Donald G. Katz, 50, dental surgeon

Donald G. Katz, 50, a dental surgeon known for his skills in cosmetic dentistry and for putting patients at ease, died Sunday near his Richboro home. Dr. Katz, who was being treated for depression, fatally shot himself in his car, his family said.

Dr. Katz grew up in the Northeast and graduated from George Washington High School in 1974. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1978 from Pennsylvania State University and a doctorate in dental surgery in 1982 from Temple University.

He immediately opened an office on Bustleton Avenue in the Northeast. Over the years, Dr. Katz added special touches to make dental procedures pleasant. Apples, coffee, and packets of soup greeted patients when they walked in the door. To soothe fears, Dr. Katz equipped his chairs with massagers, televisions, DVD players and iPods He also offered his patients soothing paraffin-wax dips for their hands.

From 1981 to 1988, Dr. Katz taught dentistry at Temple.

He was showered with awards in his field, including a mastership from the Academy of General Dentistry - an honor given to fewer than 1 percent of dentists.

Dr. Katz appeared on network television as an expert in cosmetic dentistry and was interviewed by Newsweek and other national publications. Dr. Katz lectured worldwide and was honored by the International Team of Implantology in Basel, Switzerland.

Dr. Katz married Alicia Boehm in 1980, and the couple had a son, Andrew. Dr. Katz was a talented photographer, skier and tennis player. He loved deep-sea fishing and earned a pilot's license in 1983.

In addition to his wife and son, Dr. Katz is survived by his parents, Myron and Sandra Katz, and a sister.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks, 310 Second St. Pike, Southampton. Burial will be in Roosevelt Memorial Park, Route 1 and Old Lincoln Highway, Trevose.