Meet Dr. Miner

Dr Miner

Robert D. Miner, BS, DDS

Although I have been practicing dentistry since 1967, my enthusiasm for caring for people and my love for practicing dentistry has never waned. Actually my interest in dentistry emerged when I was in ninth grade. Learning that, my dentist arranged for me to get a summer job in a small dental laboratory in Wyckoff which was followed by subsequent summer positions in labs in Paterson, Hackensack and Manhattan. This early exposure proved beneficial during my early formative educational years. At graduation from prep school, I was surprised to receive a Special Honors Sword for my thesis on Dentistry during the American Colonial Period researched at the medical Library at Columbia. After receiving my BS from Denison University with its humanitarian liberal arts curriculum, I again found my lab experience useful when attending Columbia where I later found these lab experiences gave me a leg-up in the technique courses at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, and at graduation where I was awarded the Rowe Wiberg Memorial Medal for Excellence in Prosthodontics may have had its genesis in the early lab experiences. And again, during my service in the US Army Dental Corps as Head Post Dental Surgeon as a Captain at Fr. Hamilton in Staten Island, (when many had time and grade over me), where I received the First Army Certificate of Achievement for the high quality of dentistry and administrative accomplishments, I feel my early exposures underscored the importance of placing emphasis on grounding techniques on scientific outcomes, and stressing prevention and oral home care as an essential element for assuring longevity along with achieving comfortable and functional outcomes of restorative and esthetic dentistry. This incorporation of careful examination, astute diagnosis, prevention based on the science and art of dentistry was further developed in my practice in Rockefeller Center along with my appointment to the faculty of Columbia University college of Dental Medicine where I am currently a Clinical Professor of Prosthodontics and Adult Restorative Dentistry and Director of the Dental Ethics Program. My philosophy of placing patient care central became my guiding principle upon opening my Ridgewood, New Jersey general practice in prosthodontics and restorative dentistry in October of 1970.

My desire to teach evolved early as a Columbia student, inspired by the dedicated staff and out of a desire to give back to others for the good fortune I had experienced. So shortly after starting private practice I became involved as a volunteer at Columbia, which soon extended to dental societies and academies both here and abroad, such as the Greater New York Meeting, the New York County Dental Society, The American College of Dentistry, the Bergen County Dental Society, and numerous Study Clubs and other dental schools. This is part of the commitment to continuing education – that as a professional, we never stop learning and sharing knowledge. All of the Doctors and most of the staff in this office are involved in teaching, especially in the Dental Ethics Programs.

My wife, Virginia, and I have three children named Jeffrey, Cynthia and Catherine, as well as one wonderful daughter-in-law, two great sons-in-law, and four brilliant grandchildren! I try to spend as much time as possible on the tennis court, a little time hitting a golf ball and many years driving BMW sport cars on the racetrack. My wife Ginie, who spent many years developing and managing this practice, is the most precious part of all my endeavors even before our marriage in June of 1963 when I was in dental school. She is the one most responsible for making it possible for me to do what I love the most, outside of my family.