Orthodontics clinic, training center to open in Unity
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Drs. Donald, left, and Daniel Rinchuse, are brothers who are opening an orthodontics clinic and training facility with help of a $500,000 federal grant received by Seton Hill University.
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They call themselves the Brace Brothers.
Twins Don and Dan Rinchuse, 62, of Greensburg, have been orthodontists -- dentists who specialize in fixing crooked teeth -- for more than 30 years.
And for three decades, they also have been teaching professors at the University of Pittsburgh Dental School and published authors in their field.
Now they are bringing their two passions, giving children beautiful smiles and passing on their knowledge to fellow dentists, to their hometown.
On July 15, they will open a clinic in the Bishop Connare Center in Unity, slightly east of Greensburg.
The Seton Hill University Center for Orthodontics will serve the public, and the clinic will be staffed by six dental residents at the training center.
• GRAND OPENING: July 15
• ADDRESS: 2909 Seminary Drive, Greensburg 15601
• HOURS: 2-6:30 p.m. Monday; 9-11:30 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 7-8:30 a.m. Friday.
• APPOINTMENTS: 724-552-2950.
• WEBSITE: www.shusmiles.com.
"Our facility will be open to all those in need of orthodontics, but our primary focus will be to serve the underprivileged, the working poor," Don Rinchuse said.
Seton Hill received a $500,000 federal grant earlier this year from the Health and Human Services Department to help start the orthodontics program.
It will be one of only a handful of standalone orthodontics training schools in the country. Most specialty schools are affiliated with dental schools in large cities.
Dental students who have completed four years of college and four years of dental school are eligible for the residency training.
The Rinchuses treated indigent children at a dental clinic in an Excela program at Westmoreland Hospital until three years ago, when it closed.
"So, in a way, we wanted to resurrect that program," Don Rinchuse said.
He knows there is need because parents drove two and three hours from surrounding counties to have their children treated at the hospital clinic. And there was a two-year waiting list for some appointments.
First Published July 1, 2010 5:38 am
