Norman S. Alperin, an assistant clinical professor at the CWRU School of Dentistry, died of complications from esophageal cancer December 21at Hillcrest Hospital, where he had been on the medical staff. He was 80.

For the last 34 years, Alperin taught at the CWRU dental school, where he had earned his doctorate in dental surgery in 1948.

In addition to Hillcrest, Alperin has been on staff at several hospitals throughout his career, including what is now MetroHealth Medical Center.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Forces as a medic at Walter Reed Hospital and earned a bachelor's degree from Western Reserve University. He began practicing dentistry before he was recalled by the Air Force to serve in its Dental Corps at Roswell, N.M., during the Korean War.

A member of the American Board of Hypnosis in Dentistry, Alperin sometimes hypnotized patients, who were anxious about dental procedures, rather than give them drugs.

Donations in Alperin's honor may be made to the School of Dentistry.