Retired dentists now practice on old bones

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Carl Collier and Ralph Venk saw a lot of tooth decay during their 80 years of combined experience as dentists.<br/><br/>Not until the dentists retired did they encounter the most

Thursday, May 20th 2004, 5:17 pm

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Carl Collier and Ralph Venk saw a lot of tooth decay during their 80 years of combined experience as dentists.

Not until the dentists retired did they encounter the most serious cases. Now, the same tools they used to fill cavities in their dental practices are cleaning 110-million-year-old dinosaur bones.

Collier and Venk volunteer their time at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in the vertebrate paleontology lab. They spend three days a week cleaning, molding and casting dinosaur teeth and bones, much like the tasks in their dental practices.

"It's one of those things where you can't wait to get there the next day," Collier said.

Collier and his wife volunteered in another area of the museum, and when he heard about the opportunity to work with the dinosaur bones he thought it would be a perfect fit.

"Many parts of it are doing virtually the same thing I used to do," Collier said.

Venk said he was involved in a leadership program for seniors and learned of the volunteer opportunities at the museum.

"I felt I needed to volunteer, but I didn't want to do something like Meals on Wheels," Venk said. "I was excited about the museum. It's really interesting to work with the fossils."

Collier was a practicing dentist in Norman for 45 years. Venk practiced in Oklahoma City for 35 years and moved to Norman when he retired to be closer to his grandchildren.

Kyle Davies, who works on fossils at the museum, said Collier and Venk are hard workers he can count on to do a quality job in the lab.

"They were both practicing dentists, which makes it much easier because they are familiar with things like molding and casting," Davies said. "It's also very interesting for them because they are seeing a lot of things they have never seen before. The prehistoric animals were much different than humans."

Davies said a lot of reptiles have constant replacement of teeth.

"We like to joke about how that would affect dentistry for humans," Davies said.

The lab Collier and Venk work in is a preparation lab, Davies said. Volunteers in the lab take chunks of earth that contain dinosaur fossils and tediously pick away the dirt to expose the bones. The bones are cleaned and labeled for storage, display or study.

Collier and Venk also have participated in several fossil excavations in the state. Their current project in the lab is a Tenontosaurus that was discovered in southern Oklahoma.

"I'm 80 years old," Venk said. "The digs are pretty fun for the first couple hours, but you have to spend the rest of the day digging. I'm too old for that."

Venk said he likes to joke he remembers the dinosaurs when they were alive.

To participate as volunteers, the men had to complete three weeks of training.

"Some of the things we had already learned in dental school so we had a bit of a jump," Collier said. "We already know the names of most the bones, but there are things we've learned, too. In dinosaurs the number of teeth and makeup is completely different than we see in humans."

Collier said he was surprised to learn some species of dinosaurs had teeth on the roofs of their mouths.

The volunteers said they have learned a great deal from Davies and are often impressed with his vast knowledge of the fossils.

"It amazes me," Venk said. "Someone can bring in any type of fossil and Kyle can usually recognize it."

Collier also said Davies' knowledge is impressive.

"Some people can look at the taillights of a car and tell exactly what type it is," Collier said. "That's what Kyle can do with bones."

Both men said volunteering at the museum has given them an exciting hobby for their retirement years.

"We're the youngest things in the room, and we like that," Collier said.