‘God puts everybody on this Earth to help others’

by Sonja J. Keith

Conway dentist Dr. Terry Fiddler recently retired after 43 years in professional practice, but he has no plans of slowing down.

More than 300 friends, family and patients gathered in December to celebrate Fiddler and Gail Carter’s 35 years of service at the dental office during a reception at Mike’s Place in Downtown Conway.

Born in Little Rock, Terry has lived in Conway his entire life. A 1966 graduate of Conway High School, he graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 1970 and attended dental school in Memphis.

Terry, who said he “grew up pretty dirt poor,” said his decision to pursue dentistry was influenced by a cousin he envied and worshipped. “He wanted to be a dentist, so I wanted to be a dentist,” Terry said. “He wasn’t that smart and never was going to be a dentist, but at that time I got interested in it. I thought about going to medical school, but I didn’t want to spend that much time in my life.”

Terry’s first dental office was located in 1974 at 715 Front St. in Downtown Conway. In 1987, he moved the practice a few blocks to 562 Locust Ave. It has been a profession that Terry has loved. Describing himself as a gregarious person, Terry said he enjoyed visiting with his clients and he will miss them the most. “It put me in contact with a lot of other people.”

Dr. Matt Fulmer joined the practice in 2006. Terry sold the practice to him in 2012.

“My practice was always a blue collar practice,” Terry said, adding that most of his patients lived in the county. He recalls when he started, 95 percent of payment was made by cash and there were six dentists. Today, about 95 percent of payment is via insurance and there are nearly 30 dentists in town.

“The old joke when I was in dental school was I was going back to Conway and was going to get paid in chickens. In reality, when you have so many farming families, they paid you when they could pay you. I think I was one of the few people that would allow you to charge.”

In considering the early years of his practice, Terry said the changes that have occurred in the industry are like “water to wine. There is no comparison.”

Terry said early on he was one of only a few dentists in Conway who would do root canals. “If people had a bad tooth, they took them out.”

Terry cites his poor upbringing as fuel for his involvement the last 10 years with Mission of Mercy, which he has served the last five years as executive director. “I’ve been there. I can empathize. I know what it is to not have anything.”

Since it was founded by the Arkansas State Dental Association, the program has hosted five two-day clinics each year and treated more than 18,000 patients, providing almost $9 million in free dental work throughout Arkansas.

The need is so great, that Terry recalls showing up at 3:30 a.m. at the Jonesboro clinic and already 1,200 were in line. Those receiving services are not required to provide a driver’s license or proof of citizenship. “All we need is bad teeth,” Terry said. “I always tell them, ‘This is not given to you free because you don’t have it. It is given to you freely because we love you.’”

The impact of the program has been significant, for those receiving services as well as those providing them. “It’s a life-changing experience, it truly is, for both…I’ve often said we are affecting their lives but they are affecting my heart.”

Terry has seen many positive changes in patients, in their self-confidence as well as ability to get a job. “We’re not only changing a person’s health, we’re changing their life.”

Terry recalls seeing young people in pain because of their teeth who bury their face in their mother’s shoulder. “They won’t look up at you, they won’t talk to you,” he said. “You take them in there, they get numb, they get their tooth fixed and they aren’t hurting anymore.

They come running up to you and jump into your arms. That’s a change.

“I fully believe that God puts everybody on this Earth to help others. I have always thought that. If you don’t, you are either narcissistic or selfish.”

After more than 40 years of dental practice, Terry said he knew that now was the time to retire. “You just know when. It’s time for Dr. Matt to have his clinic,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed. Most dentists my age have physical ailments and I don’t. I love patients but the practice of dentistry needed to go away. The business end has changed.”

While he won’t be at the clinic, Terry will remain busy. In addition to Mission of Mercy, he is also teaching at UAMS and is politically active. Retirement will also allow more time for his music, travel and family. He and his wife, Dr. Joyce Fiddler, retired from the faculty at UCA, have been married 46 years and have two daughters, Nikki and Brooke, who are attorneys. The Fiddlers also have four grandchildren, who are only 20 minutes away.

His goodbye hasn’t been without emotion. He is appreciative of the blessings he has received from those in Conway and Faulkner County. “The last two months I’ve shed more tears than I probably shed in 30 years,” he said, adding that he received cards from patients expressing their appreciation. Moved by the gesture, he was unable to read them aloud. “Sometimes the smallest things, that you think are small, were huge in somebody’s life.”