Marblehead Dentists Named Volunteer Heroes by the Massachusetts Dental Society

Steven Baratz, DMD, and Todd Belfbecker, DMD, both Marblehead residents, were recently recognized as William McKenna Volunteer Heroes by the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS), a statewide organization serving nearly 5,000 member dentists.

Baratz and Belfbecker were acknowledged by their peers for substantial contributions to organized dentistry at both the state and local district levels.

Dr. Baratz has been a member of the MDS since 1975. He has served the Society as Chair of the North Shore District Dental Society, Delegate to the MDS House of Delegates, and a member of the MDS Dental Practice Committee and the Council on Dental Care and Benefits Programs. He has also been a participant in MDS Beacon Hill Day, and a volunteer for the Yankee Dental Congress, New England’s largestdental meeting. Dr. Baratz earned his dental degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He maintains a private practice located at One Pilgrim Road in Marblehead. He also resides in Marblehead with his wife, Leslie.

Dr. Belfbecker has been a member of the MDS since 2005. He has served the Society as Chair of the North Metropolitan District DentalSociety; Chair of the Access, Prevention, and Interprofessional Relations Council; Guest Board Member on the MDS Board of Trustees; Delegate to the MDS House of Delegates and the American Dental Association’s Washington Leadership Conference; and a member of the MDS Standing Committee on the New Dentist. He has also contributed content to the Journal of the Massachusetts Dental Society, and is currently a content reviewer for the MDS consumer publication Word of Mouth.

He has held several volunteer positions at the Yankee Dental Congress. Dr. Belfbecker earned his dental degree from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He maintains a private practice, Becker, Becker, & Silvius LLC, with locations in Revere and Boston. He resides in Marblehead with his wife, Emily, and two children.

The Volunteer Hero award is given in memory of the late Dr. William H. McKenna, who was a driving force behind the development of the Yankee Dental Congress and considered by many to have been a model of volunteerism within the MDS.