Page 58 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 94, No. 1 Fall 2013

58
SPOTLIGHT
Saving People’s Smiles Earle Simpson ’78
A part of the spirit of the Form of 1978
resides at 194 Pleasant Street in Concord,
less than a mile from the entrance to
St. Paul’s School. That’s where Earle
Simpson ’78 operates a nonprofit dental
clinic that reflects not only his own giving
spirit, but those of his formmates.
When Simpson closed a successful pri-
vate dental practice in Bedford, N.H., in
favor of opening Saving People’s Smiles
(“SPS”) in March 2012, he did so with the
help of many in his form. Five years ago,
as the form neared its 30th anniversary,
Simpson and others began to reflect on
their personal and collective legacies.
“It was a time in my life when I was
close to turning 50,” says Simpson, now
53. “You’re at the top of the mountain,
coming down the other side. I wondered:
When I go into the next life, what have I
left behind?”
After much discussion with his form-
mates about how they could give back,
Simpson was encouraged to open a non-
profit dental center in Concord, which
would serve two purposes: provide a
community outreach opportunity for
members of the Form of 1978 and fill a
void in Concord, Simpson’s hometown
and the common locale for him and his
formmates. The State of New Hampshire
boasts more than a dozen similar facilities,
but none were in Concord until Simpson’s
formmates donated their time and money
to launch a new SPS.
“That Earle is so overtly giving back to
Concord now that he has grown up is just
plain admirable,” says Simpson’s friend
Nora Tracy Phillips ’78. Earle credits her
and Kevin Foley ’78 for spearheading the
efforts on behalf of SPS dental.
“Earle is a strangely charismatic figure,”
Phillips said. “He’s very smart, but sounds
every bit the Common Man when he speaks.
“He comes off to those of us in the form
as the real deal, someone people are
instantly inclined to believe in. When he
speaks about the lofty vision he has for
his dental practice and what it could
mean to the people he serves, he’s got
us in his pocket. And we are more than
happy to be there.”
To get the operation off the ground, the
Form first raised nearly $70,000 to cover
the costs of opening the clinic – operating
rooms, exam rooms, computers and soft-
ware, desks and chairs, and seating for the
waiting room. They donated artwork, and
Curtis Starr ’78 and his wife, Amy Nobu ’78,
painted a mural of Simpson looking out at
Lower School Pond that adorns the office
waiting area. Then, near the end of 2011,
two dozen members of the Form of 1978
descended on Concord, ready to work.
“They came in and – you name it –
cleaned windows, vacuumed floors,
painted – everything that needed to be
done. They flew in from all over, just to
help out, and those who couldn’t make
it sent checks. I still keep getting checks
from classmates. So it was a little piece
of everybody, which means a lot to me.
When I walk into work each day and see
that, it reminds me of my classmates.
How cool is that?”
It’s no coincidence that the clinic’s
acronym spells “SPS” – it’s Simpson’s
tribute to his classmates and to the
School.
“I love St. Paul’s; it’s everything to me,”
Simpson says, adding that the office
building that houses Saving People’s
Smiles is owned by Peter Milnes ’75, who
provides the clinic space free of charge.
The Pleasant Street clinic is one half of
Simpson’s dedication to nonprofit dental
care. He also runs a mobile dental van that
travels to elementary schools throughout
New Hampshire, often reaching out to
provide blankets, clothing, and food to
homeless families whose paths he crosses
in the process of evaluating their oral
health. He also hopes to expand his office
practice to include free meeting space for
local dentists.
The dental SPS serves the homeless,
the uninsured, those on Medicaid, vet-
erans, and families without access to
proper dental care. Simpson and his two
associates have partnered with the N.H.
state mental institution. They take pro
bono cases or charge reduced rates, some-
times asking patients to pay simply what
they can. Some patients use a bartering
system in return for their care, paying, for
example, in office supplies or latex gloves.
“Oral health affects overall health,”
Simpson says. “As healthcare providers,
our main focus is trying to put ourselves
out of business. We don’t want to be doing
fillings and extractions. We would love to
see patients only every six months for
checkups. There is nothing like a nice
smile, but it’s not really about teeth.”
Earle Simpson ’78 stands in front of a mural
of Lower School Pond, a piece central to the
waiting room of his dental office.