“A dentist is what I did, not who I am,” says Rick Kirschbaum, a man of diverse interests and talents.
After 45 years practicing dentistry in Granby, Kirschbaum has retired from his vocation, but he is far from finished with the business of living every day to its fullest.
Born and raised in Chappaqua, N.Y., Kirschbaum, the son of an artist and an advertising copy writer is a graduate of Horace Greeley High School, St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., and the New York University School of Dentistry in Manhattan.
In high school, Kirschbaum played hockey, a sport he continued to enjoy until recently as a member of the Old Puckers Hockey Club, and he has long held a passion for drawing and creating small sculptures. So why dentistry?
“It wasn’t ever about money,” Kirschbaum says. “I could have been an artist, but I enjoy working with my hands on small detailed things, and dentistry was a good fit.” Kirschbaum brought to his dental school interview several sculptures that he created from nails and screws—a centipede, a fly, a guy swinging a tennis racquet—so that his ability to work in intricate detail was clear. “I like doing things with my hands that get a result,” he adds. “In dentistry, I can change your smile in an hour, hand you a mirror and make you cry.”
Not feeling ready to strike out on his own after graduation from NYU, Kirschbaum undertook a two-year residency at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, working in the emergency room and trauma center. “I would never have been able to do what I have done without that experience,” he says.
When the residency was nearing completion, Kirschbaum asked himself where he wanted to settle. “It had to be somewhere rural but not too far from New York and Boston, and I had to be able to climb mountains and go to the beach,” he says. Kirschbaum bought a bankrupt dental practice on the East Granby/Granby line.
“There were two dentists in town,” he recalls. “One was retiring and one, Dr. Martindale, was very much like me, a people person with similar interests in the arts, nature, tennis and canoeing. His practice was in a little house across from Geissler’s, and he wanted to expand.” Five years later, Kirschbaum bought Martindale’s building and began building his practice.
At age 35 Kirschbaum married Marie Cote, an ICU nurse at St. Francis Hospital and the love of his life. After failed attempts at in-vitro fertilization, the couple adopted an infant son whom they named Cody. Six months ago, Cody, who works in biological testing in Ledyard, presented his father with a precious gift, his granddaughter Cecilia. Marie, who lost her battle with cancer several years ago, would have adored her as much as Kirschbaum does.
“I have always loved children,” Kirschbaum notes. “In Granby Dental, I had a big poster of photos that I took of the kids who came to me over the years. By the time I retired, grandparents were coming in with their grandkids and pointing to a photo of themselves when they were five.”
Over the years, Kirschbaum expanded Granby Dental so that every need could be met under one roof. Having both general and specialty associates allowed him the freedom to pursue other, related interests. He hooked up with Matt Latin who, in another life, mined opals in Australia. With his penchant for jewelry making, Kirschbaum was attracted to the precious gems that Latin cut in his basement.
Kirschbaum also scuba dives, a skill he learned on one of the consolation trips that he and Marie took after failed IVF attempts. “We went to the Galapagos and East Africa,” he says. The family, all certified divers, later traveled to South Africa to follow the sardine run. A 3-D coral reef that sits in Kirschbaum’s dental office was inspired by these trips and his penchant for replicating the natural world.
“In some ways, I feel like Forrest Gump,” Kirschbaum says. “Dentistry opened up a lot of opportunities for me.” Bob Hall, a hockey friend and dentist for the Hartford Whalers, asked Kirschbaum to sub for him on several occasions, which he considers a personal thrill. Hall also introduced Kirschbaum to cruise-ship dentistry. “It was a way to travel safely with my wife and young son,” Kirschbaum says, adding that he treated the ship’s crew, and only worked on “at sea” days, never when the ship was in port.
“I found myself in these situations and asked myself, how did I get here?” Kirschbaum says. “I somehow hooked up with Jason Hawley, the bear/bobcat guy with the DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection). I lent him tools when they conducted a bobcat study and ended up working with him on other projects.” Among Kirschbaum’s prized photos is one of himself holding a new-born bear cub.
Looking ahead, Kirschbaum plans to finish all the projects that he didn’t have time for while practicing dentistry, but he will keep his colleagues, former patients, and many friends close. After tying up loose ends, he will hop in his camper and head to Maine. Other destinations on his bucket list include Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Virginia and the Outer Banks, and the National Parks out West.
“Many of my friends retire and move to Florida,” Kirschbaum says. “I will travel, but my home, my friends, my groups—my plumber and my electrician—are all here in Granby.”