Renewal on the Waterfront
To keep pace with Philadelphia’s shifting demography, Matarazzo and Milici
Group relocated to a former naval shipyard, now the city’s hub of innovation
and commerce.
Frank Matarazzo, DDS, and Anita Milici, DMD, are united in life by more than their
marriage; they share a passion for comprehensive dentistry, with periodontics
as its foundation. Since 1995, the couple have been working together to build one
of Philadelphia’s — and the surrounding communities’ — most
renowned dental practices.
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While Matarazzo and Milici are of different generations, the two see eye to eye
on dentistry, including the value of education, which is how they met. Both dentists
are graduates of the Periodontal Prosthesis specialty training program at the University
of Pennsylvania’s School of Dental Medicine (PENN). They first met,
however, at the American Academy of Periodontology annual meeting in the early 1990s,
when Milici was a Branemark implant fellow at PENN and Matarazzo was reconnecting
with former classmates. As specialists in periodontology, their connection began
academically but quickly grew. By 1995, Matarazzo and Milici Group was formed, and
in 1998, the doctors were married.
Matarazzo and Milici established itself as a preeminent practice for patients with
a need for implants or cosmetic work, attracting clients to their city office from
Philadelphia Center City, the suburbs, Delaware and New Jersey, and built a loyal
base of patients who appreciated the doctors’ thorough and compassionate approach
to dental care.
As the city experienced rapid population growth in the 1990s through the mid–2000s,
lack of parking became a major issue for the doctors, patients and staff. In order
to continue to practice the challenging and rewarding dentistry they enjoyed, the
doctors knew they would need to relocate. However, in a densely packed city filled
with historic (i.e., difficult to renovate) buildings, opportunities
that matched their goals were limited.
In 2010, Matarazzo heard about Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, a former shipyard
that was being transformed into an epicenter for new commerce. As several large
businesses signed on and plans for the complex were made available,
the doctors decided that this was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
Actually securing a space in the Navy Yard took several years, however. Each time
the doctors thought they had their space, another business was given priority on
the lease. Finally, in 2012, they secured the perfect space: on the third floor
of a building that offered views of both the World War II naval vessels in the Delaware
River and the Philadelphia skyline.