Dental building opens to praise

Now that the Dental School's new Robert Schattner Center is finally finished, faculty, staff and students are settling in and enjoying the state-of-the art facilities.

"It's fantastic," third-year Dental student George Suranyi said. "I haven't really spent much time in it [but] we're all looking forward to it."

The building was officially dedicated one week ago, after a two-year delay due to legal issues and difficulties with the construction.

The $22 million facility was supposed to be finished in the fall of 2000, but construction stopped in September of that year when the University ended its contract with New York-based firm York Hunter, alleging that the company had failed to fulfill portions of the contract. Work began again in the spring of 2001 after Penn renewed its agreement with York Hunter's surety company, American International Group.

The Center is now ready to serve patients from the community as well as Penn faculty and staff.

"It's a huge difference," third-year Dental student Caroline Saavedra said. "The patients get everything they want in only one room."

Oral Medicine Professor Thomas Sollecito noted that a visit to the dentist is often "inappropriately portrayed in the media as a painful experience overall," an idea that the school hopes to change.

"Instead of going into a dark, cramped room that is not welcoming, you have a nice, bright, cheerful environment... it puts patients at ease."

"By and large, it's fantastic, they've done a great job and should be credited as such," he added.

The new building adds 70,000 feet of space to the Dental School and links together the older Evans and Levy buildings into a unified facility.

Though most students had nothing but praise for the new building, third-year Dental student Dennis Babiner said the finished design of the center was "not consistent with the recommended dental office design" and added, "Whoever designed it was not a dentist."

Aside from minor flaws, however, Babiner said he is pleased with the "more spacious, more private" rooms and the modern feel of the building.

"They added quite a lot of space," he said, "The patients will actually enjoy it more... it's more friendly."

The center includes the Oral and Maxillofacial surgery center and the clinic for Medically Complex Patients. It will also house the Dental Care Network, a dental practice that includes Penn faculty members.

All of the components of the center will give the school "the ability to expand what we can provide to our patients," according to Sollecito.

"It puts our patients at ease," he said.

The space will also be "more private for patient confidentiality," Babiner said.

Staff members are excited by the new "professional-looking" office space, administrative assistant for oral medicine Delia Gable said.

"I was pleased that we moved," she said. "I have a view now."

She noted "the entire department did not have a window" in the older space.

"It's definitely an improvement," she added, with "more space, more windows."

Students at the Dental School are also thrilled about the new equipment. "The X-ray units are beautiful," Babiner said.

The completion of the Schatt-ner Center coincides with the Dental School's 125th anniversary, being celebrated this year.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.