Celebrating LCM : Luz C. Macapanpan
By: Dr. Monica Sison-Quimbao
Class of 1997, grandniece of LCM
Born to Crisanta and Agapito Macapanpan on March 19, 1924, Luz C. Macapanpan (LCM) was the fourth child in the family. She was a consistent honor student at Zurbaran Elementary School and Arellano High School.
Her dream to become a lawyer ended abruptly when the UP College of Law closed when the war broke out. So as fate would have it, she chose to enroll at the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry. Being the lone graduate of the college in 1947, she topped the Dental Board Examinations of the same year.
After teaching briefly at the UP College of Dentistry, she continued her studies at the University of Illinois obtaining her degree in Master of Science in Orthodontics. Here is where she impressed many prominent personalities in dentistry such as Doctors Sicher, Weinman, Orban, Brodie, Schour, and Massler. Her research paper “Early Tissue Changes Following Tooth Movements in Rats” (1952) is a landmark in the research on the biologic basis of tooth movement and is still cited in many textbooks and journals today and is required reading for any post graduate student in orthodontics or periodontics.
Being a true Filipino patriot, LCM came home in 1955 eager to share everything she has learned. Her much-awaited return to the Philippines was soon followed by setting up her own practice and teaching at UP and the Philippine Dental College.
She was the first woman president of the Philippine Dental Association, the first awardee of the Outstanding Alumnus of the UP College of Dentistry, the first awardee of the Outstanding Alumnus of the UPCD Alumni Association, the first awardee of the Outstanding Dentist of the Year 1977 by the Professional Regulation Commission, first awardee of the International Association of Periodontology from Asia, the first Charter President of the Association of Philippine Orthodontists, the first awardee Honorary Chairman Emeritus by the APO, and many other awards.
After conceptualizing the present Graduate College of Orthodontics of the University of the Philippines, she started a preceptorship program on “Biologic Basis and Clinical Practice of Orthodontics in 1987 at Makati City.
It has been her mission to teach orthodontics to teachers and dentists, particularly those from the provinces. She envisioned the various dental colleges as staffed with faculty members equipped with a solid orthodontic education and training. LCM believed that after having taught countless provincial dentists, our fellow Filipinos from all corners of the country would be able to benefit themselves of orthodontic treatment from dentists who properly went through this preceptorship program. Over 100 dentists from the 14 classes of the program are practicing orthodontics all over the country.
She passed away on October 4, 2003.
To celebrate her 100th birth anniversary, a pocket museum at the UP College of Dentistry was opened highlighting some of her achievements and contributions to Philippine dentistry.
She was everyone’s “Ma’am” and a true mentor to all her students. She motivated and inspired. She forced her students to think and dared them to excel. And just like a mother, she nourished not only minds but also souls. It is the reason why she is loved and remembered dearly. Thinking of LCM would make us all smile – which is exactly what she had always intended everyone to do.
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