THIS COSMETIC DENTIST’S INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN INSPIRING CONFIDENCE IN HIS NEW JERSEY PATIENTS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES
BY JESSICA JONES-GORMAN • PORTRAIT BY JEN RUTHERFORD PHOTOGRAPHY ALL OTHER PHOTOS BY ERIC COLEMAN
Dr. Asim Zaidi understands the importance of a smile. More than just a dominant feature of the face, it’s an aesthetic characteristic that can either inspire confidence or discourage it; a trait that can beguile attention or detract it. And as one of New Jersey’s premier cosmetic dentists, Dr. Zaidi’s primary goal is to help patients find the confidence that a perfect set of pearly whites can encourage.
“You’re changing a smile because the function or appearance of a tooth is broken, but in doing so you’re actually changing a life,” explained Dr. Zaidi. “It may sound cliché, and I might be oddly obsessed with the appearance of teeth, but when you witness someone get something fixed even a small chip there is a transformation. They no longer cover their mouths when they laugh, and there is a renewed confidence. It’s that reaction – the tears of joy – that drives me. I’ve been doing this for decades and I’m still blown away by it every time.”
A dentist with 23 years of experience, Dr. Zaidi graduated in 1997 from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and completed his training at the University Hospital in Newark. He has been a member of numerous professional organizations, including the ADA, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, and the NJAGD, and he currently serves on the board of the New Jersey Academy of General Dentistry and is the president elect of the organization for 2021.
After working in general dentistry for a few years, he launched his own cosmetic practice in 2000.
“I was attracted to elective care because people are coming to you because they want to not because they need to. If you have an abscess or need a root canal, you’re making an appointment because you’re in pain and discomfort. Elective dentistry is a happier place to be because patients are coming in to fulfill a lifelong desire to change the appearance of their teeth and make a lifestyle improvement. In dentistry there is a fine line between functionality and aesthetics. As a cosmetic dentist I ride that fine line, obtaining the look a patient desires while improving the function of their teeth at the same time.”
In 2006, Dr. Zaidi rooted his practice in Red Bank.
“I fell in love with this area; it’s right off the Nave sink and there was this quaint little boutique practice,” noted Dr. Zaidi about Chapel Hill Dental Arts, the dental office he joined 14 years ago. “I had a wonderful surgical team in place from the four other offices I was operating. I literally brought them all here, and together we built a solid reputation as Monmouth County’s restorative specialists.”
Dr. Zaidi’s team is multi-faceted. Jeff Mil one handles periodontics, Kristen Blum berger specializes in endodontics, and Dr. Richard Mercurio is a local authority on the “All On Four” surgical technique. Each Chapel Hill patient benefits from the expertise of all dentists on staff.
“We have this great synergy,” said Dr. Zaidi. “With so many specialists in one place, we each have incredible resources to rely upon when we’re treating a patient. So if we come across a complicated case there are multiple sets of eyes looking at it from different points of view.”
All of the office’s technology is also located in house. CT scans are performed on site and an 1,100-square-foot laboratory is a major component of the office’s landscape.
“We employ a full-time technician there so when you need any type of prosthetic built it’s done right away,” noted the doctor. “Our on-site lab has enabled ‘teeth-in-a-day’ to become our hallmark.”
Including full restorations that replace several missing teeth or an entire arch, same-day restorations complete an otherwise incomplete or empty smile. Fitted in the morning and then built on site at Chapel Hill, the process of fabrication and placement are greatly expedited so that patients can have an instant smile makeover.
“For so many of our patients the transformation is life changing,” said Dr. Zaidi. “And the fact that we can do it all in one day is a major breakthrough for people who are dissatisfied with their current smile.”
Chapel Hill is also equipped with all of the latest state-of the art dental equipment. Intraoral cameras, cone beam CT, and digital scanners help Dr. Zaidi and staff create realistic crowns, veneers, and implants that perfectly match a patient’s existing teeth.
“The CT machine that we use shows me a cross section of the jaw, allowing me to see where the densest portion of bone is and pinpoint exactly where the nerve is. It measures everything precisely and produces a three-dimensional film. When I perform a procedure, I’m exactly where I need to be or within a tenth of a millimeter. That’s how accurate these machines are.”
And according to the doctor, the ongoing innovations in materials is inspiring.
“The materials available today are nothing short of exciting. They have evolved so much; some of the ceramics we’re using today are so lifelike you would never know the person has a crown. Even dentures and implants are translucent and lifelike. We can scan and match the color of your teeth, make it polychromatic, and even place tiny enamel details in so that it doesn’t stand out and look like a blocky piece in your mouth. Materials have advanced dramatically, making more realistic smiles possible.”
Each innovation allows Dr. Zaidi to create life-changing new smiles.
“This is what drives me,” he concluded.” This is why I love what I do.”
Chapel Hill Dental Arts
429 NJ-35, Red Bank / 732.345.8460 / chapelhilldentalarts.com