Dr. Timothy Hart
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- 1720 E. Lake Bluff Blvd.
- 962-1800
- www.drhart.com
Two Wheels and Fondness for Village Keep Dentist Rolling
For Shorewood dentist Dr. Tim Hart, it’s all about bikes and your teeth, not necessarily in that order. Add an interest in community support and you get a clear idea of what makes him and his restorative dentistry practice roll smoothly.
A biking enthusiast and accomplished prosthodontist, Hart came here from the Racine-Kenosha area in 1996 when he purchased an existing practice at 1720 E. Lake Bluff Blvd., just off Oakland Avenue.
“I like Shorewood a lot. I like the diversity and the walkability,” he says, noting that neo-traditional planners and architects stay busy trying to duplicate similar charm and convenience. “What others are trying to recreate, Shorewood has already.” Hart resides in Glendale, with the other love of his life, his wife Cathy. They’ve considered moving to Shorewood, but that would eliminate the two-wheel daily commute he relishes in all but the worst of weather. He’s especially fond of 100-mile rides, called centuries, and will travel extensively to participate in them. “My favorite is in Mammoth Lakes, California. There’s one stop sign the entire hundred miles.”
Biking also influences his practice. For example, Hart teams up with Rainbow Jersey Bicycles as title sponsors for the annual Shorewood Criterium International Cycling Classic, the annual afternoon of racing that brings many of the world’s top male and female riders to Shorewood.
Even Hart’s office manager, Dana Vickers, also a riding enthusiast, credits the sport for helping to land her job. “He never looked at my resume during the interview. We talked about biking for a long time, and then he said, “‘You’re hired.’”
Hart’s practice requires seven full-time staff and offers a full range of adult dental services from routine cleanings to the most cutting-edge prosthodontic service available. In a way, his office building is a reflection of everything the practice is about. The outside facade is - well, restored - and casts the brick and mortar equivalent of a bright smile. The makeover came courtesy of the Business Improvement District’s Facade Improvement Program.
Hart says that after he bought the building in 2001, “they sent me a letter essentially saying ‘your building is butt ugly, can we help you?’” The offer was too good to refuse, covering $2,000 of the design plans and up to half the cost of the exterior renovations. “It’s huge because facade improvements offer no direct connection to productivity. It’s a hard thing to spend your money on,” he says, yet very important to maintaining a vibrant downtown shopping district.
Inside the building, Hart is spending a lot of capital and energy to fully renovate the reception area, laboratory, and treatment rooms. The latter all have television monitors and dual, dimmable lighting systems to create a relaxing atmosphere. Each treatment room also has its own high-tech microscope as well as a state-of-the-art computer-guided surgery system that makes procedures involving bridges, crowns and implants far less painful and invasive.
“It’s a much gentler surgery compared to the alternative of opening up the gums, which is a highly sensitive area with a lot of nerve tissue,” he says. A low-radiation, digital CT scanner can focus on specific areas of the mouth and create a 3-D simulation of the entire computer-guided surgery process. “We’re then able to place the implant with a technique that involves minimal piercing.”
Hart looks forward to an ongoing, successful presence in Shorewood, which he strongly recommends as a place to do business because it combines population density with community aesthetics. Recently, he was honored by the Business Improvement District with a Showcase Award which acknowledges Shorewood businesses that make an important difference to the commercial vitality of
the Village and business district.
“I think Shorewood provides the ideal combination of a truly walkable community with independence as a suburb and proximity to the larger urban center of Milwaukee.”
Not to mention the many bike racks