Never Standing Still
Led by Dr. David Stall, Westtown Dental Arts strives to continually refine treatment for everything from routine cleanings to complex cosmetic and restorative procedures.
One might understand if David E. Stall, D.M.D., decided to rely solely on the clinical skills he honed through nearly 40 years in practice and said, “I’ve learned everything about dentistry there is to know.” But standing still is simply not who he is.
“I’ve always been adamant about expanding my knowledge, improving my skills, and refining aspects of my practice to make a difference for patients,” says Dr. Stall, the founder of Westtown Dental Arts in West Chester. “My education has never stopped. I just took another class last week about digital dentures, because everything is digital these days.”
Westtown Dental Arts provides comprehensive dental care in an environment designed to make each member of the family feel comfortable. Dr. Stall credits his staff for maintaining a warm and welcoming atmosphere for patients of all ages, from infants to centenarians.
“We provide personalized treatment, where each patient is an individual,” he adds. “Our patients’ comfort and convenience are very important to us. You almost never see anyone sitting in our waiting room; if you have an appointment at 10 a.m., we’re going to be ready for you at 10 a.m. Occasionally we’ll have an emergency, but we try not to overwhelm ourselves or the patients.”
While some patients require nothing more than routine cleanings and preventive maintenance, Westtown Dental Arts has expertise in helping “dentally debilitated” patients through complex dental implant procedures and full-mouth restorations. Dr. Stall adds, “The things we’re doing in this office are probably not the norm for most general dentists.”
In addition, Westtown Dental Arts has become a destination for sedation dentistry for patients who have dental anxiety. Dr. Stall has been offering conscious sedation, delivered orally or intravenously, for more than 20 years.
“People seek me out for it, and a number of general dentists refer patients to me if they need it, and even some oral surgeons and periodontists if it’s beyond what they can do,” he adds. “We typically use sedation for complex treatment, but some people are so anxious that they can’t sit through any dental procedures, even cleanings.”
Advanced equipment plays a pivotal role in the practice. Diagnostic tools such as high-definition intraoral scans and 3D cone beam computed tomography enable Dr. Stall and his team to evaluate patients more effectively and plan out procedures with exacting precision.
The practice has also adopted tools such as CO2 lasers for soft-tissue procedures such as infant and adult frenectomies, treatment of gum infections, and oral lesions. Dr. Stall performs an average of five to six infant frenectomies per week, mostly to help infants who have trouble nursing, though the procedure can also help “tongue-tied” adults who struggle with speech or sleep issues.
“It’s amazing how technology has transformed dentistry in the past 10 years,” Dr. Stall adds. “Just look at something like digital scanning. It does require a learning curve, but it makes a big difference in patient care. If I’m doing a single crown, I can do the scan and send it off to the lab with the push of a button. As a result, a patient can have a restored smile within days, not weeks.”
Westtown Dental Arts’ evolution includes the welcome addition of Dr. Stall’s associate dentist, Mina Yacoub, D.M.D. Since joining the practice almost two years ago, Dr. Yacoub has excelled at providing comprehensive dental care for adults, adolescents, and children, including Clear Correct aligner-based orthodontic therapy. Dr. Stall describes his colleague as “very patient-centric and well attuned to all the new innovations in dentistry”—in other words, someone much like himself.
“I’ve never shied away from new things,” says Dr. Stall, a native of upstate New York who started practicing in West Chester in 1985. “If you had told me when I first started practicing that I’d be doing the things I’m doing now, I would not have believed you.”
Westtown Dental Arts
1646 West Chester Pike, Suite 1
West Chester, PA 19382
(610) 692-8454
westtowndentalarts.com
1646 West Chester Pike, Suite 1
West Chester, PA 19382
(610) 692-8454
westtowndentalarts.com
Photo by Jody Robinson
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, June 2023.
