Dr. Les Fina has had a
long and distinguished
career in academics and
dentistry. Early in his
career he studied at San
Diego State University
majoring in Biology with
an emphasis in cell
biology. In his leisure
time he hung out on a
surf board and enjoyed
the beautiful beaches of
Southern California and
Baja, Mexico. Next he
pursued Masters and PhD
degrees at Case Western
Reserve University in
Cleveland, Ohio in the
area of Macromolecular
Science and Engineering.
In more understandable
terms this is the
chemistry and physics of
plastic materials,
synthetic and
biological. Dr. Fina met
Linda, now his wife of
over 30 years, while
both were conducting
their graduate studies.
Dr. Fina accepted a
postdoctoral research
fellowship at the
University of Leeds in
England following his
PhD. He lived in England
and studied mechanical
and vibrational
spectroscopic properties
of synthetic polymers
for two years. During
this period, Dr. Fina
widely traveled
throughout the British
Isles and continental
Europe.
The next phase of Dr.
Fina’s academic career
involved teaching and
research in a graduate
program at Rutgers
University and with
pre-med students at the
The College of New
Jersey. He taught
courses in materials and
chemistry and did
research in polymeric
materials. He produced
over 50 publications in
peer-reviewed journals
and books, and gave
numerous talks at
national and
international
conferences.
Training Specific to
Dentistry
A mid-career change of
passion and desire to
help improve people’s
lives brought Dr. Fina
to dentistry. Dr. Fina
was only four years old
when he announced to his
parents that he would be
a dentist when he grew
up. This dream was
finally realized when he
graduated from New York
University College of
Dentistry. Aside from
the thorough training
for general dentistry at
NYU, Dr. Fina has taken
more than two yearlong
courses in the surgical
placement and
prosthetics of implants.
The first was under the
direction of Dr. Shankar
Iyer at Smile USA in
Elizabeth, NJ and the
second course was under
the direction of Dr.
Mark Hunt at the
Triangle Dental
Institute in Durham, NC.
At that time Dr. Fina
received the distinction
of becoming a Fellow of
the International
Congress of Oral
Implantologists (ICOI).
Dr. Fina remains current
on diverse dental
procedures and issues
through conferences,
on-line courses,
periodicals and other
trainings including
short courses on
mini-implants at the
Shatkin First Center,
Amherst, NY, and the
Dynamic Dental
Instruction
organization. He has
committed hundreds of
hours training to make
crowns in his office the
same day via a Cerec
machine. Implants and
same day crowns are
state of the art
procedures and Dr. Fina
is particularly happy to
be able to offer these
services to all
patients.
Personal History
Dr. Fina and his wife
Linda were happily
married in 1982 in
Richmond, VA. They were
living in New Jersey
when they decided to
adopt children. They
successfully adopted two
lovely newborn girls
from the same mother in
1996 and 1999. Initially
Les was the primary care
giver for the girls
while Linda worked full
time as the director of
a social services agency
in Newark, New Jersey.
While the girls were
still young Dr. Fina
attended dental school
at NYU, commuting daily
from NJ to New York
City. Upon graduation,
Dr. Fina worked as an
associate dentist while
building his own
practice in Newark, NJ.
After three years of
practicing in NJ, we
decided to relocate. A
family house on the
Chesapeake Bay in
Reedville, VA became
available and the
location and beauty of
the area was too awesome
to resist. We wrote the
dentists in the area and
found Dr. Alfred Hurt’s
well established dental
practice in Burgess was
for sale. The rest is
history. The family is
happily relocated in the
beautiful Northern Neck
enjoying the people and
numerous benefits of the
area.
Leslie J. Fina, DDS,
PhD,
Fellow
of the
ICOI
Implant
Society
Fina Family Dental
P.O. Box 277
746 Jessie DuPont
Memorial Hwy.
Burgess, VA 22432-0277
(804) 453-3101
You can be assured that
we all strive to provide
you with the highest
quality of dental care
at an affordable cost.
