Before a delightful Thanksgiving feast, we found ourselves strolling around a nearly deserted Center City yesterday, and noticed a Zoning Notice at 317-319 S. 20th St., on the corner of 20th and Delancey. For quite some time, this space was home to a lighting supply store and Hans W. Christoph Co., a family owned medical supplies company. The former closed somewhat recently when the owner passed away unexpectedly. The sign on the window attests to the longevity of the latter.

The building

The classic sign

From what we can gather, Blake Christoph, the owner of the property, is leasing the first floor to a new tenant. In short order, assuming all goes well at the zoning hearing next week, a dentist will be moving in. With over a dozen dentists already established in the surrounding area, we suspect that this won’t be a new dentist coming to the neighborhood, but someone who already practices in the area moving to new digs.

It’s not a shock that so many dentists are practicing in the Rittenhouse neighborhood, but we were a little surprised to see so few in both Fitler Square and Graduate Hospital, with two and four neighborhood practices, respectively. Are neighborhood teeth suffering for residents having to walk those extra few blocks to get dental care? Is there an opportunity for dentists to make a drilling killing by opening offices nearby? Could a dentistry revolution be forthcoming in these areas?

Eh, probably not.