Being inducted into the International College of Dentists, as Dr. Charles K. Burling was in October in Orlando at the American Dental Association convention, is like becoming an Eagle Scout — only 3 percent ever make it.

As one of a select group of 10 from 1,800 Michigan dentists, Burling, 60 last August, feels “humbled” by his leadership award for promoting the science of dentistry, which includes a green-and-gold striped necktie.

“They must have some Notre Dame guys in there somewhere,” joked Burling, an avid Wolverine who graduated from dental school at the University of Michigan after obtaining his undergraduate degree from Kalamazoo College intending to teach and coach.

Three of the 10 are well-published college professors, including a Kalamazoo orthodontist who speaks nationally and internationally, triggering a little voice in Chuck’s mind, “I helped with the Chris Taylor book.”

Humbling “because it’s an award from my peers and you can’t apply. I got totally blindsided because they look for you. You have to be nominated. It’s quite an honor because less than 3 percent of practicing dentists will ever be considered. Every one of them in the College in Michigan reviews it and has to approve or you don’t get in.”

Burling devotes a week every October to the national conference, taking him to San Antonio, Honolulu and Florida and, coming up, Las Vegas.

ADA is headquartered in Chicago. The College, based in Rockville, Md., has been around since 1920.

“The idea behind it was really great,” Burling said Thursday. “It was started to exchange dental knowledge between Japan and the United States and it’s blossomed internationally. There were 250 inducted this year. We had a gentleman from Africa in the group I was in. They have foundations that do work to advance knowledge into under-served countries and to expand care.”

Burling has undertaken that mission right here in the Grand Old City.

“We started the (Donald Lyons Health Center) clinic here with Jeff Elliott of the Health Department,” he said.

“It was an attempt to reach out to kids in the area who didn’t have dental care. My schedule was such that we couldn’t get to them. There was so much to do that there wasn’t enough scheduling space to do it. It’s not fair to tell someone you’re going to treat them, then not not be able to get them in for six months.”

“Chris Garrison’s down there doing a nice job and it’s doing some good,” Burling said, “but there’s a ton of work to be done. Part of the access problem is barriers to care — fear, transportation, finances, a number of things we need to address. It’s an opportunity for me to reach out and give back to a profession that’s been very good to me. We’re an advisory committee. It started with Matt Cripe and myself to give Jeff some input on equipment and to oversee it so we were assured it reached out to people who needed care. It’s taken off. We’re kind of sitting back now, watching it go. There’s more work in the county than there are hands to get it done.”

“I graduated in ’76,” he said, “so this May will be 35 years. They look at your involvement in the association. I’ve served in a lot of capacities at Lakeland Valley,” including president.

“I’ve been a member of the Michigan House of Delegates for the Michigan Dental Association. I now serve as a trustee, representing all of the dentists in Cass, Berrien — Niles up to St. Joe — and part of Van Buren County, up to Hartford. As a trustee, I’m one of 12 guys who make decisions on dentistry in the state. Kind of like the cabinet for the House of Delegates, which meets every spring.

“Decisions on whether to challenge insurance companies, what to do with fluoride and different programs that come along, like advanced dental hygienist models to supplement the shortfall in dental. We have to look at that to see if it will be good for the patient.

“Looking out for patients’ well being is a good portion of it. We just shut down a denturist on the other side of the state that was doing dentures without a license and potentially causing some harm. It’s a good model because if a patient has a concern, they can file a complaint with the Michigan Dental Association. That complaint is sent to a local ethics committee and a body of our peers forms. I’ve been called in to view cases with practitioners in St. Joe because I’m not their golfing buddy, I’m a dentist who expects them to do things properly. Consequently, they would do the same if there was a dentist over here.

“There is a decision rendered that’s sent to the state. If there’s a judgment against the dentist, he pays it. If he doesn’t, then it’s referred on to the state ethics committee for possible action. It’s a nice way for a patient who feels they were wronged to get a judgment without having to involve an attorney. It’s viewed by people who really know what they’re talking about, so if it’s a bad case, you’re told it’s a bad case. If it’s a misunderstanding, there’s an explanation. If there’s a reason to do a refund, then you do a refund. It works out really well and is a benefit of being in organized dentistry.”

Burling struck himself as an odd choice for the hospital board when his eye doctor, Alan Montgomery, approached him. “I’m a Lutheran,” he remembers responding, even though he was born there.

“You want a Lutheran on a Catholic board? I was on the board a couple of years and formed a really great friendship with the (retired) CEO, Fritz Fahrenbacher. He took me under his wing, became my mentor and groomed me on a lot of this hospital business.”

Of another new era dawning for U of M football, he said, “Those NCAA violations just drove me nuts. I’d rather lose honestly than get nicked with violations. I don’t want to be the team that always wins, but cheats half the time. I’d rather be the team that plays fair and takes its lumps. This guy (Brady Hoke) I think is a pretty straight shooter.”

“I have a very understanding wife,” Burling said. “There are a lot of weeks I have meetings every night. I’m going to be a new member of the state advisory board on fluoride and I’m going to be chairing the Michigan  Dental Association committee on access to care this next year. I’m getting spread pretty thin, but I ran for council the last time because (Mayor) Don (Lyons) had a good point: ‘You can serve on different committees all over the world, but you do the most good here.’ I promised him I’d finish out a term and run a term, then thought someone else would be willing to step up — but nobody ran against me.”

When named a Daily News “Hometown Hero” a decade ago, that was a recognition he didn’t have to share with anyone.  When Burling was Dowagiac’s valedictorian in 1968, he led his class with Rick Smith.

He shared the All-Sports Award with his best friend, Chris Taylor, the Olympic wrestler for whom their hometown named its football field.

Burling’s inner sanctum reflects his closeness with Taylor, the Gentle Giant and Fitch Camp counselor who died at 29 in 1979 after winning a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

It’s somewhat puzzling how they forged a strong bond since they competed in different sports except for football.

Burling kept telling the wrestler, who overlooks his desk from a poster, “I wasn’t going to put on my underwear and roll around on the floor with a guy and he kept saying he wasn’t going to put on girl’s underwear and go out and dribble a ball. We were constantly going back and forth at each other. Baseball season, he was throwing the shot put. We’d be over running track for conditioning and the track and baseball diamond were right next to each other.

“Getting the All-Sports Award with Chris was one of the high points of my whole high school career. To be recognized by the community is great, but when you’re recognized with your best friend, you just can’t ask for anything better, Burling has said.

Criteria for the All-Sports Award were broad and encompassed not only athletics, but also academic prowess, leadership, community involvement and religious values — not unlike the  International College of Dentists.

Burling shared a third big prize, the John Clupper Award.

“I always joked with my dad (Ben) that I excelled to get out of the house,” said Burling, who heard his first entreaty that he might want to consider dentistry rather than teaching from a teacher — Lee Neidlinger, his woodshop instructor.

“I started out to be a teacher, but I’m actually not a good teacher,” he admits. “I’m a doer. It’s difficult for me to slow down and show someone else how to do it. My dental assistant, LuAnn (Scott) is my teacher here. She’s the one who’s got the patience and the skills.”

When he first came back to Dowagiac, Burling started  with Dr. Robert Neff on W. Division Street.

“I logged what Mr. Neidlinger said in the back of my head. Then professors at K College pulled me aside and said with strong math skills, I should consider medical arts. I went through orthopedic surgery on my knee after football and thought I might like to do that, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Going into dentistry was a good idea — but you’re still on call if somebody gets in trouble.”

When he didn’t hear from U of M about his dental school application, he took a job as an analytical chemist in Ohio, but his apparent rejection continued to nag him, so he finally confronted Michigan.

“They wondered what happened because they had accepted me in May, and now it’s July. I had to tell the guy who just hired me I was leaving. He was gracious enough to let me work all summer to build up some money for dental school.

“The National Institutes of Health were going to pay for my master’s degree in chemistry because I’d done amino acids research and published some work, but I’d rather talk to people than test tubes.”

As first-born of five children, “No matter what I did, I got blamed for it because I was the oldest,” said Burling, who grew up on M-51 South. His family went to a dentist in Decatur who offered family discounts.

Some classmates did teach — Judy O’Brien, Ordeana Sala, Pat Franz. Terry Kuseske “was just ahead of us.” Others, like the late Craig Behnke, Pat Murphy and Tom Underwood, just behind them, gravitated to family businesses.

During his short-lived career as a chemist, Burling worked for a company that made skin blockers and medications sold in Europe and in Canada.

Burling, who chaired the city Planning Commission for four years before joining council Sept. 8, 2003, to succeed Tom Zablocki, met the former Kathy Huff when he came home from U-M to be in a friend’s wedding to her sister.

They have three children, Ben, Sheila and Josh.

The dental office on Riverside Drive, which used to double as their residence, is on what was once Kathy’s grandparents’ property.

Their house is just west of the practice he shares with U-M alum Dr. Jon Gillesby, who played on the 1990 state championship football team.