Harmon Adams has cared for several generations of island mouths.

“Progressive” and “conservative” don’t usually go hand in hand, but Harmon Adams may be an exception.

Over the past four decades, Adams has adapted to the light-year advances that reshaped dentistry while maintaining an island family practice that is focused on “conservative restoration” – helping patients care for and keep the teeth they have.

December marked 41 years of service to the Bainbridge community for Adams, who opened his practice with Jim MacFarlane in 1962 at the old Village shopping center.

With fellow dentist Fred Grimm, Adams and MacFarlane subsequently built the Bainbridge Dental Park on High School Road.

Now, it’s an Adams family affair in a joint practice with his son Todd at Winslow Green.

“I’m about to accept my fourth generation of patients – a young man whose grandfather was one of my first patients,” Harmon Adams said.

During the years in between, families started eating healthier, kids learned to take better care of their teeth, and Winslow finally got fluoride – changes that have made a huge difference in oral health.

“When I started on the island, the first time I saw a kid they would be in tears,” Adams said. “There was a period, between 1960 and 1968 or so, where there was rampant disease. It was just devastating.”

“Lots of kids are graduating from high school now without any major fillings in their mouths.”

Adams graduated from the University of Washington School of Dentistry in 1960, then spent two years in the U.S. Air Force practicing restorative dentistry before opening his practice on Bainbridge.

In 1974, the UW’s Department of Restorative Dentistry recruited him. For the next 10 years, he taught restorative dentistry and directed student clinical activities, while also maintaining a limited practice on the island.

Adams returned to full-time private practice in 1984. He continues to be active in numerous restorative dentistry study groups, where professionals periodically operate on actual patients in intimate peer-review sessions.

“It’s fun. You show what you know, but you also continue to learn, he said. “That’s why I went into teaching – to continue to learn.

“Things are changing so much, it’s hard to keep up just in private practice.”

Cons from a pro

Adams believes most of the major changes in his field over the past 40 years have been positive.

“The things that have made my life easier are the magnification systems that we use,” he said. “If you can’t see it, you can’t do it.”

Those systems include binocular loupes for looking into mouths and magnifying x-rays, and a 10-20x power laboratory microscope used to ensure the fit on cemented or bonded restorations such as crowns.

The development of electron microscopy in the late 1960s revolutionized endodontic – within the tooth – procedures like root canals.

“It gave us a whole new understanding of what was happening with teeth and soft tissues that we just didn’t have back when I was in school,” Adams said.

There are changes he doesn’t like, however. He doesn’t believe the dental board exams are “as tough as they should be.” Only 57 of his original 75 classmates graduated back in 1960. The rest were weeded out.

“Times were a little tougher back then,” he said.

He also believes some new materials are abused, especially composite resin. While these tooth-colored fillings cost only about a quarter of what porcelain, silver or gold restorations can cost, “it’s yet to be proven how long they last, at least on the back teeth,” he said.

Adams is proud of the reputation his practice has established for conservative restoration dentistry in an environment of medical excellence.

That tradition continues under his son Todd, who joined the practice in 1997 and took over the business three years ago.

“It’s wonderful,” Adams said of the partnership with his son. “I’m very proud of all three of my sons. They are all experts in their chosen fields.

“However, Todd, the youngest, my dentist, has the most in common with me professionally. He’s even following along in some of the same study groups I belong to.”

Adams says he is counting on his son to help him decide the right moment to retire.

“That’s the thing about practicing with a family member,” he said. “You have the wonderful opportunity to collaborate closely with them – and they have the wonderful opportunity to offer loving criticism.”

The photographs in his lobby attest to Adams’ keen interest in traveling, but he doesn’t plan to stray far from the island when – if – he finally stops practicing dentistry.

“Bainbridge is a great spot,” he said. “My wife and I couldn’t have chosen a better environment to establish a home.

“Such wonderful people, such a wonderful community.”