Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2015 - (Page 41)

Portrait of a Clinician and Teacher Dr. Ib Leth Nielsen (San Francisco, CA) At the request of our former editor-in-chief, Gerald Nelson, I have put together a portrait of my life as a private person and as a professional orthodontist. This is how it goes: In 1938, I was born north of Copenhagen in a nice part of town called Hellerup, near the strait between Sweden and Denmark called Öresund. On the Öresund strait. My parents met three years before in Germany, where my mother studied modern dance in Dresden. She spent 12 summers there and that is where she met my father, who at the time was a journalist with special interest in sports. He was born in the town of Rügen, on the edge of the Baltic Sea, not too far from Denmark. Since she was 19, my mother operated her own dance studio, which was located at our house in a long side building. She was quite well-known because in her younger days she had been Danish Champion in ballroom dancing, but also because she was an excellent ballet dancer who gave solo performances for several years at the leading Danish newspaper's Christmas event. I am including this information because for many years, it formed my background. I often was called upon to dance with the (not so pretty) girls in several of the ballroom dance classes, as there was a lack of male partners. My younger brother, Niels, who was born five years after I came into the world, was more interested in dancing and My parents in the 1930s. Summer 2015  PCSO Bulletin participated in competitive junior dancing for several years. He is, by the way, the only brother I have, and we have no sisters. Although my mother was known for her ballet classes, I managed to steer clear of her efforts to get me involved; I just couldn't see myself in a tutu. To illustrate how well she did, one of her ballet dancers, Erik Bruhn, was so talented that she sent him, at age 12, to the Royal Danish Ballet School, where he was accepted. He later joined Jerome Robbins, the famous ballet choreographer in New York, and ended up as Chief of Ballet in Stockholm. She had several other students who followed similar paths. A childhood surrounded by dancing and a mother who was very creative didn't inspire me to follow in that direction. Actually, I would say it affected me to the contrary. World War II and its Aftermath While my mother was running her dance studio, my father worked as a sports journalist in Denmark. When the Second World War came, he was able to remain in Denmark until 1944, when like other German-born men, he was forced to return to Germany during the German occupation of Denmark. After the war, because he had been in the army, he could not return to Denmark for about five years. This was so detrimental to my parents' marriage that they divorced in 1948. It was not an easy time for me as a child. Although my mother's dance studio was successful, it was My mother's dance studio, which was located at our house in a long side building. 41

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2015

Staying Connected in a Large, Diverse Orgainziation
Palm Springs: A PCSO Favorite
Trustee Report
PCSO at a Glance
PCSO Member News
AAOF Report
Special Section on CBCT
CBCT Imaging Protocols Within PCSO Residency Programs
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography in Orthodontics - Benefits of Comprehensive Visualization
Case Report Pre-Treatment
CBCT in Today's Orthodontic Practice
Case Report Post-Treatment
Differentiating Posterior Crossbites with CBCT Volumetric Images
Apps for the Orthodontist
Dr. Ib Leth Nielsen, San Francisco, CA
Dr. Robert J. Bendzak
Dr. Arthur A. Dugoni's 90th Birthday Makes for a Special Alumni Meeting in San Francisco
Preparing for the Unexpected: Your Emotional SOS Plan, Part II
Resident Spotlight
Hygiene: A New Battle for an Old War
Dr. Peter Picard, 1919-2013

Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists Bulletin Summer 2015