Central Dental celebrates 50 years in Norwood

The longest-running dental practice in Norwood is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The Central Dental practice was started by Robert Hunter in 1965. The practice took its name from its location, as Central Dental was located at 47 Central St. They’ve since moved to 470 Washington St. and increased in size dramatically.

“We’ve grown from a one-man operation back in 1965 to five dentists and 17 employees today,” Robert Viventi said.

Viventi joined Central Dental in 1986, as Hunter was retiring. Viventi became a partner in the early 1990s and sole owner in 2000. John Maheu, who joined the practice in 1993, became co-owner in 2005. Both dentists received their Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Tufts University.

Viventi said he doesn’t remember what drew him into dentistry, only that he’s been asked the question countless times. For Maheu, it was his family.

“I come from a family of physicians. Health care was always a part of my life growing up,” Maheu said. “I’ve always been interested in working with my hands and I have an interest in technology and the sciences. Dentistry allows me to work with my hands with some of the latest technology.”

A lot of new technology was integrated into the practice in 2007, when they moved to their current location on Washington Street.

“We had outgrown our space,” Viventi said.

The new location gave them additional space not only for new technology, but new dental services. In addition to general and family dentistry, Central Dental Associations offers preventative care, cosmetic dentistry, periodontal services and implant dentistry.

“We’re an office that can service probably 99 percent of your dental issues,” Viventi said. “One stop shopping, so to speak.”

Being in Norwood for 50 years has allowed the dentist’s office to connect with generations of families. Maheu said one of his favorite things about being a dentist is the friendships he has made with patients over the years.

“I have patients who, when I started, I was removing their baby teeth to prepare them for braces,” Maheu said. “Now, I’m being invited to their wedding or seeing their babies come it. That’s the really dynamite thing about being in this place so long.”

Viventi said one of the reasons patients come back, generation after generation, is because of consistency. Both he and Maheu have been at the practice for more than 20 years, and several of their employees have as well. Dental Assistant Patti Fay-Brown has worked at Central Dental for 23 years.

Source:  http://norwood.wickedlocal.com/article/20150914/NEWS/150919197

In other dental  news: Aurident is proud to offer the Optimet-DS 6000 Advanced Dental Lab Scanner and Exocad software. Easy-to-Use, Fully-Automatic, High-Accuracy 3-D Scans for All Dental Applications. Call us at (800) 422-7373 for more details.