Dr. Thomas J. Vergo, Jr.

On March 7, 2022, the profession of dentistry lost a classic role model.  Dr. Thomas J. Vergo, Jr., beloved husband of Elizabeth, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and Academy Fellow, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 29, 1943, the oldest son of the late Hazel and Thomas J. Vergo, Sr.

Tom was raised in East Rochester, NY, and graduated from East Rochester High School, where his four-year undefeated record as a heavy-weight wrestler still stands today. He first attended the University of Buffalo as an undergraduate and then went on to receive his dental degree from the UB School of Dental Medicine in 1971.  Tom interned at the Buffalo VA Hospital and followed that with a year as a VA staff dentist. He received his Prosthodontic training at SUNY Buffalo and the Buffalo VA, and ultimately fulfilled his vision of becoming a Maxillofacial Prosthodontist at Roswell Park Cancer Center.

Tom’s passion and enthusiasm for work and for life were unmatched. He was a devoted family man, friend and colleague who could always be counted on for his famous and joyfully anticipated “bear-hug” greetings, infectious smile, common sense, and good counsel.

A good friend of this Academy Frank Lauciello recalled for me his first meeting Tom, at Tom’s interview for an internship position at the Buffalo VA.  Frank was the Senior Prosthodontic Resident at the time, and together with the then Junior Prosthodontic Resident, Academy Fellow Sal Esposito, were both part of the team interviewing prospective interns. Sal remembers that the three of them bonded very quickly and would later become the best of friends. Frank remembers asking Tom during this interview what his future intentions were. Tom was quite clear at the time that having been inspired by Dr. Norman Shaf’s lectures on Maxillofacial prosthetics he was committed to becoming a maxillofacial prosthodontist. Tom did just that, and Frank reports that during his tenure as Program

Director at the VA, there was never a harder working resident than Tom. Tom went on to follow Sal in the Maxillofacial Fellowship at Roswell Park.  During every phase of his training, Tom earned a reputation as kind, gentle, loving, and quite literally willing to give you the shirt off his back.

I personally met Tom for the first time in 1973, during my Residency at Eastman Dental Center in Rochester. He and I were contemporaries. His program in Buffalo, and mine in Rochester had scheduled several extracurricular exchange visits. On one such visit, we were together touring the dental clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital, and one of Strong’s new dental interns was preparing to make a preliminary impression for a maxillary obturator patient. I introduced Tom to the intern as a visiting Maxillofacial authority and Tom immediately rose to the occasion. To put this story in perspective, it was the early 1970s, long before the necessity and ubiquity of masks and gloves in restorative dentistry, yet this intern approached his patient fully gowned, masked, and gloved. The patient became upset and was clearly intimidated as he was still recovering from major surgery. Tom took the intern aside and asked why he was wearing all the gear, and the intern responded that this patient “had cancer” and that he didn’t want to “get it”. I watched as Tom very gently reminded him in the most professional, and educationally positive way that “post-op maxillectomy patients were not considered contagious”. The patient was reassured. The intern understood. Tom was born to be a teacher.

Dr. Vergo completed his Maxillofacial training at Buffalo and proceeded to a full-time faculty position at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. I completed my Prosthodontic program at Eastman, and I as well choose Tufts to begin my academic career in Boston. We were faculty colleagues at Tufts for many years. I know first-hand that Tom’s students were immensely fond of him. One of Tom’s former students, Amit Punj, who this past year replaced me as Chief of Prosthodontics and Program Director at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, fondly remembers Tom as an outstanding lecturer, very popular with every class of Tufts dental students, and always willing to share his expertise with others. In addition to teaching dental students, Dr.

Vergo devoted many hours to lectures for dental assistants, hygienists, and lab technicians. It was with great pride and delight that he would regale his audiences of dental auxiliaries with heartwarming examples of his oral and facial reconstructions.

Tom was no stranger to Prosthodontic specialty organizations. In addition to the Academy of Prosthodontics, his memberships included the American Academy of Maxillofacial Prosthetics, of which he was a Past President, the American College of Prosthodontists, the Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics, and the American College of Dentists.

Another of Tom’s passions was his volunteer work for the National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasia. First volunteering in 1999 by helping to review applications for their patient treatment fund, he subsequently helped develop and eventually co-authored their Parameters of Oral Health Care for Individuals Affected by the Ectodermal Dysplasias.

Over his long career, Dr. Vergo contributed more than 40 publications to the dental literature.

Prior to his retirement from Tufts, Tom chose to move his part-time private practice out of the Dental School’s Faculty Practice and into the offices of the Dental Group at Post Office Square, an academic group private practice in downtown Boston of which I was also a part. Having practiced side by side with him, I can attest to the consistency of his joyful philosophy of giving, caring, and loving, not only for his patients, but also for his professional colleagues, staff, and of course his blended, extended and extensive family.

Tom was imperturbably upbeat. Another of Tom’s close friends, Academy Fellow Jeff Rubinstein, recalls meeting Tom for lunch one day during the AP’s annual meeting in Boston. Tom, no stranger to personal health challenges, had just recently had one of his knees replaced. Notwithstanding this recent surgery, Jeff tells us that Tom “…came trundling down the street to get together for lunch, with a brace on his knee and crutches flailing away in the wind.” Jeff also recalls how Tom was renowned for many years as the “…e-mail distributor of humorous quips, jokes, anecdotes, and video clips which helped one get through the work week”.

As Tom began to contemplate his ultimate retirement from Tufts, and it became more difficult for him to commute long distances, he sought yet another private practice location, one that would be more convenient for his many patients residing outside of Boston and one that would be closer to his home. He found that location in the offices of Emirzian, Mariano & Associates in East Longmeadow MA, and that is where he spent his final years treating patients.

Dr. Vincent Mariano, with whom Tom practiced for those last years, shared the following: he was visiting Tom just a few days before his passing. Growing weaker and having difficulty speaking, Tom gestured to Vince to come closer. Tom then whispered in Vince’s ear “…you know I love dentistry.” To that I would like the privilege of responding: Tom – Please know that your profession of dentistry, your patients, your friends, and your family, loved you too – and that we are all better people for having known you.

Tom passed away peacefully, in hospice, and never lost his smile. He is survived by Elizabeth, his loving wife of 25 years, three brothers, four children, four additional children by marriage, many grandchildren of this “blended family”, and just this past year, a first great-grandchild.

Rest in peace our friend, you will be remembered.

Prepared by Academy Life Fellow,
Dr. Gary S. Rogoff