Allentown resident takes helm of state dental board
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

ALLENTOWN - He's a local dentist, but Peter L. DeSciscio is now responsible for what's happening in mouths all over New Jersey.

DeSciscio, 47, who has been a dentist with Allentown Dental, 10 S. Main St., for the past two years, was recently elected as president of the New Jersey State Board of Dentistry. The board regulates dentist licensing and oversees grievances in the dental industry in the state.

DeSciscio said he was "extremely proud" to be elected by his peers as president of the board.

"I want people to know that the dentist in their local dentist's office is involved with practice of dentistry all around the state," he said.

A New Jersey governor appoints the members of the state board. DeSciscio said he was appointed twice to the board, once by former Gov. James McGreevey and a second time by former Gov. Richard Codey.

"I was extremely proud to be appointed by two governors," DeSciscio said.

DeSciscio works at Allentown Dental with his partner, Sebastian D'Amico, and associate Wellington Tsai. He said he has a practice in Jackson as well.

A 1985 graduate of the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-New Jersey Dental School, Newark, DeSciscio completed a general-practice residency at Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City from 1985-86. He began teaching part time in 1987 at New Jersey Dental School, where he is currently a clinical associate professor in the department of restorative dentistry.

In 1987, DeSciscio opened a private practice in Perth Amboy. He has served as director of the Dental General Practice Residency Program at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, and as president of the Middlesex County Dental Society, the New Jersey Academy of General Dentistry and the Dental Alumni Association for New Jersey Dental School.

DeSciscio has also served as a representative on the board of directors for the American Board of Dental Examiners.

DeSciscio said his mother, Grace Mary, encouraged him to go into dentistry.

"She had an uncle who was a dentist in Manhattan," DeSciscio said. "At that time, she felt that out of the medical fields, dentistry seemed to be the one you could have the most control over."

DeSciscio explained that his mother thought that as a dentist, he wouldn't get calls in the middle of the night. However, according to DeSciscio, he actually does get calls for services at all hours.