For 48 years, Dennis McCaffrey helped brighten smiles in Cedar Hill.
The 75-year-old dentist retired from his practice at 6730 Mall Drive on Sept. 5. The practice, called Dr. D.M. McCaffrey, DDS, Ltd., first opened on Sept. 13, 1975.
McCaffrey said he enjoyed his work as a dentist.
“It’s just been very, very rewarding,” McCaffrey said. “Ninety-nine percent of everybody who walks in the door are very good people.”
Lisa Argurieo, the office manager at the practice, said John Probst is taking over full-time at the practice.
She said he bought the practice five years ago and has worked one day a week during the transition period.
McCaffrey, who lives in Des Peres, began his practice after serving six years in the Navy, from 1972 to 1979. From 1977 to 1979, McCaffrey served in the Ready Reserve until he “wasn’t ready anymore,” he said, and left the military after attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.
He said he joined the military right when the Vietnam War was ending.
“I thought I would be going over there, but it wrapped up, fortunately,” he said.
As his time with the Navy came to a close, McCaffrey started to look around the St. Louis area for a suitable spot to open his own dental practice.
“Jefferson County was just starting to kick off and grow when I decided to open up my own place in Cedar Hill,” McCaffrey said. “It’s actually funny because my family was all still in St. Louis – my parents, my brothers and my two sisters – but by the time I opened, they all moved out (of state.) Then about two or three years later, they all moved back.”
“I chose (Cedar Hill) because it was an hour away from the city, and having the town and country existence is really nice.”
McCaffrey moved to University City from New York when he was in grade school and graduated from the Augustinian Academy in South St. Louis in 1966. The school burned to the ground in 1972.
After high school, he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, physics and biology from St. Louis University in 1970. He received a doctoral degree in dentistry from the University of Missouri Kansas City in 1975.
“Before I even got here, I had people calling me while I was still in the Navy and they said they wanted to set up an appointment,” McCaffrey said. “I said, ‘You know, I’m not there yet.’ They said, ‘We understand you’re going to have an office there and we want to get an appointment set up.’”
McCaffrey said he knew from an early age he wanted to work in the medical field.
“I thought about being a dentist or a physician since grade school,” he said. “In high school, some of my friends whose dads were physicians were always being called away on emergencies. So, I knew from high school I wanted to go into dentistry instead.”
McCaffrey said his career has afforded him and his family a comfortable life, and he enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Mary, and seven children, Laura McCaffrey-Hanley, Jeff Shatley, Maureen Montgomery, Bernadette Groner, Dennis McCaffrey, Mary Kathleen Schomaker and Mary Anne Reuter. He said his 19 grandchildren all live within 20 minutes of his house.
“You’re able to raise a family and have family time (as a dentist),” McCaffrey said. “I’ve coached all my kids. We have lots of vacations together. It’s very rewarding, making people happy. Once they get over their fright, their ingrained fear of dentistry or medicine in general, it becomes easy for them.”
McCaffrey, who played sports in high school, college and the military, said staying active is important to him.
“I’m still playing basketball and soccer myself. I play in a church group that gets together weekly,” he said. “It keeps your body moving. Even though I just had a new knee in March and another new knee in June, I’m still using ‘em.”
During his retirement, McCaffrey continues to visit nursing homes to treat patients as part of the home health care company Martha’s Hands. His daughter, Mary Anne, assists.
“My youngest is a hygienist and she and I still go to nursing homes and treat patients,” McCaffrey said. “We go into nursing homes twice a week and primarily do cleanings, dentures and denture repairs. A few extractions, periodically, and then more complicated stuff, a few fillings.”
McCaffrey said overall, dentistry has not changed a lot since he began his practice in 1975. One big difference, however, is the use of safer materials.
“(Dentist practices) use way less alloy with mercury in them,” he said. “I haven’t done any of those in 20 years, but I still see people coming in (with them), so I assume some practices are still using them.”
McCaffrey also said more people are saving their teeth with root canals.
Lorraine Patrick, a hygienist who has worked with McCaffrey for 17 years, said she’s enjoyed her time at the Cedar Hill dentist office.
“It’s a pleasure to work in the community. I enjoy the people and enjoy the work,” she said.
McCaffrey said he’s looking forward to traveling in his retirement, specifically skiing the slopes in Galena, Ill.
Argurieo said McCaffrey will be greatly missed at the practice.
“Dr. McCaffrey is a wonderful person, not just a dentist but a wonderful person,” she said.
