Dr. Kevin S. McLaughlin Doctor Emeritus
April 1st 2024
Dear Doctors and Friends,
It has been a true pleasure to practice Oral Surgery in Fairfield County for the last thirty-four years alongside all my colleagues and the wonderful community we live in.
When I first came to Norwalk in 1990, Bill Stephanak was one of the predominant oral surgeons in the area. What I most respected about Dr. Stephanak was that he was a mentor and a colleague first and foremost, and a competitor as a secondary relationship. Norwalk Hospital was a nice community hospital that had no computers, the only way to communicate was to talk directly to one another. Because of this, our professional meetings were well attended. Although the advent of computers has made many aspects of our profession more efficient, I miss the personal aspect of our face-to-face interactions and the relationships that were fostered because of them.
I opened my practice in 1990 at 91 East Avenue– it was small but it was an adequate space, and I knew it was a place that was my own and would be the start of what I believed would be a successful practice. My office was open six days a week including Saturday, which was not uncommon at the time for dentists. I was fortunate enough to have found a profession where it never felt like a sacrifice to spend Saturday at the office. I enjoyed going to work and it always felt like an honor to help patients and to work amongst professionals whom I respected and learned from. That sentiment never faded; it is still a pleasure thirty four years later.
As many of you can relate to, there is a time when we begin to recognize the need to slow down; admitting that is the difficult part when you have put so much of your time, energy and passion into your work and patients. As luck would have it, I reconnected with Mike Trofa around this time. Mike had been a patient of mine years before and we became reacquainted by way of the Connecticut State Dental Association. He has grown and matured into being an adept and caring oral surgeon. The practice and the community will continue to be well served with his expertise, affable personality, and professionalism. I know he is already an asset to our profession and I am confident he will guide his new associate Nick Nagaki, to be an integral part of our dental community.
It is time, for both myself and for the practice, to step aside and let Mike and Nick take over Norwalk Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery. More than anything, I will miss our patients and the enjoyable conversations we shared. I will miss connecting with them and striving to create an atmosphere of trust so that they knew they were safe in my hands. I will miss collaborating with my colleagues and the knowledge we shared to work towards our common goal; to do the best we can for our patients.
I want to thank my office staff, without them we would have not been able to practice to the level of care that we were able to. They are truly the core of Norwalk Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery.
I also want to thank someone that I hope will hear this, my wife Jean Marie. As you may know, she passed in January 2018. She was my backbone and she helped me start this practice, creating relationships with the community that made us feel at home in Fairfield County. I know she is still here with me, helping me to live a wholesome and full life. So much of what the practice became had a touch of Jean Marie in it.
To my colleagues, I know you share in the gratitude I do for our profession; for being able to help people by showing them how special they are and knowing you can make their day better. It was a gift to be part of such a great profession and practice in such a thriving community. In my thirty four years of practice, I have learned that something as simple as the way you say good morning, or as important as acknowledging someone’s difficulties, can alter a person’s day. These are the things I will miss. I was lucky to be able to call myself a healthcare provider. The basic tenements of healthcare have not changed – care for your patients as if they were your most precious loved ones. It will bring you happiness and a truly good life.
I want to thank you all for being part of my life. You have made it so special.
Sincerely,
Kevin McLaughlin