The Center For Special Dentistry

Back in 1993, I was doing a lot of television to promote my books and started to notice how bad my smile looked on film. I saw Dr. Dorfman’s advertisement in New York magazine and made a visit. His practice is like no other I’ve been to. Dorfman has a blue-​chip background — college and dental school at the University of Penn and a tech-​geek bent that makes him the first on the dental block to learn all the new tools and techniques.
I first spoke to him about whether I should invest in braces or do cosmetic dentistry. He felt the healthiest option was for me to do braces — something his practice had no affiliation in at that time, but given I had no patience, I asked about what cosmetic dentistry could offer. I appreciated that he gave me an honest answer that did not increase his bottom line.
Needless to say given I did not want to have a rack of metal in my mouth, I forgo braces and opted to do some cosmetic dentistry to even out my smile. Dr. Dorfman did the job in two visits back in 1993 and to this day, no one can tell that some of my teeth are laminates and bonded and the work has stood the 21-​year test of time. They look and feel great after all these years. It was not inexpensive but is was money well-​spent.
I don’t have dental insurance so I believe in working with the best dental practice I can. The Center for Special Dentistry does outstanding work and is a friendly and calm place to get dental work done.

Started reviewing all my medical because too many of my friends were in need of a great dentist or doctor and there wasn’t an easy way to get this info. I hope more Unilocalers start reviewing their medical professionals to help the newbies. But I guess with since all the good ones get sweeped up to the point you can’t get an appointment, it’s always hard to see what will happen.
The Center for Special Dentistry is a mix of old school dentist and new technology. While I would say relative to a few other dentists in NYC, their waiting areas and rooms could use an upgrade, the technology they employ is perfect. I would say there wasn’t a lot of extra wait time in the waiting room, even from my very first visit to this location. They appear to keep on time and be quite good about service and attentiveness. They are also really good about fitting people in if there is a need for emergency dentistry.
The x-​ray is the type where it’s both film and digital at the same time. This is important to me because I — like many smaller Asian women — have a «jr. jaw» (an adult with a mouth the size of a adolescent) and have fairly significant problems with those that are full on digital or full on film. So many cuts and sores due to dental x-​rays! If you’re in the same boat, you’ll have the usual discomfort, but it won’t be multiple rounds because the machine literally can’t take x-​rays in your particular mouth.
While I give the center 4 stars, the fifth really comes from the staff. Dr. Hemali Ajmera, who has — fair warning Unilocalers — become a friend, did my cleaning and helped guide me through the procedure. I found out that she comes from a long family of dentists, so she takes her work extremely seriously. She is an excellent cosmetic dentist and has done whitenings for a number of my friends all with positive feedback. This is what really first clued me in to going to her.
The cleaning was really well done and I was happy to have my Dr. do it instead of a technician. When she was done, I felt like she really knew what was going on in my mouth. She’s also very young, hip and relate-​able. For those of you reading this considering cosmetic dental services, I find it can be helpful to have someone who seems to have some sense of similar aesthetic understanding to talk to about what you’re trying to accomplish and why. I can tell you, if you want to do something that makes no sense, she will absolutely advise you against it. She is not the type of Dr. that is trying to hard sell you into services you don’t need.
The info she gave me on procedures was exceedingly professional. She took great care in telling me about what insurance would and would not cover. She named a number of options in helping me figure out how to deal with payment. Her follow-​up was wonderful as well.
Though you should always check these things in advance, their office does take a wide array of insurance.