Smilestone · Pune · Since 1984
Letters from a dentist, a philosopher by temperament, and a fellow traveler — on forty years of practice, and on what comes after sixty.
Begin with the letter →
I · The Letter
Welcome. I am Doctor Milind Desai - a dentist by profession, a philosopher by temperament, and, after sixty years of living, a seeker still learning the grammar of existence. For nearly four decades I have practiced the science of dentistry, specializing in implants, root canal therapy, and the aesthetics of the smile. But a smile, I have come to believe, is never merely a clinical outcome. It is the visible edge of something deeper - a person's confidence, their dignity, their quiet participation in the world.
This website exists because a life of experience cannot remain undocumented, and because honesty, I have found, is worth more than polish. Here I will write as an experienced dentist, but also as a practitioner willing to speak of intimacy in the doctor-patient relationship, of the failed cases that taught me more than my successes ever did, and of the ordinary difficulty of managing staff and keeping one's own knowledge current in a field that never stops moving. I will write about my family circumstances, which have shaped every professional decision I have made. I will ask, in public, the question I am asking myself in private - why I want to retire now, and what that word even means for a man who has never separated his work from his identity. I will speak of my failures at the gym as honestly as my failures at the clinic, because introspection, not achievement, is the real subject of this website. And perhaps most of all, I want to explore what it means to build a career, or perhaps a second calling, after sixty.
I write as a reformer at heart, questioning traditional practices, whether in dentistry or in the customs I inherited, not to discard them but to test them against evidence. I write as a family man, for whom every achievement has only had meaning when shared with my wife and my two sons. And I write as a spiritualist who has found that faith and inquiry are companions, not enemies.
Here, then, are my reflections - unfiltered, sometimes uncomfortable, always honest. I invite you to read them not as pronouncements from an expert, but as letters from a fellow traveler.
II · Our Story
Smilestone has been in the dental profession since 1984, when the art of dentistry was very much in its infancy in this country. We have watched, and taken part in, the entire metamorphosis of dental science since - from root canal treatments to nickel-chromium crowns, from nickel-free crowns to zirconium-based ceramics, from early CAD-CAM technology to modern milling machines, from microscopic dentistry to the use of lasers, and now to implants and their many applications in rebuilding a person's bite and their smile.
The late 1990s brought a new era for Indian dentistry, led by the idea that a tooth could be saved through endodontic treatment rather than simply removed. That idea, and the ones that followed it, changed the shape of the profession entirely. Towering through years of competition and expansion, we are now in our fortieth year of practice, and the motive has never changed: our patients' good health and wellbeing.
We owe what we are today to the people who have trusted us with their care. Our patients have taught us a great deal along the way, and have entrusted us with real confidence and responsibility - a trust we work every day to be worthy of.
With warm regards,
Dr. Milind Mohan Desai
III · Notes for Patients
01
We try to complete treatment in the fewest sittings possible. If you understand the full treatment plan and pay in advance, we can pass on the savings in disposables as a discount — appointments booked this way are fixed and shouldn't need rescheduling.
02
For anything about your appointment, call Anjum or Sheikh at 99223 79996. Please route scheduling questions there rather than to Dr. Desai directly, so nothing gets missed.
03
Tea, coffee or a cold drink — just ask. Wi-Fi is available on request, and the washroom is at the back of the clinic; ask any team member for the key.
04
We use local anaesthesia even for simple procedures, apply minimum pressure when retracting cheek or lip muscles, and offer a mouth prop if holding your mouth open becomes tiring. IV sedation and laser treatment (for anyone who finds the drill's noise hard to sit through) are both available — ask us for details and costs.
05
Some treatments begin a day early with an antibiotic, a painkiller and an antacid (generic equivalents are fine). Only take the painkiller and antacid if you're in pain afterwards. If you notice any side effects — mild stomach upset is the most common — let Dr. Desai know on WhatsApp.
06
Download the Bestosys app to see your own X-rays, images and treatment plan whenever you need them. Keep your treatment card with you at each visit — it's where payments get recorded.
07
Implant and laboratory offers are posted on our website each month and sent by SMS or email to the patients they apply to. They tend to run for a limited window, so it's worth keeping an eye out.
08
If you'd like to know more about how we disinfect or sterilise anything in the clinic, ask freely — we'd rather explain than have you wonder.
IV · Forthcoming
V · How I Write
The first
Questions tradition — in dentistry and in inherited custom alike — not to discard it, but to test it against evidence.
The second
Every achievement has meant something only when shared with his wife and his two sons.
The third
Faith and inquiry, he has found, are companions, not enemies.
“I invite you to read them not as pronouncements from an expert, but as letters from a fellow traveler.”