Dr. Ronald H. Jarvis, 85, played key role in breakthroughs in reconstructive dentistry

Nov. 16, 1937 – May 26, 2023

Dr. Ronald H. Jarvis, who helped make breakthroughs in reconstructive dentistry and applied those new discoveries in his clinical work, died May 26 in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst, after a brief illness. He was 85.

A consultant to Williams Gold Refining Co. for more than 20 years, he played a key role in developing the Renaissance Crown for individual false teeth, an alloy of gold, ceramic and palladium.

Introduced in 1985, it was less than half as thick as a standard replacement crown. Dr. Jarvis made first clinical use of the crown in the mouth of a relative in 1984.

Evolution Dental Sciences, which started as a dental lab in a back room in Dr. Jarvis’ Amherst office in the 1990s, gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to digital dentistry, the advancement of CAD/CAM dentistry and better patient care.

The citation noted that without his clinical support, “AvaDent digital dentures would not have happened.” The award has been renamed the Ronald Jarvis DDS Excellence in Dentistry Award.

Born in Buffalo, Ronald Henry Jarvis was a 1955 graduate of Lackawanna High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Buffalo in 1959. He completed his degree in dental surgery at the UB Dental School in 1963 and received the Dr. George B. Snow Award for Fixed Prosthodontics.

He served in the Navy as a lieutenant in the Dental Corps from 1963 to 1965 and was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He earned a master’s degree in dentistry in 1967 from Indiana University Bloomington, where he was honored with the Dr. John F. Johnston Award of outstanding proficiency in fixed and removable partial prosthodontics.

He established a private dental practice specializing in prosthodontics and restorative dentistry in Kenmore in 1970 and opened an office on Sweet Home Road in Amherst in 1976. He retired in 2022.

Dr. Jarvis was a consultant in fixed prosthodontics for the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center and for many years was a member of the teaching faculty at the UB School of Dentistry and the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, where a treatment room has been named in his honor.

He was past president of the Eighth District Dental Society, past president of the Erie County Dental Society, a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, a Fellow of the American College of Dentists, a diplomate of and past president of the American Prosthodontics Society. He was made a life member of the Erie County Dental Society in 2003.

An East Amherst resident since 1997, he previously lived in Snyder and Kenmore. He was a past chairman of the Dental Division for the United Way of Buffalo.

An avid golfer, he was a member of the board of governors at Park Country Club, served as a marshal at the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester and enjoyed playing the world’s famous courses, including St. Andrew’s Old Course in Scotland and Pebble Beach in California.

He also was an outdoorsman who hunted moose in Newfoundland and elk in Wyoming. A railroad buff, one of his favorite trips was to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa.

Survivors include his wife, the former Judith Abbott; two daughters, Jennifer J. Hamberger and Pamela J. Ortolani; a brother, Kenneth I.; a sister, Carol A. Ahrens; and four grandsons.

A celebration of his life will be held at 10 a.m. July 14 in St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 6919 Transit Road, Swormville.