Profile: Majumdar ’95 Modernizes Pediatric Dentistry

by Jillian Bevacqua

When Dr. Amith Majumdar ’95 launched Lehigh Valley Pediatric Dentistry, Bethlehem, in 2006, he created an office as unique as his specialty.

With his partner, pediatric orthodontist Dr. Steven Ely, he installed digital radiography. This process creates much less chemical waste and exposes children to 75 percent less radiation than traditional X-rays.

He also did away with paper files and instituted digital record keeping at a time when few practices had done so. He even chose eco-friendly carpets and paint for the office.

A biology graduate, Majumdar earned his doctorate in medical dentistry from Temple University and completed a two-year pediatric dental residency at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. His father, Shyamal K. Majumdar, Kreider Professor Emeritus of Biology, helped point him toward this profession. His siblings are Mita Majumdar Banerjee ’84 and Tanuja Majumdar Dehne ’93.

As an undergraduate, he also explored areas beyond science taking numerous art courses and working as a teacher’s assistant and resident adviser. He was also a pole vaulter on the track team.

Wanting to combine his creative and scientifi c talents, Majumdar pursued dental surgery, a career path suggested to him by Ed Kerns, Clapp Professor of Art. “Dentistry has a creative side. I’m sculpting things every day,” he says.

Majumdar’s publications in Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry and Journal of Dental Research prove helpful when it comes to educating nervous patients and their parents. He is respected for his work with fearful and special needs children. “When you get through that challenge, it is the biggest reward,” he says.