Jones honored as pioneer for African Americans in dentistry
by Susan Griffith
CWRU's School of Dentistry ranks third in the country for the number of African-American dental faculty among the country's 55 dental schools thanks to Jefferson J. Jones.
Jones, chair of the department of endodontics at the dental school, has
been a major force in not only recruiting minority faculty and but also
finding scholarship aid for minority students. And he is a leader in his
endodontics specialty. 
The Forest City Dental Society, a professional organization of African-American dentists, has honored Jones for his 35 years of service as Cleveland's first and only one of three African-American endodontists by establishing the Jefferson Jones Scholarship Fund. The fund will support the education of a minority student at CWRU's dental school and help to increase the number of African-American dentists practicing in Cleveland.
The goal of the scholarship program is to train new minority dentists to take over the established practices of retiring African-American dentists, according to Francis Curd, president of the dental society. Curd also serves as a CWRU assistant professor and director of quality assurance. Curd's research has shown that since the 1970s, the number of African-American dentists has significantly declined, leaving many city residents without access to dental care.
"Dr. Jones has been a true pioneer as well as innovator at the school of dentistry in recruiting African-American students," Curd said.
Jones has been instrumental in recruiting the eight fulltime African-American faculty members at CWRU, according to Curd. Many of those dentists—including Curd—found their way into practice through mentoring by Jones.
"He is a true champion and warrior for African-Americans. He stood up for minority students at a time when it was not always popular or beneficial to his professional advancement," Curd said.
Jones's career reflects the changes in his field. With the discovery of antibiotics in the 1940s, dentistry could focus on curing oral infections and saving teeth. Over his 35-year career, Jones estimates he saved 50,000 teeth as an endodontics specialist by performing root canals and other procedures that eliminate infections.
Jones' dental career was launched after graduation from the University of Pittsburgh's School of Dentistry in 1964 and has taken him through an internship at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco and into the U.S. Army Dental Corps. Eventually his path led to CWRU.
When Jones joined the CWRU faculty as an instructor in 1967 following the Army, he was the only endodontist in the city at the time. He became an assistant professor in 1968 and acting chair of the endodontics department in 1971. Since 1974, he has chaired the department and taught endodontics classes to undergraduate and resident dental students.
With Andre Mikel, who oversees the CWRU graduate program in endodontics, Jones trains eight new specialists each year. He also chairs the admissions committee at the dental school.
Jones is the past chairman of the Ohio Endodontists Association and the current secretary-treasurer of the National Dental Association Foundation, which awards up to $10,000 to every African-American student enrolled in a U.S. dental school.
Following his internship at Letterman Hospital in San Francisco, Jones, an award-winning captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps, honed the art of a one-visit root canal as he corrected the dental problems of new Army recruits heading to Vietnam. The standard dental practice was to wipe out infections in the tooth's root by applying antibiotics until two cultures returned negative. That could take weeks, but war-bound soldiers lacked time.
