CU Dental 2018 - 24

Dr. Warner finds time to deliver an inspirational speech to the graduating DDS Class of 2017, in addition to enjoying his favorite outdoor adventures.

Dentist Packs Life with Adventure,
Civic Service, Altruism
CLINT TALBOTT CU BOULDER, COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

ohn Warner is a dentist who's climbed and skied
mountains in the United States, Canada, South
America and Europe, raced motorcycles and mountain
bikes, and, incidentally, served as a town mayor,
search-and-rescue volunteer, orchestra backer, and
dentist-of-mercy in Guatemala.
If life is what you make of it, John Warner knows the drill.
Warner, graduated in 1973 with a BA degree in molecular,
cellular and developmental biology from the University of Colorado
Boulder, and earned his cum laude DDS from CU in 1979.
As a student, Warner was attracted to the natural sciences
and initially planned to pursue medical school. But he happened
to be working, at the time, with a group of CU dentists who were
pioneering a protocol to stimulate dental-bone growth by utilizing
bone marrow that Warner, himself, harvested from cadavers. He
found the project stimulating and enjoyable. Shortly thereafter, he
applied and was accepted to dental school.
At that time, the CU Dental School offered graduate dental
students a tuition break if they committed to working outside the
Front Range urban strip from Fort Collins to Pueblo.
That very perk drove Warner to open a dental practice in
Breckenridge.
When Warner and his wife, Carre (now of 44 years), moved
there, Breckenridge was a fraction of its current size, and his dental
practice, at first, did not keep him too busy. Civic engagement
filled the gap naturally. Initially, he served as president of the
Breckenridge Music Institute and volunteered for the Summit
County Search and Rescue Group.
Warner founded the Summit Hut Association in 1989, then
joined the town council from 1998 to 2002 and 2006 to 2008. He
was elected mayor of Breckenridge in 2008, serving two four-year
terms, until 2016, when he reached his term limit.
As mayor, Warner championed respectful community
discourse, which can be difficult to achieve when public opinions
are strongly held and sharply divided. Marijuana legalization,
sustainability, public parking, single-use plastic bags and
community water fluoridation were only a few of the hot topics that

CU DENTAL 2018

flared during Warner's tenure.
For instance, when citizens asked the city to stop fluoridating
its water, Warner found himself in a tough position; The Centers
for Disease Control lists water-fluoridation among the top 10
public-health achievements of the 20th century, and the scientific
evidence supports fluoridation as a particularly effective means of
supporting dental health.
Personally, Warner was wary of the "false equivalency" of
arguments against fluoridation and those in favor. Noting that the
science on this question is abundantly clear, Warner said: "I chose
not to be the dentist mayor," meaning he elected not to take a
leading role in advocating for the continued fluoridation of water.
Instead, the mayor and town council directed the town staff
to study the benefits and alleged drawbacks of fluoridation.
Ultimately, the council voted to continue fluoridation.
Acknowledging contentious issues can cause some
"heartburn," Warner understood the importance of never belittling
those with differing views. "I still say 'hi' to opponents when I see
them on the street," he said.
Warner's public service, however, moved beyond his work as
mayor. He found volunteering gratifying. In the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, he, his family and a cadre of dentists traveled to New
Orleans to provide much-needed dental care in the Ninth Ward.
It was around that time he learned of another volunteer
opportunity in rural Guatemala.
The Guatemalans whom Warner treated lived far from dental
clinics, and many had never seen a dentist for care. Warner's
patients sat on bags of grain while he mostly pulled teeth and
filled cavities. He did this without basic diagnostic tools, such
as an X-ray, so he had to judge on his own whether a tooth was
salvageable or required removal.
"Dentistry is cool in that if you fix a tooth, you know it's fixed.
If it's a cold, you don't know if it's fixed or not when you leave,"
he said.
When not working as a dentist to either paying or nonpaying
patients, or serving his fellow townspeople as mayor, Warner
answers to yet-another calling: the outdoors.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CU Dental 2018

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