Dentist made Central Florida smile brighter
Central Florida owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Neil G. Powell for many of the region’s brightest smiles.
“He was an iconic member of the dental society,” friend and colleague Thomas Hand said. “He was influential in how it was shaped.”
Powell was not only a dentist but an organizer of the community of dentists. The Orlando resident died April 22 at age 93 of
COVID-19-related pneumonia.
An Air Force veteran who fought in World War II, Powell grew up in Sanford and served as president of the Florida
Society of Dentistry for Children, the Orange County Dental Society, the Central District Dental Society and the Florida Dental Association. He served on the national American Dental Association.
Powell was also a panelist on the weekly talk show “Central Florida Showcase” that ran in the 1960s and ’70s. He interviewed such luminaries as Richard Nixon, Walt Disney and Ed Sullivan.
Yet the titles and positions belie the direct impact the Georgia native had on the lives of Central Floridians.