Going to the dentist often terrifies people, but the view of the Empire State Building, on one side, and the One World Trade Center on the other, certainly lifts spirits. Dr. Davide Romeo and Dr. Michelle Luna own their dental office–Milano Dental Studio–on the 15th floor of 369 Lexington Avenue. Their services range from restorative dentistry to the most complex rehabilitations on teeth and dental implants, wisdom teeth extractions and bone grafting, all with the kind of special care you usually expect from your family dentist.
“We envisioned it as a privately owned practice where we care about the health of the patient—thinking of the mouth as an active part of the body—the quality of the products and instruments we use, and the aesthetics of the final result. Patients are treated with respect, creating a trusting relationship and making them feel as comfortable as possible”, Dr. Luna explained.
“The logo is aesthetically beautiful–the M shape alludes to a tooth but also to the first letter of Milan, where I am from”, Dr. Romeo explained. The idea of calling it studio and not office, as it would have been in English, winks at the public with Italian roots.
After earning his DDS and PhD in New Techniques in Implant Dentistry and Prosthetic Rehabilitation from Università degli Studi di Milano, Dr. Romeo met Dr. Luna at NYU in 2009 during his one-year residency, while she was pursuing her education in Periodontics, after moving from Guatemala City. “Life happens and takes you to a different path,” she commented. Coming back to their countries as originally planned, Dr. Luna founded the post-graduate program in Periodontics at her former Dental School and became the Program Director. They tried to work apart while keeping their relationship together until he joined her.
After three years in Guatemala City, they took the leap and came back to the US. In 2016, they first moved to Rochester, in Upstate New York, where they studied at the top-in-the-country Eastman Institute for Oral Health to get their license and then, “New York became our halfway point. Practicing here is not easy–it is a very competitive environment. But we were very happy when we lived here in 2009. It is a very welcoming city where I never felt foreign, I always felt like I fit in. And when you are 30 something you have the passion to take risks,” Dr. Luna recalled.
“Our idea was to get a space to practice dentistry the way we like and take the personal approach we have in Italy. We listen to our patients, answer all their questions and understand what we can do and in what way we can help by setting up an established, therapeutic alliance and without being affected by the insurance component,” Dr. Romeo explained. “When working for a corporation sometimes you are forced to use whatever supplies they provide you with. Instead, here, I can pick whatever quality of materials I feel more comfortable with. We take all the impression molds with the scanner, we send them to Italy, and they ship the porcelain teeth back to us,” Dr. Luna commented. Their personal connection with Italian technicians ensures high-quality, customized service, meeting patient needs and naturally aesthetic standards. In 2021, they took over their current office from an Italian-American dentist who retired and trusted them with his heritage.
Now Dr. Luna performs general dentistry procedures, specialized in Periodontics–both surgical and non-surgical treatment for the gums–and works as adjunct clinical professor in the Department of Periodontology & Implant Dentistry at NYU, as her way to “contribute to education”.
Dr. Romeo is a surgically trained Prosthodontist who specializes in advanced rehabilitations. He teaches postgraduates and general dentists, collaborates with implant companies, and pioneers same-day implant and fixed teeth placement for edentulous patients. “I started as a researcher in 2005 and I have been studying and performing this procedure since then,” he explained. “It is also a very good way to keep updated on what is new.”
Seven people work at the office: the two of them, two certified dental assistants, a hygienist, a receptionist, and a clinical manager. They serve patients of all ages, many of them from the United Nations and NYU Medical Center. Spanish and Italian speakers seek their care as they feel more comfortable in communicating in their own mother language.
A couple that works together. Their secret? “When we are done for the day and get out that door, we never talk about work. Ever.” they said in unison.
