The term “Renaissance Man” can be an over-used description when eulogizing someone but it’s clearly applicable in our view for Dr. Alan Robinson. The Doctor had an abiding curiosity that fed his continuing hunger to learn and understand the art and craft that is dental surgery. He successfully applied that curiosity and his scientific training in a lifelong pursuit of consistently improving and innovating his work and of those around him for better patient outcomes.

The Doctor was never satisfied with a singular perspective and delighted in exchanging ideas. He was also a master of collaboration whether that was with other practitioners or his team at Lakeside. Interactions with people fed his insatiable desire to learn how and why things work. It drove Dr. Robinson to take an idea and then push it to an entirely new level whether for a device like a mini dental implant or a process like making precision calculations for the placement of those same devices.

He was someone who took great interest in things around him stowing away bits and pieces of information for the future use. He consistently drew upon this trait with a terrific ability to mobilize his thinking and experiences for solving whatever new challenge he encountered. The Doctor was also someone you’d refer to as an active listener, a skill that was evident to almost everyone who spoke with him. Where he masterfully applied this ability to focus entirely on the person speaking was during his interactions with patients. It enabled him to connect with and fully grasp a patient’s perspective. Ultimately that connectivity he established with people during consultations along his affable and relatable nature made Lakeside an odds-on favorite to be chosen over larger, nationally franchised competitors.

Being a highly personable and approachable individual were traits that didn’t go unnoticed by his peers. Dr. Robinson was a popular speaker and powerful advocate for minimally invasive dental implants working with the Shatkin F.I.R.S.T Institute. This and other professional dentistry organizations frequently enlisted his talents as an instructor and speaker at national and international dental surgery symposiums. He would fondly remind us that he’d personally trained most of the Michigan’s practicing implantologists.

Running a dental practice is a complicated and challenging vocation that Dr. Robinson seemed born to do. Beyond his multi-tasking abilities, patience and solid work ethic, the Doctor possessed the physical dexterity, and intellectual strength to balance inspiring his devoted team of Lakeside colleagues with being a superlative dental surgeon. For a guy who did all that in balance with traveling, enjoying the outdoors and just being “in the game,” Dr. Robinson was a genuine renaissance man for the ages.