By Jeremy Walsh
A longtime Queens dentist moved his office from East Elmhurst to Bayside, but he is no stranger to the community.
Dr. Christos Tsiatis has lived in Little Neck for 20 years and said he brunches regularly at the Bayside Diner, right across the street from his new office, Clearview Dental, at 207−12 Northern Blvd.
Tsiatis, 57, who has been practicing dentistry for 30 years, first set out his shingle in Brielle, N.J., but soon moved his operation to East Elmhurst, where he practiced from 1981 until now.
“People in Queens are working people, they’re responsible,” he said. “And they’re hardy, too. That was a big change from where I was in New Jersey. A little snow never stopped them. They didn’t use it as an excuse to stay away from the dentist.”
But as Tsiatis’ practice grew and medical technology evolved, he got the urge to expand. It started five years ago, but he started actively looking for a new location a year and a half ago, going from locations in East Elmhurst to as far east as Manhasset, L.I., before settling on the Bayside location.
“Since I’m comfortable in this area because of my involvement with St. Nicholas Church, I was looking around here,” he said. “And many of my patients are from this area.”
The new office will feature the same staff, the same digital radiography machine that produces X−rays faster and with 50 percent less radiation than traditional film, he said. But it will also feature expanded dental implant services, a process he has been studying recently at New York University.
“Dental implants are the best way to replace missing teeth or teeth that cannot be restored,” he said, comparing them with the older technique of “bridging” a false tooth between two real ones. “If a tooth is hopeless and you want a replacement there, it’s predictable, it’s comfortable, it’s independent of the other teeth so you don’t compromise other teeth in order to restore a tooth,” he said.
The titanium implants are actually compatible with the bone of the original tooth socket and integrate after a while, he said.
Tsiatis said he did not plan a large grand−opening ceremony for the new office, which took five months to renovate, but looked forward to maintaining the smiles of people used to visiting him a few miles to the west.
“I love my patients,” he said. “I feel like I’m family with them. It’s not just a strict doctor−patient relationship. We chat, we talk about their families.”
You can reach Clearview Dental at 718−631−2900.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e−mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 154.
