Another Reason to Smile
At Designer of Smiles, Dr. Adam Stefanowicz joins the team led by Dr. Steven Bunting to deliver exceptional general and cosmetic dentistry in an atmosphere of comfort, connection, and convenience.
by Melissa D. Sullivan

Before Adam R. Stefanowicz, D.M.D., joined Designer of Smiles earlier this year, he was already quite familiar with the practice’s owner and chief dentist, Steven C. Bunting, D.D.S. Their history goes back more than two decades, beginning when Dr. Stefanowicz was a young boy in kindergarten and Dr. Bunting’s daughter was one of his classmates.   
 
“We got a call,” Dr. Bunting recalls. “Our daughter was playing at school, running around the schoolyard. Some little kid bumped her, and she fell and hit her lip.” 
 
Fortuitously, Dr. Bunting knew an excellent oral surgeon, and his daughter recovered just fine. Though accounts differ, Dr. Bunting insists the young boy who instigated the accident was none other than Dr. Stefanowicz. The story recently came full circle, when Dr. Bunting introduced Dr. Stefanowicz to the oral surgeon who treated his daughter all those years ago. 
 
“We still talk about it 20 years later,” Dr. Stefanowicz says with a good-natured groan. 
 
Everyone can laugh about it now. In fact, when Dr. Stefanowicz began to consider a career in dentistry, he turned to Dr. Bunting to ask if he could shadow him in his Huntingdon Valley-based practice as part of his application to dental school. 
 
“When he came to us and said what he wanted to do, we said, ‘Sure, but instead of just shadowing work, how about a paycheck?’ He wasn’t just a fly on the wall but an actual participant,” Dr. Bunting says, adding that Dr. Stefanowicz gained a good understanding of the practice’s inner workings by helping with procedures, working in sterilization, and assisting in the lab. 
 
“Like a basketball coach with a basketball player, you can’t teach height,” Dr. Bunting continues. “In dentistry, you can’t teach compassion and personality. Those are the qualities that Adam has that you can’t always find in others.”
 
Even then, it was clear to Dr. Bunting that Dr. Stefanowicz brought something special to his work. 
After Dr. Stefanowicz graduated from Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry with an award for Clinical Excellence in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dr. Bunting inquired about his plans after graduation. 
 
“When Adam said that he was unsure, I said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’ve got to come work with us,’” says Dr. Bunting. 
 
The rest, as they say, is history. Dr. Stefanowicz is delighted to have returned to Designer of Smiles and work with his mentor. He refers to his role with the practice as “the perfect opportunity.” 
 
‘A Real Connection’
Designer of Smiles is a full-service dentistry practice that has been offering cosmetic and general dental services to residents of Bucks and Montgomery counties for more than 30 years. 
 
Dr. Bunting offers over three decades of experience in smile reconstruction, including veneers and dental implants, though he believes his practice’s greatest strength lies apart from its clinical expertise. He credits Designer of Smiles’ success to the sense of family that permeates the practice, beginning with its welcoming and extremely knowledgeable team. 
 
Many of the team members have been with the practice for over 25 years. The culture of the practice is reflective of many years together in providing the excellence in all that they do. The team’s commitment can be summed up by their living the words expressed in Dr. Bunting’s vision statement: “My vision for this practice is that it is a compassionate and caring place where, together with my exceptional team, we use our talents to make a meaningful difference in our patients’ lives by improving their health and self-confidence.”
 
Many of their patients have been coming to see Dr. Bunting and his team for so long that they truly “feel like family”—just as they had hoped when they worked together to develop the practice’s mission statement. 
 
“There’s a real connection to the community here, whether it’s ‘I played cards with your grandmother,’ or ‘I went to school with your sister,’” Dr. Stefanowicz adds. “One of our patients was asked, ‘How do you know when you’ve found the right practice?’ And the response was, ‘You walk through the doors, and you just know. You’re comfortable.’”
 
Drs. Bunting and Stefanowicz believe a good dentist should be an educator as well as a clinician. Both provide each patient with a comprehensive assessment of their oral health, including options for treatment and tips for the prevention of conditions that could affect their smile as well as their overall health. 
 
“Our role is to educate the patient to understand their current condition, and then present options for them and help them choose the appropriate solution for them,” says Dr. Bunting. “Not everyone has to be completely restored with a smile makeover. Sometimes improved functionality is the desired outcome.” 
 
Drs. Bunting and Stefanowicz are excited about the continued improvements in patient care brought about by the digital age. An intraoral scanner, for example, offers significant advantages for patients who need interventions such as night guards, crowns and bridges, and orthodontics such as Invisalign.
 
“With the old approach, patients would have to sit there for a few minutes with their mouth full of the impression material,” Dr. Stefanowicz says. “It’s a little messy, a little uncomfortable. Then the impression would need to be sent away to a lab for the fabrication of the appliances.” 
 
Now, the dentists can use the scanner to create an immediate and detailed image of the mouth, and the scan is sent to the lab in a matter of seconds. That same technology can be used to design crowns and other restorations to ensure positive patient outcomes. The practice can use the digital technology to work with other dental specialists to design and facilitate the correct placement of dental implants.
 
Adopting technology that makes patient care more comfortable and convenient is just one way the practice can make a difference in their patients’ lives. Each patient visit is incredibly thorough, as even a minor procedure—identifying and addressing a cavity—can make a profound and lasting difference in a patient’s oral health.
 
Going forward, the team at Designer of Smiles intends to continue refining the patient experience. They also intend to maintain, if not deepen, the close connections with the patients who have helped make Designer of Smiles a pillar of the community for 30 years and counting. 
 
“We are grateful to be able to improve the lives and self-esteem of our patients that have undergone smile makeovers, whether it’s just a few teeth or an entire mouth transformation,” Dr. Bunting says. “It is very rewarding to provide the finest quality of dental treatment, and we do that with a level of care and compassion that creates lifelong friendships.”
 
Designer of Smiles
3443 Huntingdon Pike
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
(215) 914-5982
www.designerofsmiles.com
 
Photo by Jody Robinson
 
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life, November 2022.

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