Dr. Joseph Francis Spera

Dr. Joseph Spera is an experienced and dedicated surgeon who strives for excellence in all aspects of patient care. Dr. Spera is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with many years of post-graduate training. After receiving his doctorate degree from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, he went on to complete a two year residency in Hospital Dentistry and Oral Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospitals and Clinics. It was here that he developed knowledge in treating the medically compromised; patients with head and neck cancer and the immunocompromised. During his two years at UNC, he spent time at Duke University's F.G. Hall Laboratory and Hyperbaric Oxygen facility, studying hyberbaric medicine and osteoradionecrosis of the maxillofacial region. Upon completion of his training there, Dr. Spera was accepted into an internship program at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital. During this time, he was mentored by distinguished …surgeons and professors Drs. Stuart Kline and Robert Marx, and he developed an interest in complex maxillofacial trauma, bone biology and reconstruction of the maxillofacial skeleton.
After completion of his internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Dr. Spera returned to Philadelphia, where he was accepted into a four year residency in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. While he received training in the full and expanded scope of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, he was mentored by Dr. Lionel Gold, one of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery's most notable figures. While in training at Jefferson, Dr. Spera recognized and developed a need to further his interest in cosmetic facial surgery. Dr. Spera was then accepted into an approved fellowship program by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery at the prestigious Fischer Institute in Rome, Italy, where he was mentored by the world renowned cosmetic surgeon Dr. Giorgio Fischer. After successful completion of this fellowship, Dr. Spera was recruited by Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where he became a clinician educator and assumed the rank of Assistant Professor of Surgery and Anesthesiology. During his time at Dartmouth he was also on the faculty at Dartmouth Medical School and an active consultant to the New Hampshire Cleft and Craniofacial Clinic.
Dr. Spera then returned to Philadelphia and became a full time attending at Albert Einstein Medical Center, part of the Jefferson Health System, maintaining an academic practice and serving as interim program director at Einstein.
Dr. Spera now maintains a full and expanded private practice in Oral, Maxillofacial and Facial Cosmetic Surgery in Wilmington, Delaware. His clinical interests include implantology, maxillofacial trauma, oral pathology, reconstructive surgery and corrective jaw surgery. Dr. Spera is on staff in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Hospital Dentistry at Christiana Care Health System in Delaware and in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he is actively involved in resident training and education.
Dr. Spera is a Diplomate, American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons; Fellow, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons; and, Member, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. He is also a member of the Delaware State Dental Society and the American Dental Association.
Dr. Spera's personal interests include philanthropy, contemporary art, racquet sports and travel. He is an active member of the Racquet Club of Philadelphia.