Joseph Receives Highest Honor in State for Dentistry
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To receive the Robert B. Bridgeman West Virginia Distinguished Dentist Award is the highest honor a Mountain State dentist can receive, but to this year's recipient, Dr. Dan Joseph of Wheeling, it has an even deeper significance.
"Bob Bridgeman represented the finest qualities that anyone could have in a dentist," Joseph said of the award's namesake, who practiced dentistry in New Martinsville for 35 years and served in organized dentistry at both the state and national levels. "Coming from a little town in New Martinsville, it's hard to picture that someone like that could have been a nationally known leader of dentistry."
To Joseph, Bridgeman was more than just a stalwart figure in the field, but he also was a family friend.
"The Bridgemans were like an extended family to the Joseph family," Joseph said, noting that for many years starting in first grade, he would watch the New Martinsville Regatta from the Bridgemans' backyard. Bob Bridgeman and Joseph's father, Dr. Edward Joseph, also a dentist, were close friends.
"Two of our children are named after two of their children," Joseph said, referring to his sons, David and Craig.
Bridgeman's sons, Dr. David Bridgeman and Dr. Craig Bridgeman, both dentists, were on hand to present Joseph the award at the West Virginia Dental Association's January meeting in Charleston.
"The relationship goes way back. This is the highest award our dental association has, and I just feel humble and honored to have my name even mentioned with his," Joseph said.
"Danny is most deserving of this award," David Bridgeman said. "He's worked tirelessly for the dental profession over the years and from his involvement in the community in Wheeling."
In his nomination, Dr. Mike Medovic noted: "If there is a 'First Family of Dentistry' in West Virginia, the Bridgemans and the Josephs are among them."
Joseph, who specializes in orthodontics, joins 22 dentists around the state who have received the award, which, incidentally, he was instrumental in creating after Bridgeman's death in 1989. He is the sixth Wheeling dentist to get it: The first was his uncle, Dr. Michael Joseph, and later recipients included Dr. William R. Grubler, Dr. Anthony J. Spadafore, Dr. Bernard Grubler and Dr. James Caveney.
Joseph has practiced orthodontics in Wheeling for 35 years. He served as president of the West Virginia Dental Association as well as the Wheeling district. He has held positions in the Southern Society of Orthodontists and American Association of Orthodontists and is a member of the American Association of Orthodontics House of Delegates, where he serves as chair of a reference committee that evaluates AAO resolutions. He also represents the interests of orthodontists to legislators in Washington, D.C.
He is part of a planning committee investigating the feasibility of building a new dental school at West Virginia University, his alma mater. In addition, he is active in the Wheeling community with Easter Seals and the board of governors of his undergraduate alma mater, West Liberty University. In 2017, he was named the Light of the Valley by the Wheeling YMCA.
From his childhood days spent at the Bridgemans' house on the Ohio River, Joseph pursued an interest in boat racing and later founded the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta with his wife, Debbie.
In addition to David and Craig, the Josephs are parents to Annie (the three of them are triplets) and Kristen, a dental hygienist in Joseph's practice.
Joseph said the Bridgeman award plaque is hanging in his office on National Road.
"It means a whole lot to me."