About Michael J. Weiner, DDS
Dr. Weiner was born in Wayne, NJ and grew up in nearby West Paterson (he stubbornly refuses to call it Woodland Park). He went to highschool in Pottstown, PA at the Hill School and from there began his undergraduate studies in biomedical/biomaterial engineering at Johns Hopkins University, graduating with his BS in 2002. It was at JHU that Dr. Weiner first considered a career in dentistry after investigating the mechanical properties of Mantled Howler Monkey teeth, and becoming fascinated by how nature evolved this process for creating these incredibly complex and durable mineralized structures we call teeth from simple instructions and components. He continued with his passion for science and bioengineering in Piscataway at Rutgers/UMDNJ where he was involved with several bone/ blood vessel regeneration and biopolymer synthesis projects, but sadly not any teeth. He left Rutgers with his M.S. in bioengineering in 2004 and heeded the siren call of his undergraduate experience with teeth to travel to NYC to work in the department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics at NYU College of Dentistry as a research tech. It was there that he was mentored by Dr. Jack Ricci, a highly esteemed man he learned much about dental/bone research from and they worked on several projects together ranging from bone regeneration studies using synthetic materials, to creating neuromuscular interfaces in rats, measuring soft/hard tissue interface in endosteal implants, the use of porcine growth factors to regenerate periodontium, studies in the ability of barrier membranes to hinder epithelial growth …so much SEM and light microscopy /histology of ex vivo trephinated bone cores and recovered implants from rabbit calvarium. Dr. Weiner enjoyed very much his time with the biomaterials department at NYUCD, however the opportunity to become a clinician, popped up, and he jumped at the chance to become a dental student. He applied for and was accepted into the dental school at NYU. Time management was the hardest skill to learn during his very busy dental school years and unfortunately he had to cutout the benchlab research he enjoyed so much. He graduated NYUCD in 2010 after receiving five awards for his research interests, including twice being invited to present his research at international conferences and student research competitions (SCADA , AADR, and IADR) where he made it to the semifinals the second time. While he may have had to diminish his time spent doing basic science and biomaterials research Dr. Weiner discovered he had a new passion, for all the artistry and beauty that goes into prepping and restoring teeth, and he decided to push further along this branch. Following dental school Dr. Weiner worked briefly in private practice in Passaic, but decided he wanted to get more experience doing oral surgery and working on the medically challenging patients he was seeing by doing his general practice residency at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in brooklyn, NY. Following his residency in 2012 he has worked for a number of dental clinics ranging from pediatric centric medicaid clinics to cash only/implant only offices to offices like the kind you used to go to as a kid. He has gathered all the experience he has accrued over the years to finally open his own personalized clinic in Passaic, NJ where he plans on making many happy little smiles for many years to come. Dr. Weiner is an eagle scout and an avid hiker and backpacker and animal/nature lover, if he is not in the clinic and it is a nice day out, chances are he is driving his Jeep over some impossibly steep berm and then gunning it over the other side as well. He also likes listening to instrumental hiphop and spitting out a few rhymes. So far he has never combined his love of four wheeling and freestylin with dentistry and the world is a better place for that. Dr. Weiner is a tripartite member of the ADA and member of the Bergen County Journal Club.
