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Dr. Robert N. Arm Obituary

Dr. Arm, AAOM's 49th President, Passes Away at 73

We at AAOM are sad to report the death of our 49th AAOM President, Dr. Robert N. Arm, on July 1, 2020.

Dr. Robert N. Arm, 73, died on 1 July 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Arm, a noted clinician in all phases of Oral Medicine, devoted his life to teaching postgraduate dentists and treating patients with special needs. Dr. Arm was a diplomate of the American Board of Oral Medicine (1975) and served as the 49th president of the American Academy of Oral Medicine from 1994 to 1995. He received some of the Academy’s most prestigious awards.

Dr. Arm completed his high school education at Martin Van Buren public school in Queens Village, New York. He then continued his education at Queens College in New York, where he majored in chemistry and biology. He earned his DMD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed specialty training in the world-famous Oral Medicine specialty program at that University. 

After completing advanced postgraduate education, Dr. Arm became a member of the dental faculty at the University of Louisville in Kentucky; he was an instructor there from 1975 to 1980. Dr. Arm was recruited to serve on the staff of Wilmington Health Center in Delaware and later became Director of the General Practice Dental Residency at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware. He served as Chair of the Dental Department for 25 years at the Christiana Care Health System, contributing a total of 30 years with that organization. 

During his years of professional and community dental service, Dr. Arm was active with Health Volunteers Overseas, Operation Smile, the International Red Cross, and Partners for Peace. He served on the Delaware Governor’s Committee of Community and Volunteer Services, was active in legal reviews of oral medicine and oral trauma, and was a legal consultant for the Harmony Wellness Center in Newark, Delaware. 

Dr. Arm was a devoted and respected member of his professional dental organizations, was recognized as a leader in the field, served as the Oral Diagnosis Section Chair of the American Dental Education Association, and he became vice president of the Association of Hospital and Special Care Dentistry. Dr. Robert N. Arm was named one of Delaware’s Top Dentists multiple times, and he was a coveted lecturer on both national and international continuing education programs.

Most notably Dr. Arm was president of the American Academy of Oral Medicine from 1994 to 1995; his high level of devotion to the Academy, especially on the Board of Trustees as an expert in constitutional proceedings and bylaws, earned him two prestigious awards, the Herschfus Memorial Award and Honorary Fellowship in the Academy. He was most recently awarded Life Membership in the Academy. 

Dr. Robert N. Arm is survived by his wife of many years, Randy Bestreich Arm, three children, and six grandchildren.