NORTH YARMOUTH – Dr. Jonathan David Shenkin, D.D.S., 50, of North Yarmouth left this earth too soon on August 23, 2021 leaving behind his family as well as an immense number of friends, colleagues, patients and patient families.

Jonathan was an extraordinary human who accomplished more in his short life than most can imagine. He was a lot of things to a lot of people, and quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) touched the lives of everyone who met him. Jonathan was an advocate. His priority was to do the right thing for his family, his patients, his community, the State of Maine, nationally and abroad. He was a thinker, a champion, always helping others; never content with a wrong that he knew could be righted. He was a thoughtful, generous, intelligent, caring, and extremely funny man. He used these innate gifts to bring joy to those he loved personally and the same talents to change the world for better. To know Jonathan was to like him.

His accomplishments extend far and wide and with his humble nature, no one could imagine all the work he did while he was with us on Earth. He earned his dental degree from Columbia University College of Dental Medicine and his Masters of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Shenkin did his general practice residency at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Northport, N.Y., dental public health residency at National Institute of Craniofacial Research, NIH, and pediatric dentistry residency at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Shenkin was former Vice President of the American Dental Association from 2013-2015, past President of the Maine Dental Association (MDA), past chair of the ADA Council on Communications and currently served as an ADA national media spokesperson on pediatric dental issues. He currently was serving his second term on the MDA board as Long-Term Delegate. He was the 1st District Caucus Whip, 1st District Trustee to the ADA, and continued to serve on the MDA’s Council on Government Relations.

In 2013, Dr. Shenkin received the MDA President’s Award (for the second time) and in 2019 he was placed on the MDA Honor Wall. Dr. Shenkin was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2015, only the second dentist to receive this award at the time in the United States. He completed a project in Minsk at the Belarusian State Medical University entitled “Integrating Oral Health into Pediatrics in Belarus”.

For the past two years Dr. Shenkin had been working on legislation with the Maine Legislature that would result in commercial dental insurance reforms. In 2020, Dr. Shenkin requested that the Senators sponsor a bill that would eliminate wait periods for treatment in dental insurance for children. The bill (LD 1975) subsequently passed and was signed into law by the Governor, and Maine became the first state in the nation to eliminate treatment wait periods for children. For the past two years Dr. Shenkin had been advocating for Maine to implement a comprehensive adult dental Medicaid benefit which is close to being finalized. Most recently Dr. Shenkin was working on bill that is currently in committee that would establish a minimum medical loss ratio for dental insurance in Maine similar to what is required for health plans in the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Shenkin’s drive to collaborate, author OpEds, conduct local media interviews, and testify in the legislature was the reason work got done.

In 2020 Dr. Shenkin was one of 3 national experts appointed by the President of the ADA to oversee the ADA’s COVID response team. The safety of his staff, patients and patient families was his chief concern.

He was the owner of Augusta Pediatric Dentistry as well as clinical professor of health policy, health services research and pediatric dentistry at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine.

He is survived by his his brother Todd and sister-in-law Sharon (Frankel) and his nieces Elle and Gabriela of Old Tappan, N.J.; beloved partner, Noon Weiss, her sons Hunter and Noah Weiss of North Yarmouth, her parents, Mike and Gloria Gaffney of Georgetown; his parents; numerous cousins; and his amazing and dedicated dental family at Augusta Pediatric Dentistry. He was predeceased by his maternal grandparents, Lawrence and Rebecca Holstein, of Bronx, N.Y., who were alive to see him become a dentist and obtain his MPH but not aware of the tremendous positive impact he would have; they would have been so proud of him.

Jonathan, you will be forever missed, forever loved.