A Local Dental Practice Changes Hands

By Kaaren Valenta

After 35 years in Newtown, Dr Richard Goodman is retiring and has turned his practice, Apple Dental at 87 South Main Street, over to Dr Giovanni Cono.

A Milford resident, Dr Cono is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he completed both his undergraduate studies and dental school, graduating in 2000. Since then he has been working for a dental practice with offices in Wallingford and West Haven.

“I was looking for a practice to buy and saw Dr Goodman’s ad [in a dental publication},” he said. “I thought the practice was the right size for me and I liked the size of the town. I didn’t want to work in a big city.”

Originally from Milan, Italy, Dr Cono came to the United States 12 years ago.

“I met my wife Cathy, who is from Virginia, when we both were working for a Club Med in Israel in 1989 during the Gulf War,” he said. “When the management started to pass out gas masks, we got scared and left. The club later was hit by one Scud missile from Sadam Hussein, I assume by mistake. Club Med sold it and it is now a private club.”

Dr Cono subsequently came to Virginia to visit the young woman who would later become his wife. He liked the Washington area and enrolled at Howard University.

“I came to go to school and never went back,” he said.

Dr Cono practices general, aesthetic, and implant dentistry.

Originally from Hartford, Dr Goodman came to Newtown in 1968 after serving as a dentist in the Army.

“When I got out of the Army I looked around, found Newtown and liked it,” he said. “I decided to open a practice here. It was a very different town then, very rural.”

He operated his practice in the house now occupied by Mayer Real Estate across from the Booth Library on Main Street, and later had a home office on Elm Drive. Ten years ago he moved into the rear of the cluster of offices that were constructed at 87 South Main Street.

Dr Goodman and his wife Pam have two grown sons, Wes, who lives in Singapore, and Matthew, who lives in New York City, and a 6-year-old granddaughter in Singapore.

“Neither of my sons were interested in becoming dentists,” Dr Goodman said, “so when I decided to retire I advertised to find a dentist to take over my practice.”

An avid gardener, Dr Goodman also joined the Masons several years ago and will be donating some of his time as a volunteer in the organization’s CHIP program, a children’s dental identification also known as Toothprints.

“I’ll be going to Singapore, too, to see my granddaughter,” he promised.

Dr Goodman is finishing up his work at Apple Dental and will be completely retired by the end of the summer. His office manager, Betsy Zepko, who has been with his practice for seven years, is continuing with Dr Cono.

For more information call 426-5260.