Through the keyhole - Dr. David Garber

Dr. David Garber reminisces about those who have influenced his life and enhanced his career

What can you tell us about your background?
I began my dental life in Johannesburg, South Africa. I went to dental school at the University of Witwatersrand, finished in 1970, and practiced general dentistry in England for about 3 years. Then, I returned to South Africa and practiced there for 2 years before coming to the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 1975 to study periodontal/prosthesis and periodontics. Penn had one of the only dual programs at the time. After my second year, when I finished periodontics, I joined Drs. Morton Amsterdam and Arnold Weisgold in their practice, sharing the facility with Drs. D. Walter Cohen, Louis Rose, and Robert “Slick” Vanarsdall. I was then invited to stay on and taught at Penn, running the crown and bridge program full time, and practicing part time with Dr. Amsterdam and Dr. Weisgold. I ran into Dr. Ronald Goldstein in San Francisco at the 1981 California Dental Association meeting, and he asked me to consider joining him in Atlanta if I ever wanted to put my family together. My mother and sister had moved to Atlanta from Johannesburg, so I decided to relocate as a family.  

When did you become a specialist and why?
I joined the program in 1975, finishing in 1978, really because I realized I had a limited amount of comprehensive dental acumen and real clinical understanding, and thought I should go back and find out a little more. Perio/prostheses was that all-encompassing program! Drs. Leonard Abrams and David Beaudreau were the first students in the program, and Dr. Beaudreau later became Dean of Georgetown. I realized that as a dentist, I encountered so much I really didn’t know how to handle in South Africa. I used to go to Dr. Ed Rosenberg’s office, and he finally told me, “It is time to go and learn it yourself!” Dr. Rosenberg brought me over from South Africa (he became a teacher at Penn; I was the student). We had met while I was a dental student, then became close friends. I must say, he really instigated it all!
Is your practice limited solely to implants?
No, we really practice general dentistry but with the benefits of a multispecialty background. We take care of everything between the different specialists, Drs. Maurice Salama, Henry Salama, and Ronald Goldstein. We also have two other prosthodontists, Dr. Maha el Sayed, Wendy Auclair, and Dr. Abtin Shahriari, an oral surgeon. The seven of us provide complete compre-hensive head-and-neck wellness dentistry, combining our individual specific backgrounds with our added involvement in esthetics. We are really practicing an integrated form of dentistry, not unlike the Mayo Clinic does in medicine. It makes sense to have all your “resources” in one place so patients can interact with specialists in the different disciplines simultaneously in a more holistic manner. Esthetics and implants are not specialties unto themselves, but simply another component in our wellness armamentarium.

Why did you decide to focus on perio/prosth and implants?
I guess Ed Rosenberg made it clear that periodontics was the biologic basis for any dentistry. So I started with that. I always had an interest in prosthodontics. So these became the two cornerstones of my practice. Maurice, Henry, and I place and restore implants. Drs. Goldstein, Auclair, and El-Sayed take care of the restorative aspect, while Maurice is also the essential extended orthodontic arm of the practice. Dr. Abtin Shahriari is a highly trained oral maxillofacial surgeon, handling everything from routine third molar extraction to tissue grafts and dentofacial reconstruction.

Do your patients come through referrals?
Our patients are mostly patient or doctor referred.

How long have you been placing implants, and what systems do you use?
Since 1982, or before, starting at the first or second Branemark programs. We use Biohorizons®, the different Dentsply systems, like XiVE®, and Ankylos®. We also use Zimmer Dental, Megagen, and Keystone Dental.

What training have you undertaken?
Thousands of hours of CE and courses. Most weeks we’re out somewhere.

Who has inspired you?
Undoubtedly, Ed Rosenberg and Leonard Abrams. Then of course my two partners, Henry and Maurice Salama, and the “father of esthetic dentistry,” Ronald Goldstein.
What is the most satisfying aspect of your practice?
Patient interaction. The ongoing one-on-one interaction we enjoy.

Professionally, what are you most proud of?
My grandchildren!
Professionally, I think I’ve been very lucky. America has allowed me to develop professionally with less of the political and social issues usually involved in academia. Then, being able to share knowledge and interact with other professionals while seeing the world—and it has been wonderful. We have friends to reach out to globally and even more so now with www.dentalxp.com and Facebook. 

What do you think is unique about your practice?

The fact that we have all the disciplines of dentistry here, and most important, that we’re all friends and our wives are similarly close to one another. We would lecture together, vacation together, and share a Scotch most evenings together.

What has been your biggest challenge?
Keeping up! Especially with the constantly, rapidly evolving technologies. It’s a challenge to stay at the leading edge of all the different aspects of the various disciplines.

What would you have been if you didn’t become a dentist?
I didn’t really plan to be a dentist! Probably an architect, but somehow more of my friends were involved in dentistry—so I stayed with it.

What is the future of perio/prosth and dentistry?
The future, I think, lies in integrating all the CAD/CAM technologies and the computer—SimPlant®, CAD/CAM milling, 3-dimensional planning of surgeries and prostheses, and integrating them back within the context of the face and the smile, with an improved predictability. Obviously, improving clinical techniques. And then, of course, the whole understanding that oral diseases and periodontal diseases are connected to systemic health, and continuing to explore this relationship.
What advice would you give to budding perio/prosth specialists?
Being a little undecided in your career is mostly normal. It gets better, and as you delve into it, the more involved and interesting it gets. Top tips obviously relate to remaining current with the clinically relevant research and changes. And we believe www.dentalxp.com is a remarkable resource toward this end. DentalXP has a community in excess of 70,000 dentists and more than 1,000 different pieces of content on almost any aspect of dentistry. The 180-plus experts place the newest information up in the least amount of time, as compared to journals, etc. And DentalXP is a resource for clinical information and global friendship.

What are your hobbies and what do you do in your spare time?
There is little spare time! Essentially, family occupies most of your spare time. In addition to drinking Scotch with my partners and friends!

Dr. David Garber is one of the internationally recognized multidisciplinary educators collectively well-known as “Team Atlanta.” Dr. Garber is the recipient of The 2005 Gordon J. Christensen Lecturer Recognition Award, The American College of Prosthodontics Distinguished Lecturer Award, The Northeastern Periodontal Society Isador Hirschfeld Award for Clinical Excellence, The Greater New York Academy of Prosthodontics Distinguished Lecturer Award, and The David Serson Medal of Research.
He is a past president of the American Academy of Esthetic Dentistry and has served on the boards of both the AAED and the American Academy of Fixed Prosthodontics. Dr. Garber is dual-trained clinician and professor in the Department of Periodontics as well as in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation at the Medical College of Georgia. He is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Prosthodontics at Louisiana State University, and a Clinical Professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Texas in San Antonio.
He is past editor of the Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, and co-author of Porcelain Laminate Veneers, Bleaching Teeth, Porcelain and Composite Inlays and Onlays, and Complete Dental Bleaching, and has published in excess of 60 articles and textbook chapters.
Goldstein, Garber, & Salama, located in Atlanta, GA, has 18 operatories, two surgical suites, an in-house lab, and a teaching center (the Team Atlanta DentalXP Teaching Center, where they hold hands-on courses). He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and www.goldsteingarber.com.