For dentists wondering how highly driven innovators embrace the future and drive the profession forward, this new series will provide the questions – and the answers. This fall, Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine celebrates 10 years of recognizing brilliant achievers in dentistry, ages 40 and under. Fewer than 500 of America’s best young dentists have earned this prestigious designation, including the alumni featured in each installment here.
Prepare to be motivated.

Dr. Andrea Smith’s CV is stellar. After graduating as Valedictorian from Penn State’s Eberly College of Science, she repeated the performance as Valedictorian at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. Next, Dr. Smith completed UCLA’s Advanced Prosthodontics Residency Program, and spent nearly a decade as clinical director and head of the Department of Prosthodontics and Maxillofacial Prosthetics at the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic.

Five year ago, Dr. Smith opened Berks Prosthodontics in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, where she currently resides with her husband and their nine-month-old, Jack. Read on to find out what Dr. Andrea Smith has been up to since her 2019 40 Under 40 win!

What’s the best innovation you have implemented at your practice since your 40 Under 40 win?

We’re using technology more effectively in communicating with our oral surgical colleagues, between digital scanning and planning for implant treatments.

What do you view as the most significant innovation or change in dentistry in that time frame?

Materials are always changing and evolving; we now can produce them better and faster in our offices. Implant companies are constantly coming up with different techniques and things like that.

Any advice for other dentists?

Always think about your patients’ needs first. Try to listen to them and figure out what’s best for them, as opposed to what’s best for you, or what you’re used to doing. In general, do the right thing for people, even if it’s the hard thing. People appreciate that and see your character; that’s important for building a strong practice.

What did the 40 Under 40 honor signify to you?

Acknowledgment of all your hard work is another way to show patients your effectiveness as a dentist. You’re not only being acknowledged by patients and your colleagues, but also by the industry. Every way that you can get yourself out there is one more feather in your cap.

Tell us about a unique CE experience.

To add a service for patients at the practice, the whole office team learned about using a laser to treat Peri-implantitis. We added laser treatments, air polishing and other offerings and we gained knowledge about keeping implants healthy.

It’s been one year since your 40 Under 40 honor. Any news to share since then?

At my 40 Under 40 shoot in 2019, I was five months pregnant, so since then, we welcomed our son Jack to the world.

Successes and Awards:

I was selected Best of 2020 West Reading for cosmetic dentistry, and Best of 2020 Wyomissing Cosmetic Dentistry.

Volunteer efforts:

Every year on Veterans Day we provide implant treatment, a full-arch implant treatment, for a veteran.

Knowledge. Success. Life. Those three words, printed on the cover of every issue, guide editorial content for Incisal Edge magazine. Published by Benco Dental since 1997, Incisal Edge is focused on helping readers get an edge—and keep it—in the fast-changing worlds of healthcare and business. Known for its “40 Under 40 — America’s Best Young Dentists,” which highlights the country’s brightest rising stars, the magazine’s content includes “The 32 Most Influential People in Dentistry,” plus columns and features packed with sharp advice, expert success tips on everything from marketing to operations, and the latest clinical advances and essential tools for practicing and living smarter. Incisal Edge magazine’s print edition reaches 130,000 readers quarterly via a direct mail distribution package with Dentaltown magazine. Digitally, incisaledgemagazine.com leads with dynamic visuals and follows with exclusive web content, an improved mobile experience, and a centralized nomination hub for the magazine’s signature awards: the aforementioned 40 Under 40, the Lucy Hobbs Project Awards for Exemplary Women in Dentistry and the Incisal Edge Design Competition for interior design, architecture and space planning within the dental profession.