Natiella, Spiller Recognized By UB Dental Alumni Association

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- University at Buffalo dental educator and researcher Joseph R. Natiella, D.D.S., and Henry Spiller, D.D.S., who advocated the addition of fluoride to public drinking water to prevent dental decay, were honored by the UB Dental Alumni Association at the group's recent reunion dinner dance.

Natiella, a professor in the Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences in the School of Dental Medicine and a nationally known oral pathologist, received the Honor Award.

A member of the dental faculty for more than 30 years, Natiella has been named Educator of the Year by four of the school's graduating classes and is a past recipient of the Dental Student Association Excellence in Teaching Award.

He also holds an appointment as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and is an integral part of the Head and Neck Clinic at Sisters' Hospital.

Natiella lives in Amherst.

Spiller, who received the Humanitarian of the Year Award, is a 1935 graduate of the UB dental school and has been a practicing orthodontist since 1939.

His efforts more than 20 years ago led Buffalo to become one of the first large cities east of the Mississippi River to add fluoride to public water to cut tooth decay.

He also was a local pioneer in linking some cases of ear pain to dysfunction of the temporomandibular (jaw) joint.

Spiller is a former member of the Erie County Board of Health, the New York State Council on Dental Health and a past president of the Erie County Dental Association.

He lives in North Buffalo.