 

—David Smeltzer, ’95 DDS, and Debbie York, ’00 DDS

To honor the college that gave him his start—as well as his family’s strong connection to the profession—Dr. Smeltzer recently made a $100,000 contribution to the Postle Hall expansion project. It’s as much a nod to his big sister’s impact on his life as it is a major gift to help transform the aging facility. “I’m at the college a good amount, and I see the age of everything and how things haven’t been updated since I was in school,” said Dr. Smeltzer, who has stayed connected to the college by teaching oral surgery residents for the past two decades. “The P.I.T.S. in the basement was old back when I was there, and that was 25 years ago. Seeing that, I got a little nostalgic and felt like this was something I wanted to do.”

Raised to value giving back—his father was a minister and mother a university employee—Dr. Smeltzer and his wife, Dee, who works in the optometry field, volunteer their time with the Physicians Care Clinic in downtown Columbus. The Smeltzer family gift to the college is right in line with their values. “I wanted this gift to be about the family,” Dr. Smeltzer said. “Dentistry has given us so many opportunities. When I was in college, I spent the summers digging ditches. Now, my children are traveling the world and that’s all because of dentistry.”

He encourages other alumni who have benefited from their dental degrees to give to the Postle Hall Fund, as well. “It just keeps going back to how much dentistry has done for you and your family. This is a way we can continue to promote excellence in the field we’ve chosen.” Upgrading the college’s facilities matters, he points out. “It’s no different than bringing top quality athletes to the university. Without top facilities, they’re not going to come here. And that’s the same with top quality dental students and faculty.”