Early on in the beginning of my practice, I was motivated to create a culture and atmosphere in our practice that tried to make the patients visit as easy and comfortable as possible. For an oral surgery office, at times, this is not an easy task. Yet still we strive to prevent delays in the office and treat all of our patients with the utmost respect, kindness with great consideration for the time they spend with us.
Although we are performing surgical procedures, we value the customer service aspect as equally as important. When I started my practice my first (and only) employee was a woman named Pat. She was not only my receptionist but my dental assistant as well. She had a kind and gentle way about her and was just the type of person that you enjoyed being with. I learned a lot from her and she set a tone in our office of kindness and compassion, while at the same time being accurate and appropriate with the tasks she performed. This attitude of caring for our patients feelings and not only their physical needs has been a cornerstone of our practice for over 30 years.
You will find the staff in our office to be caring and compassionate. We understand that you really dont want to be here and have surgery. But we will try to make your visit as easy and comfortable as possible.
We will very often get cards, thank you notes, or just a word in passing telling us how happy people were with their visit or how they thought that they were going to have a terrible experience and it was much better than they expected. These are the messages that we get and the indications from our patients that tell us that we are doing our job. We also get tons of cookies and donuts which none of us really want to eat- but we do!
Hometown Clifton New Jersey Undergraduate Education Lehigh University 1977 Dental School Fairleigh Dickinson University 1981 Internship and Residency Jersey City Medical Center 1985 Director of Dentistry St Marys Hospital Passaic new jersey Board Certified in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Dental Anesthesiology Named a Top Dentist by New Jersey Monthly magazine for 11 years Married with 3 children Hobbies Fishing, skiing, golf, and travelling
Patients often ask why I chose oral surgery as a career? For me it was a natural progression of pursuing my interests and following my dreams that steered me down the path to oral surgery. While in high school, it became apparent that science was my strength, as I electively enrolled in as many courses as allowed. This combined with my other hobbies of art and sports directed me toward the field of dentistry.
Once in dental school, it was the early didactic courses in pathology and the later clinical participation in the oral surgery clinic that led me to seek a position in an oral surgery residency. In residency, I engaged myself in as many learning opportunities as I could find, often pioneering new experiences to enhance my training.
I enjoy the career I have chosen and look forward to treating each patient as an individual with unique needs and expectations. I understand the apprehension and stress a surgery can induce and attempt to make every patients experience as pleasant as possible.
Hometown Hanover, Maryland Undergraduate Education University of Maryland, College Park Dental School University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Residency Beth Israel/Jacobi Medical Center Board Certified in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Hobbies Running, Cooking, Reading
My earliest memory of having an interest in dentistry was getting hit in the mouth with a baseball when I was 14 years old. A fastball came by high and inside, and those were the days before mouth guards were everywhere. Needless to say, that was a bad combination, and the next thing I knew one of my front teeth was now sitting sideways in my mouth.
I remember Dr. Harrison being very friendly, and very cool. He drove a Corvette. He talked about football and girls with me. Hed say Whats up, dude? when I walked in. In other words, he took what could have been a very nerve-wracking experience, and made it a lot more comfortable.
Look, nobody wants to come see the oral surgeon. But if I can be warm and compassionate, maybe I can make the experience a little more comfortable. Thats why, when I see a patient, I try to have the same approach Dr. Harrison did. To be completely honest, at this point I dont have the first memory of what he actually did from a procedure standpoint while I was seeing him. What I do remember is that his kindness and good nature helped make a nervous little kid feel a lot more comfortable.
Hometown St. Petersburg, FL Undergraduate Education University of South Florida, 1998 Dental School University of Pennsylvania, 2003 Internship and Residency Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, 2008 Medical Staff St. Marys Hospital, Passaic, NJ Board Certified Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Named a Top Dentist by New Jersey Monthly magazine, 2 years Married with 2 children Hobbies Fitness, Golf, Woodworking