Dr. Marvin Sugarman said dentistry was his vocation and his patients were an avocation, and he practiced that creed for decades.
He opened a general practice in 1938 in downtown Atlanta and later specialized in periodontal treatment, which was perceptive on his part.
"He realized that patients were likely to lose teeth to gum disease, not decay," said Dr. Edward Sugarman, a son from Atlanta.
The elder Sugarman's professional reputation was widespread. Dentists recommended his services, which is how he befriended Fletcher Bright of Chattanooga.
"My teeth are in my head because of Dr. Sugarman," Bright said. "He had so many Chattanooga patients that they used to have an appreciation luncheon for him at the Lookout Mountain Golf Club. In addition to being an excellent dentist, he was an excellent friend."
On Monday, Dr. Marvin Meyer Sugarman died of natural causes at his home in Atlanta. He was 95. The funeral will be held 1 p.m. Thursday at Ahavath Achim Synagogue. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Dr. Sugarman graduated from Boys High School and attended Emory University. He also graduated from Atlanta-Southern Dental College, which became the Emory University School of Dentistry.
He served as president of the Georgia Dental Association, the Southern Academy of Periodontology and the American Academy of Periodontology.
At Emory, he was a lecturer, consultant and founding director of post-graduate studies in the field. With patients, he delivered care with yarns and jokes.
"He liked dentistry, but he liked the people part of it just as much," said Pam Sugarman, a granddaughter from Asheville, N.C. "He had patients since they were kids, then parents and now grandparents."
Two sons followed his professional path. In 1966, Edward joined his father's practice. His brother, Richard, followed 12 years later. The practice is located off Howell Mill Road.
"It's been a wonderful collaboration," Richard said. "We had a peer group respected by all in a professional sense and one that was close on a personal sense. Dad did not expect us to be dentists, but we noted that he loved his profession and decided to make periodontics our career. For him, it was about serving a need he saw in patients."
Last December, Dr. Sugarman retired but still dropped by the office to inquire about patients. He had known some of them since they had baby teeth.
Additional survivors include a daughter, Brenda Goldberg of Cleveland, Ohio; 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
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