Dr. Roger H. Scholle, a long-time ADA employee, past editor of JADA, past editor of the Illinois Dental Journal and editor of the Chicago Dental Society Review, died Feb. 26 after battling heart disease for several months. He was 64 years old.
A board-certified oral pathologist with a private practice in Chicago, Dr. Scholle was this reporter’s personal dentist and close friend.
He received his dental degree from Chicago’s Northwestern University dental school in 1962, later earning a master’s degree in oral pathology from the University of Chicago’s Division of Biological Sciences.
He joined the ADA staff in October 1967, serving as assistant secretary to the former Council on Dental Therapeutics. In April 1978, Dr. Scholle was named editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association, a position he held until December 1986, when he left the Association.
From 1987 to 1993, Dr. Scholle served as editor of the Illinois Dental Journal, a publication of the Illinois State Dental Society. He was named editor of the CDS Review in 1993, stepping down in January after his illness turned critical.
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Dr. Roger H. Scholle
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Over the years, Dr. Scholle earned a well-deserved reputation for his carefully crafted editorials, which he labored over with the intensity of a novelist.
His last editorial, which appeared in the January/February CDS Review, implored member dentists to attend the recent CDS Midwinter Meeting.
All through his years in organized dentistry, Dr. Scholle maintained a private dental practice just a block from ADA headquarters. His patient base included many current and former ADA staffers.
Those of us who knew him will remember Dr. Scholle’s quick wit and his love of dentistry. He was, by nature, a reserved and private man, but he could tell a joke and liked to laugh.
And he was the best dentist I ever had.
