NYCDS mourns the loss of its former president Dr. Harold Gelb, who recently passed away at age 97. Dr. Gelb grew up in the Bronx and went on to graduate from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM) on a Navy scholarship. He also served in a MASH unit during the Korean War. Often called the "grandfather of TMJ," Dr. Gelb was a pioneer in understanding the relationship between the jaw and the body, and he treated people in pain who had seen many other practitioners. Dr. Gelb started the TMJ clinic at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, founded the Dr. Harold Gelb Craniomandibular Pain Center at TUSDM in 1985, and taught for many years at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry.

Dr. Gelb was a founder of the American Academy of Craniomandibular Disorders (now the American Academy of Orofacial Pain). He served as a past chair of the Greater New York Dental Meeting from 1972-1973 and president of the First District Dental Society (now the New York County Dental Society) from 1965-1966. The recipient of numerous awards, he was also the author of two books, the popular "Killing Pain without Prescription" and a textbook, "Clinical Management of Head, Neck and TMJ Pain and Dysfunction."