By David Benoit
Special to the Reporter

Going to the dentist doesn't exactly make all that many kids smile, which makes it a difficult experience to be a children's dentist. That experience only intensifies when the child is a special needs patient, unable to even brush their own teeth and certainly not too willing to open wide for a metal poker. But Dr. Alan Filzer has been handling those situations and a myriad of others for the last 32 years as the dental director of the Uphams Corner Health Center.

Filzer came to the community health center in 1974 when it was just opening its doors to serve the people of Dorchester, and even if he only intended to stay a few years, remained for 32 years of service, leaving last month to explore more community service opportunities.

"He's just an outstanding, gifted provider and truly dedicated person," says Edward Grimes, the CEO of Uphams Corner Health Center and Filzer's colleague since 1974. "He could have made big bucks going into the private profession, but he just has a special calling to serve the underserved, and he wasn't chasing the big dollars but was committed to folks that were low income and didn't have easily accessible dental care of quality. It's hard to see folks replacing him with ease."

Everyone is quick to point out the talent and dedication Filzer brought to the office every day, and his desire to go beyond the requirements of being just a dentist. Dr. Geoffrey Modest has worked with Filzer for the pat 24 years, and as the Medical Director of the Center sent patients over to see him on a regular basis.

"He is a wonderful person; he's the kind of person that would go all out for his patients. His manners are so kind and thoughtful. He'll squeeze patients in when he needs to," says Modest. "I bring my children to him and when my kids come in, he gets them in the chair and he kisses them on the forehead. He's the kind of person who cares."

Colleagues remember that Filzer, who has a master's degree from Boston University and a doctorate in dentistry from New York University, always ran his office like a business first, and while he would certainly joke with them and have some fun, he was quick to make sure it always remained professional for the patients. Rose Diaz remembers that there was always a rule in place that if a patient was over 10 minutes late for their appointment the doctor didn't necessarily have to see them that day. She also remembers that Filzer was quicker to threaten them with it than he ever was to use it.

"He used to say 'just get the paper work and we'll see'" she recalls. "And 99 percent of the time he'd call them in. Saying no to the patients was hard sometimes. You could always depend on him to see that eleventh patient."

But above all else, what will stand out for people in the future will always be Filzer's handling of patients and his care for each and every one of them.

"Probably the biggest thing he taught me was even if a child is screaming you are helping them out," says the woman charged with replacing Filzer, Dr. Jennifer Fallon. "He's been an amazing mentor, more so than any schooling could have given me, not only working with patients. He calls me his second daughter."

Carol Shamshack worked as Filzer's secretary for many years, now serving as executive secretary for the center, and she, like everybody else, only has the highest praise for their departing dentist.

"He's a gentleman above all, but very caring and he would do anything for anybody that he possibly could."

And even as all these people say the same things over and over again about Filzer, he gives them even more of a reason to be proud, leaving after three decades in one service to work in another even more desperate area of health care. He won't be taking a nice retirement or expanding on the yoga routine that he also loves to do, even if he is on an extended cruise celebrating his anniversary with his wife right now. No, Filzer will move his talent and dedication into the field of the homeless, working with Health Care for the Homeless to develop an extensive dental plan for those on the streets of Boston.

"He has decided to do one last thing before he fully retires from the dentistry, as he leaves he is going be director for the Health Care for the Homeless, in South Boston," Grimes said. "He is a great humanitarian, and someone who has devoted his care and his life to the care of children."

It's just another reason the people he has worked with just can't seem to find enough to say about their dentist.