by Christopher H. Roberts

An orthodontist whose new Somerville office includes an in-house laboratory and high-speed internet stations in the waiting room spoke at the April 8 contributors meeting of The Somerville News held in the backroom of Davis Square’s Diesel Café.

There are two main reasons why he came to Somerville, said Dr. Mouhab Rizkallah, the owner of Orthodontics at Davis Square.

With easy transportation options and population density, Rizkallah, a native of Port Jarvis, N.Y., said the city is the right place to offer a healthcare-savvy population his modern practice of orthodontic care.

Rizkallah said he was winding down his two other practices in Andover and West Ruxbury, so that his only office will be here.

Rizkallah said that he bought a white brick building and 30 parking spaces to house the office.  He plans to bring in other specialists, such as dermatologists and plastic surgeons into the excess space on the second floor, he said. He is also re-landscaping the front garden to improve the ambience of the building.

With nearly $3 million invested in his office, Rizkallah said he is building a full service orthodontists practice, focusing on the patients’ comfort and service at all times.

The current orthodontic treatment options are underserving the public, he said.

The idea is to move beyond braces, he said.

"I show the benefit of tooth movement. I educate my patients as to their treatment options."

Tired of the dull, typical modalities in orthodontic care, he said he needed significant floor space for his cutting-edge equipment.

Having a lab on-site was a patient-first decision, he said. "If you lose your retainer, call us and you can get a new one that same day so your teeth won’t shift."

Rizkallah said he decided to become an orthodontist during his freshman year of college. "I was at a small-town school in Pennsylvania, and I broke my retainer. I couldn’t get one sent from home, so I called a local office and they got one for me that day.

"I thought, "This is so cool,’" he said.

"I love what I do. Every morning, I wake up and can’t wait to get to work. If you can’t love what you do, what’s the point of living?"

Besides his enthusiasm for his work, Rizkallah said being a member of a community brings him the greatest joy.

For that reason, his practice is patient-friendly. "I have to live with these people after I fix their teeth. That’s why I try to provide the excellent care at the affordable price."

In addition to the on-site laboratory, the office features a fully digital imaging system in place of the traditional x-ray machine, he said.

The system uses a small fraction of the radiation required by other machines with higher image resolution. Because it is the only unit of the system in the Boston-area, Rizkallah is often asked by doctors in other specialties to take pictures of their patients, which he does without charge as a professional courtesy, he said.

The office’s waiting room consists of a wraparound couch and two high speed internet terminals, where patients can surf the Web or check e-mail while they wait for an appointment, he said.

The 61" plasma television screen serves two purposes, he said. It entertains waiting patients, but it main use during the courses Rizkallah teaches for other orthodontists by way of video conferences.

Most appointments at the office are less than 15 minutes, and he tries to schedule them in blocks, Rizkallah said.

"We break up our appointments so kids wait with kids in the waiting room, and adults with adults. With the computers, patients can be productive while they wait, because they’re busy."

"I understand, I’m busy too–and my time isn’t any more valuable than theirs," he said.