Dr. Claire Whitman, DMD, MD

Dr. Claire Whitman brings a surgeon’s training and an artist’s eye to the front of the mouth, where an implant has to look right as well as last. She earned her DMD at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and her MD at Harvard Medical School, completed her oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and then spent a year in facial cosmetic and reconstructive surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She joined Molly in 2010.

Much of her week is spent on single implants in the smile zone and the bone grafting that often has to come first. She pays close attention to the gum line, because that is what people notice when you smile, and she plans each case with the restoring dentist before surgery. She also performs genioplasty, or chin surgery, at Beverly Hills and Sherman Oaks, and offers Botox and dermal fillers for patients who want a subtle, natural result. Dr. Whitman is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Patients choose her because she is direct about what is realistic. If a filler will not give the result someone is hoping for, she tells them, and if a graft needs time to heal before an implant, she explains why waiting usually pays off. She shows each patient their scan and before-and-after planning images, and she keeps her consultation notes in plain language so they can be shared with family.