In Loving Memory of Dr. Robert R. Smith, DDS
From his very early years of walking the San Diego Zoo on weekends with his grandmother, Dr. Robert Smith developed an interest in the biological sciences. That interest grew and propelled him through his education to earn his BA degree in zoology at U.C.L.A., to dental school at U.O.P. in San Francisco, and to completing his formal education with his pediatric dental residency at Oregon Health Sciences in Portland. Then it was time to engage in the complex world of dentistry for children, and that started in 1972 with his first dental practice in the West San Fernando Valley. He migrated over the hill a short time later to open his practice on Sunset Boulevard. That is where he continues on today.
Pediatric dentistry is very different from other dental disciplines. Working with children, of course, can represent behavioral challenges in itself. But the rewards are infinitely greater as we watch the infants grow into preschoolers and one day go off to college. Being part of that growth and development transition, seeing that miracle of nature unfold, is something Dr. Smith said he just couldn’t let go of.
But pediatric dentistry is about dental care for those emerging young bodies. Provide the necessary guidance to ensure that when those children do finally go off to college, they have healthy teeth in good alignment within a facial structure that is both esthetic and functional. And they know how to take care of those teeth and are motivated to do so.
“That is what good pediatric dentistry is all about,” according to Dr. Smith. It’s a lot more than just filling cavities.
That is what led Dr. Smith to return to his office on Sunset Boulevard, to see it grow from a tiny space forty years ago into a fully functional, technologically advanced, four-doctor space with a highly interesting mix of patients coming from far and wide. We will continue to honor his memory and strive to meet his ideals every day in our practice.