Dr. Jason Auerbach, founder of Riverside
Oral Surgery, Official Oral Surgeons of the New Jersey Devils, has turned his vision into the premier practice in Northern New Jersey.

By Kristie Ceruti
Photography by ARI BURLING

BEING AN OFFICIAL oral surgeon for a National Hockey League team would seem to be a ticket to professional prosperity. For Dr. Jason Auerbach, one of the tooth docs for the New Jersey Devils, that notion is bolstered by his newest elegant facility in the town of Englewood, just across the Hudson River from Upper Manhattan.

Riverside Oral Surgery, which Dr. Auerbach founded a dozen years ago, now comprises five oral surgeons and four offices throughout the region. His design sensibility has progressed in that time as well. “When I built my first practice in River Edge, the focus was on re-creating something of a boutique hotel experience,” he says. “Patients come in anxious, and they need a certain level of comfort. We did that with colors and textures. It was relaxed and tranquil—almost spa-like.”

DESIGN TIP

“Attention to detail is everything. I’m attuned to what I would want. Sit in a chair, sit in the recovery room, understand what the patient is seeing. Get a sense of the rooms from the patient’s perspective. Be who you are, and you’ll attract the patients who belong with you. Your truth will come through. You gotta be you.”

—Dr. Jason Auerbach

The current fashion in medical practice aesthetics, he observes, is sterility. “Still, you don’t want to lose that comfort.” He looked to model the newest offices after the style of trendy New York lofts: “Concrete, metals, harder angles, grays and whites—but still comfortable enough that patients don’t feel they’re in a stark environment.”

Dr. Auerbach—who was a member of the Incisal Edge 40 Under 40 in 2014—acquired what would later become Riverside Oral Surgery–Englewood in January 2017 from Dr. Ronald Federman, a local fixture who now practices with him. The build-out began soon after. “We found 4,000 square feet of raw space and budgeted for a total build, including all equipment, in the range of about $900,000.” The six-operatory office took less than 10 months to pull together. Offbeat touches abound: The checkout area leads directly to a private patient parking lot, and there’s also a conference room with an “electrified window” whose tint goes from opaque (for privacy) to translucent (for teaching purposes during surgery).

Dr. Auerbach’s dental domain continues to expand. He opened a practice in the township of Livingston last August, his first professional space outside New Jersey’s Bergen County. “I don’t see any limit,” he says of his practices’ future. “We have an amazing team, our systems in place. I look forward to opening many offices.” Not to mention serving all those forwards and defensemen in need of a quick patch-up before tomorrow’s game.

Interior Designers: Lynn Karydes with Megan Chuzas, CenterPoint Design, Benco Dental
Equipment Specialist: Greg Romeo, Benco Dental
Floor Plan: Lynn Karydes, Megan Chuzas, Dr. Jason Auerbach, Greg Romeo, Chris Lynn
Friendly Benco Rep: Chris Lynn