Smiles we remember

Dr. Roy Rinkle’s penchant for jumping in to help distinguished him right away in 2014 when he reconnected with Texas A&M College of Dentistry as a volunteer adjunct clinical faculty member.

This 1963 alumnus first served on the college’s faculty in the 1960s and became founding director of the North Texas Maxillofacial Prosthetics Rehabilitation Center, later spending the majority of his prosthodontics career in private practice in the Boston area.

Upon retiring and returning to Dallas, he learned of the college’s efforts to establish an Adult Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic and volunteered to help raise awareness and funding. On a related front, he participated in monthly meetings of the college’s sleep research group within the Center for Facial Pain and Sleep Medicine.

Rinkle’s death on June 4 deeply saddened his faculty colleagues and members of the college community.

“His upbeat personality, vast knowledge and eagerness to exchange ideas will be greatly missed,” says Dr. Lawrence Wolinsky, dean.

“Roy brought an incredible depth of knowledge to our initiatives to help young people with craniofacial clefts and syndromes, as well as sleep-disordered breathing,” says Dr. Emet Schneiderman, professor in biomedical sciences. “In helping establish the first maxillofacial prosthodontics clinic here nearly 50 years ago, he was able to rehabilitate scores of patients.

“As a regular faculty participant in our sleep research program, and as a friend and fraternity brother, Roy inspired me with his can-do attitude. In the sleep research program we now have three Institutional Review Board-approved clinical trials with more than 50 participants. We will really miss him.”

While in Boston, Rinkle served in myriad leadership roles for the state’s dental organizations. He was a part-time faculty member at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine for 20 years.

A celebration of his life took place June 9 at the 21 Turtle Creek Condominiums in Dallas.