Residents in the Spring Garden and Center City neighborhoods of Philadelphia now have a new dental care option with the opening of a clinic by Temple University’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry.
The facility, located at 545 N. Broad St., aims to serve Temple’s faculty, staff, students, and other community members. Amid Ismail, dean of the Kornberg School, said, “The overall mission of the school is clinical excellence, the creation of new knowledge for clinical practice and serving the community.”
Ismail added that maintaining high standards requires ongoing practice: “To have the clinical excellence, we need to have faculty who are proficient in their specialties, and in order to do that we need them to practice in order to continue advancing their skills.”
Clinic Director Cynthia Jetter noted that there was a lack of dental offices in this part of Philadelphia. “This section of Philadelphia really does not have an overabundance of dental offices, so there definitely is a need to have a dental center in this area,” she said.
The 5,485-square-foot clinic features 12 treatment rooms equipped with modern technology. Jetter explained, “There is new technology available for patient care which improves patient outcomes.” The clinic uses cone beam computed technology (CBCT) imaging—a specialized 3D imaging tool used in dentistry and oral surgery—and accepts referrals from local dentists needing access to such equipment.
Temple University has invested more than $8 million into renovating the site and securing a 15-year lease for the location. The new clinic replaces the faculty practice previously housed within the Kornberg School’s North Philadelphia building. Student-run general dentistry clinics will remain at their current location within the school.
The former faculty clinic space at Kornberg will now be dedicated for use by dental students as applications to the school increase both nationally and internationally. Ismail stated, “Temple is the preferred site for dental education because of our reputation. People are coming to the dental school because of what we do, the services that we provide, the environment and the technology.”
