Louis F. Rose, retired pioneering periodontist, physician, and professor, has died at 84
He trailblazed the study of how gum disease may affect diabetes and other disorders that previously were not linked to poor dental health.
Louis F. Rose, 84, of Bala Cynwyd, retired award winning periodontist, innovative physician and researcher, former clinical professor of periodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, onetime chief of the Division of Dental Medicine and Surgery at the old Medical College of Pennsylvania, mentor, author, and Frank Sinatra superfan, died Wednesday, Sept. 30, of neurological disease at Sunrise of Haverford assisted living center.
Dr. Rose earned a degree in dental surgery at the Temple University School of Dentistry in 1968 and a medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, now part of the Drexel University College of Medicine, in 1972. He completed his graduate training in periodontics at Penn in 1970 and used his extraordinary dual dental and medical training to study how gum disease may affect diabetes, heart disease, premature birth, and other disorders that previously were not linked to poor dental health.
That convergence of dental and medical research and care became so effective and pervasive that the American Academy of Periodontology and others endorsed Dr. Rose’s recommendations, and he developed and directed a groundbreaking program at Penn that placed dental and medical students in the same classes.
Steven G. Gabbe, former dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, taught a class he called the “Lou Rose Course.” Dr. Rose also pioneered the development of tooth implants, laser dental surgery, and improved safety procedures.
“He influenced generations of dentists and physicians,” his family said in a tribute.
He also taught at Harvard and New York Universities, and was a professor of medicine and surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine. He lectured to colleagues, students, and the public about healthcare issues across the United States and in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America, Africa, Australia, Canada, and Mexico.
He operated a private practice on South Broad Street in Philadelphia and counted socialite Grace Kelly as one of his patients. Friends praised his “friendly smile and kind words” and “confidence and strength” in online tributes. One said: “Such a brilliant man who lived a simply fascinating life that touched so many.”
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Dr. Rose was onetime president of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry and the Northeastern Society of Periodontists. He was a director for the American Board of Periodontology and vice president for research for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
He earned a lifetime achievement award from the Cohen Amsterdam Educational Foundation, alumni awards from Temple, Drexel, and Penn, and the Gold Medal award from the American Academy of Periodontology in 2013. He wrote articles, research papers, and books, including Periodontics: Medicine, Surgery, and Implants, in 2004. He was editor-in-chief of the Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry.
His mother, Mary, was a lifelong fan of Frank Sinatra, and Dr. Rose inherited her fascination with the singer’s music. He saw Sinatra in concert more than two dozen times, he told The Inquirer in 1990, and he and his wife, Claire, met Sinatra and became friends through a mutual friend in Atlantic City.
At his practice, Dr. Rose played only Sinatra songs. In 1992, to mark Sinatra’s 77th birthday, the Daily News listed 16 places in Philadelphia that had connections to the crooner. Number 7 was Dr. Rose’s office.
In 1995, Dr. Rose and his wife were recognized by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and Sinatra called them “two wonderful people” in a letter to foundation officials and praised their “extraordinary accomplishments.”
“Frank Sinatra’s music was the soundtrack of his life,” Dr. Rose’s family said. He told The Inquirer: “Sinatra relaxes me. If I feel good, the patient feels good.”
Louis Frank Rose was born Sept. 6, 1942, in Irvington, N.J., near Newark. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Buffalo and moved to Philadelphia in 1965 to attend dental school at Temple.
He met Claire Aberbach in a high school geometry class, and they married in 1965. They had sons David and Michael, and lived in Philadelphia, Penn Valley, Haverford, and Bala Cynwyd.
Dr. Rose was funny and elegant, his wife said. He served in the Army Reserve, and he and his family made many memorable trips to St. Barts in the Caribbean. He passed on his love of Sinatra to his sons.
“He was a fantastic father and grandfather, and an incredible role model,” his son David said. His son Michael said: “He did all that he did for his family. That’s what really drove him, to give to us all that he could.”
His wife said: “He was a people person. His patients loved him. He had friends everywhere.”
In addition to his wife and sons, Dr. Rose is survived by two granddaughters, three brothers, and other relatives.
Private services were held earlier.
Donations in his name may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Floor 17, Chicago, Ill. 60601.
