Changed by 9/11: Dr. Henry Dondero, Forensic Dentist

Back in March of 2001, Dr. Henry Dondero took a week-long continuing education course in forensic dentistry at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Maryland.

He had no idea he'd be using those skills six months later to identify victims of the World Trade Center tragedy as one of 25 tour commanders for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

"The first thing I tried to do after the attack was to contact the forensic dentist in Manhattan to see if they needed help, but communication was down so took several days to reach them," said Dondero, who is a professor of dental hygiene at . "I was down there by end of the first week."

Dondero worked in the military police before attending dental school at NYU and taking post-doctoral classes in forensic dentistry. He worked with the 9/11 dental ID team until it closed in June 2002. Together they had identified more than 600 victims by examining remains and matching them with dental records provided by the families.

Today, he gives a lecture every two years at Farmingdale State to the dental hygiene program about his experience after 9/11 to show them the service dentistry was able to provide New York.

He says the experience definitely had an impact on him.

"It makes you more cognizant of your own mortality," he said. "You try desperately to be as detached as a human being can be, but you can't avoid experiencing a gamet of emotions."

Dondero said some of the emotions were perplexing.

"When we would make an identification it was almost joyous in a way because we found somebody," he said. "In wretched conditions we could give someone peace."

This story is part of Patch's "How did 9/11 change you?" series. Share your personal story in the comment section below.