Dolwick Receives AAOMS Award

Dolwick
M. Frank Dolwick is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer in the development of temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, arthography and surgical procedures for TMJ internal derangement.

Franklin Dolwick, D.M.D., Ph.D., received the Robert V. Walker Distinguished Service Award honoring significant contributions to oral and maxillofacial surgery during the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, or AAOMS, annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2021.

He was recognized as an innovator in temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, arthrography and procedures for treating TMJ internal derangement. He developed the TMJ arthrocentesis procedure in 1989 that has been used to alleviate pain in thousands of patients.

Dolwick also has served on TMJ research committees for AAOMS, the American Dental Association and National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, written more than 100 articles and coauthored four textbooks. He is former chair of the UF Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, where he has served as a full-tenured professor, craniofacial-cleft palate team member and sleep medicine faculty. Until 2015, he was also the residency program director. His other honors include the 2013 Donald B. Osbon Award for Outstanding Educator, the Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Foundation’s 1993 Research Recognition Award for temporomandibular disorder studies and the 1980 Meritorious Service Award from the U.S. Air Force.

Dolwick was one of 30 award recipients honored during the AAOMS meeting for their accomplishments in education, research, advocacy and humanitarianism. The awards presentation was held during the Opening Ceremony of the 103rd AAOMS Annual Meeting – the largest gathering of oral and maxillofacial surgeons in the country.

The AAOMS Annual Meeting was dedicated posthumously to AAOMS fellows, members and residents who lost their lives to COVID-19. Since 2020, the pandemic has significantly impacted the oral and maxillofacial surgery specialty and AAOMS members’ practices. Dr. B.D. Tiner, 2020-21 AAOMS president, asked the Association Advisory Committee on Awards Nominations to dedicate the 2021 Annual Meeting to the memory of those members who have lost their lives.