La Jolla dentist Dr. Abraham Romanowsky grew up in Mexico wanting to be an architect, but one fateful summer, he helped a family friend at his dental practice, and the rest is history.
“One semester I was taking math, physics and drawing, and the next I took biology and chemistry, and I was in the dental field,” Dr. Romanowsky says.
In Mexico, Dr. Romanowsky studied dental surgery at the University of Mexico. After graduation he was accepted to a graduate program and Boston University, during which time he researched public health at Harvard University. He then returned to Mexico to teach.
For 11 years, Romanowsky taught dental school while raising a family. Then, in the early 1990s, Romanowsky moved his wife and two children to San Diego, where he had a brother and sister in town.
“The first year in San Diego, I was commuting to Mexico to finish my commitments to patients there, and eventually I opened a practice in Tijuana while I waited to complete the California dental boards,” Dr. Romanowsky says.
While studying to pass his dental boards, Dr. Romanowsky received help from a friend, also a dentist, who allowed him to work in a lab to prepare for the comprehensive exams.
In 1997, Romanowsky received his license from the Dental Board of California and began looking for a practice while he continued to work in Tijuana and out of a friend’s Vista dental practice. He bought a practice in La Jolla in 1989, where he continues to work today with his partner, Dr. Jaime Breziner.
Dr. Breziner and Dr. Romanowsky met long before they became partners through a mutual benefactor, however.
“Another dentist, Dr. Whitehead, knew a Jewish dentist [Dr. Breziner] at Loma Linda University whom he said I had to meet,” Dr. Romanowsky says.
Dr. Whitehead provided both burgeoning dentists with equipment and a place to practice while they were working to become board-certified in the U.S. When he realized they both were Jewish and both from Latin America, he introduced them, and they’ve been practicing together ever since.
Dr. Breziner, who graduated from Loma Linda University, worked under Dr. Romanowsky before becoming a full partner at their current practice.
Dr. Breziner, who grew up in Columbia, was building his own practice through locals in the Jewish and Hispanic communities when Dr. Romanowsky’s La Jolla practice took off. At that point, he and Dr. Romanowsky became full partners in their business.
Although the dentists changed office locations in 2005, Dr. Romanowsky and Dr. Breziner continue their unique approach to dentistry together at La Jolla Family Smile Design.
“We wanted to have a practice that looked like a spa and not a dental practice,” Dr. Breziner says.
While Dr. Romanowsky is a trained prosthedontist, Dr. Breziner focuses on general and cosmetic dentistry. From general dentistry to reconstructive and cosmetic work, La Jolla Family Smile Design is a far cry from your old dentist’s office.
“We realize that dentistry is a difficult place to be for most people, so we wanted to have a softer feel in the office,” Dr. Romanowsky says.
They enlisted the help of a friend and interior designer to make their office spa-like, and the result is a soothing, friendly atmosphere.
“We use a lot of technology to make your visit more enjoyable and increase your understanding of what we’re doing,” Dr. Breziner says.
Digital X-rays that reduce radiation by 70 percent for both doctor and patient, as well as intra-oral cameras that allow patients to view a tour of their own mouth, help make Dr. Romanowsky and Dr. Breziner’s practice an enjoyable experience for all patients, whether they’re receiving simple or complex dental work.
La Jolla Family Smile Design
7817 Ivanhoe Ave., Suite 305
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 454-3043
