. .	The Practice of Dentistry Plainly and simply, Dr. Fulmer loves dentistry. As he puts it, looking thoughtfully out on Roosevelt Road from the rooms above his office, "Some go into dentistry so they can afford to hunt and fish. I'm not knocking that: I've always loved sports, too. But dentistry is just as important, and its satisfactions go deeper and spread more widely... God gave me the gift of pain relief. That doesn't mean I'm pushy about my faith, or preach to my patients or think I'm superior to other people. But I am extraordinarily lucky. In addition to all the satisfactions that come with relieving pain, I get all sorts of other benefits out of the job. I enjoy working with people, and, at the same time, I like running my own business. As a fifth generation Kenoshan, I like seeing people I've known all my life, and I like meeting the new folks who move to our town. I like working with my hands and my brains - you need to do both in dentistry, and there's a satisfaction that comes from the coordination between the two. Outside the office, I enjoy reading about dentistry, and keeping up with the rapid advances in the field. I enjoy working in my lab. I enjoy spending several trips a year to workshops in continuing education. I enjoy talking to other dentists. There are types of dentistry I'd rather refer to other dentists, but everything I do here is something I love to do." Those areas which Dr. Fulmer does not do in his office are primarily periodontics and orthodontics. Since he practices family dentistry, however, he can refer his patients to Doctors who perform these procedures. He can assess the likelihood of you or your family requiring these specializations and help you find what you need, while not neglecting the rest of your dental care. Something he can, and sometimes must, do is extract teeth. This is something he does not like, and only does when necessary. His main reason for this is not that he finds extraction out of his range, but that he firmly believes that most people can save their natural teeth, even in situations where damage or neglect have caused serious problems - including problems which many dentists would not want to bother trying to repair. Dentures and implants have come a long way in recent years, but no matter how good false teeth may be, Dr. Fulmer believes, your own teeth are more desirable, both from the point of view of chewing and maintaining a good-looking smile, and from the point of view of long-term patient satisfaction. Of all the aspects of dentistry Dr. Fulmer enjoys, the area he likes best is crown work and bridge construction where they are needed to give his patients full mouths of teeth. You can read more about Dr. Fulmer's approach to dentistry in the section of this site devoted to it. But it is impossible to separate Dr. Fulmer from his practice, and hence it is the ideal place to begin a biographical sketch. Personal History The sign reading "Family Dentistry" in front of Dr. Fulmer's offices has two meanings. First, he can take care of the dental needs of your whole family. Second, he comes from a family of dentists. The Kenosha office was built by his uncle, Joe Adamson in 1929, and he practiced dentistry in it for 40 years. His son took over the business from him and took care of the dental health of Kenoshans in the building for another 26 years, while his parents moved into the apartment on the second floor. James Fulmer set up his practice in the building in 1999. There are some ten dentists in the family, and family parties often include something like a dental convention. Although James Fulmer briefly contemplated other career choices as a teenager, these were transitory, and he knew that dentistry was where he belonged. Then as now, he had an active interest in sports and school activities. He was on the Tremper football team throughout high school. The Student Council elected him Vice-President in his senior year. He was also voted the most friendly member of his graduating class. He continues to take particular pride in this honor. He received it for personality traits that work as much in dentistry as they do in sports, family, and community life. Something he hasn't thought of previously but that says a great deal about him is the function of such awards in some situations. They are sometimes bestowed upon a student because his parents are prominent in the community, or because the recipient has done favors for the more talented members of the class, or simply as a way of making an unfortunate student feel better. Since he was already on the football team and class vice-president, it's obvious that this was not a token award or a consolation prize. James Fulmer graduated from Tremper in 1977. He received his undergraduate degree from Marquette University in 1985. Three weeks later, he married Pam Ruffolo. The newly-weds moved to Temple, Texas, where Dr. Fulmer completed his residence at Olin Teague Veterans' Administration Hospital. Having attended high school during the period when many America didn't want to look back on the Vietnam War, he went into this part of his career solely because the patients he would deal with would present him the widest possible range of dental challenges. This they did, but just as important, Dr. Fulmer came out of this time with a profound respect for Veterans and the sacrifices they had made. His sense of responsibility moved him to join a group of medical personnel who donated their time and skills to bring temporary aid to people in remote villages in Honduras 15 years ago. For more about this visit, click here. After his Residency, Dr. Fulmer set up his first practice in Austin. Although he and his family liked it there, they missed Kenosha. They made several unsuccessful attempts at enticing other family members to join them in Texas. Something he did not miss was Green Bay Packer's games. He was part of a Packers fan club in Austin, and caught all their games on video tape if they weren't broadcast live. He feels that it's good for a young couple to get away from their home town and see a bit more of the world. For him and his wife, however, the appreciation which Austin gave them of Kenosha was more important, and the couple, now with their first daughter, moved back to their home town on his thirty second birthday. After a brief period working for another dentist while getting his family settled, Dr. Fulmer set up his first office in Paddocks Lake, and then his second in the building where his uncle and cousin had practiced dentistry for 70 years. Some of his early patients at the Kenosha office had been his high school coaches and people who had been on his paper route when he was in his teens. The clientele has grown through a healthy balance of long-time Kenosha acquaintances and new people coming into the office as a result of happy accident and Dr. Fulmer's growing reputation as a dentist. In addition to continuing education programs which Dr. Fulmer regularly attends in other cities, he has joined with a number of other dentists in town to form The Edge Study Club. Dentists in this group meet regularly to discuss advances in dental techniques, products, and advances in the field. The group meets in the upper floor of Dr. Fulmer's Kenosha office, the apartment that previously served as the residence of Dr. Joe Adamson, the first in Dr. Fulmer's family to practice dentistry. This is not the bleak environment of formica tables and plastic chairs on linoleum floors that often house conferences, but a comfortable, homey place conducive to the flow of information and the building up of the skills of the group's members. Sports and Community Life James Fulmer concentrated on playing football when he was in high school. He believes that athletes should give as much back to the community when they grow up as they got from it as youngsters. With this in mind, he coaches teams at several schools. The roster at present reads: Softball at the CYC, soccer at KASL, and basketball at the CYO, KYF, and CYC. His two daughters, age 11 and 14, take active part in sporting events, the eldest having played in 360 organized basketball games. Coaching young people and raising his daughters move him into broader areas of appreciation of local resources. He feels, for instance, that Kenosha has been particularly progressive in sports for young women, and that the quality of female athletes in town is tremendous. He would not be surprised if the city produces more than one Olympian in the next decade. These young women provide a good challenge and good examples for his daughters. And his daughters, in turn, provide challenges that keep him active in the fostering of talent among young people in Kenosha. Interest and participation in sporting events have lead Dr. Fulmer into other areas of community life. And, as has often been the case in Dr. Fulmer's life, opportunities have sought him out in their own ways. While playing City League Softball at Lincoln Park seven years ago, Dr. Fulmer stepped aside to get a refreshment. He met members of the Rotary Club, and, as he puts it, "before I knew it, I was a member." He moved to the position of Co-director easily, and devotes a good deal of time to the club's activities. This year the organization brought in over $60,000 in donations to charities affiliated with the Rotarians. At one of his daughter's soccer games two years ago, one of the dads rode in on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Some of the dads said that they should try riding, and eight of them went through with this. Dr. Fulmer rides a Harley Road King, of which he is as proud as any Harley fan. For more on the doctor and his motorcycle, click here. As important and as satisfying as team sports, the Rotary Club, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles are to Dr. Fulmer himself, they are also important to his patients, the majority of whom are neither athletes or Harley fans. The sports activities keep Dr. Fulmer physically fit and tied to the community at large - as it is constituted now, and through coaching young people, as it will become in the future. The youngsters in his care now will be the people who inherit this city and who will run it in the future. Work with the Rotarians and engagement in such activities as his time in Honduras keep him ethically fit and appreciative of what we have in this town and this country - and what those who have comfortable and satisfying lives should do for those less fortunate. Dr. Fulmer works at closer range with his patients than most people do in their work. They are literally in his face most of the working day. Although he likes people, and likes working at this close range, the Harley gives him the opportunity to get out in the open, out with the wind in his face and an open road ahead of him. This provides a kind of refreshment and personal restoration which someone as hard working as him needs. And this in turn lets him return to his dental practice ready and eager to do the best work that the dental arts can now provide.	..