A man of ready wit and generosity of spirit: In memory of Dr David Wilson

(pictured above: David Wilson signing the contract for the sale of ADA House, with Secretary of the Association, Ray Newlands)

David John Wilson was born in the Sydney suburb of Manly in 1931. He grew up in Lindfield, proceeding from the tiny East Lindfield Primary School to North Sydney Boys’ High School where he excelled in languages and participated enthusiastically in school concerts. In 1949 he entered the Dental Faculty at the University of Sydney, then located at the Dental Hospital in Chalmers Street.  He had wanted to be a dentist from childhood for reasons unknown, although he recalled stories of a barber-cum-tooth puller in the family mythology. At University he continued his interest in performance as a member of the Sydney University Dramatic Society (SUDS). 

David graduated and married Ruth, a fellow graduate of the University of Sydney, in 1954. After six months spent working in Dr Philip Green’s dental practice at Mosman he moved to Villawood where he established a general dental practice, and where the older two of his four children were born.  In 1957 he commenced regular weekly sessions in the Macquarie Street practice of the highly respected oral and maxillo-facial surgeon Dr Everett Magnus. In 1959 he entered into full-time specialist practice and commenced his studies toward a master’s degree in oral surgery (1960). He and his family relocated to the north shore suburb of Pymble.

In 1969 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Dental Science, the highest qualification in dentistry at the University of Sydney. His research investigated the maxillary nerve in the cat. Between 1970 and 1974 Dr Wilson served as Honorary Oral Surgeon at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He was a popular teacher of oral surgery to dental students at the Dental Hospital, many of whom greeted him enthusiastically when they met by chance in recent decades. 
   
David Wilson was a man of strong opinions. He took a lively interest in dental politics and joined the committee of the Australian Dental Association (ADA). He served as Vice-President in 1969 and as President in 1970. It is notable that his brother, Lionel, was a Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA). 

David was somewhat bemused to be appointed Honorary Oral Surgeon to Queen Elizabeth during her 1972 visit to open the Opera House. But he regarded his most memorable achievement to the profession as his prolonged and successful negotiation of the sale of the ADA premises at 218 Castlereagh Street, resulting in a more solid financial foundation, going forward, for the Association. It was during his term of office that contentious questions about dental schemes run by Friendly Societies were raised, as well the training of dental technicians, dental therapists and dental assistants. He supported the formation of a Dental Foundation to pursue matters relating to public dental health and hygiene, and personally head-hunted another North Sydney Boys’ High student, Peter Lazar A.M., as the inaugural Director of the Foundation. He was able to capitalise on his own higher doctorate to lobby without prejudice for the courtesy title of ‘Dr’ for all members of the dental profession. 

The Wilson family lived in Israel between 1974 and 1979.  A major catalyst for this move was the opportunity for David to establish and service a government oral and maxillo-facial surgery clinic at the Kfar Saba Hospital in the centre of the country. Patients drawn from both Palestinian Arab and Israeli Jewish communities flocked to the clinic. The requirements were challenging: the language spoken was Hebrew, and the hours were from 7 a.m. until noon. After a lunch break David drove into central Tel Aviv where he established the first exclusively oral surgery specialist practice in the country. Disappointingly, a bureaucratic decision led to closure of the hospital clinic in 1979, and the Wilson family returned to Sydney.

David re-established his oral surgery practice in the city. Although he had relinquished his honorary hospital position on leaving for Israel and, to his disappointment, was not re- appointed to a teaching position on returning to Sydney, he continued to work collaboratively and productively with colleagues in the fields of oral and maxillo-facial surgery, endodontics and orthodontics. He enthusiastically embraced the evolving field of implantology, undertaking training in Switzerland. Together with his former student and colleague, Dr George Pal, he delivered a series of teaching seminars in Sydney and Melbourne. 

David Wilson retired from surgical practice at the age of 70. For the following decade he enjoyed working in the medico-legal field, finding the forensic aspects of the investigation much to his liking. When he no longer took pleasure in writing complicated reports he devoted himself to his two great loves: his family and his golf. He managed to play eighteen holes of golf three times a week throughout his eighties, and only recently reduced his game to nine holes. He collapsed on the golf course on May 22 and, after a brief rally in hospital and at home, he died on September 18th. 

David was extremely sociable all his life. As he grew older, he became more deeply involved in the lives and activities of his four children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He offered unstinting support to Ruth, his wife of seventy years, as she developed a career in education and writing. He will be remembered for his engagement with his family, profession and friends, his ready wit, his generosity of spirit, and an infectious smile.