In his Butler studio, restoration artist Tom Panei works on a statue of St. Anthony for St. Gertrude Parish in Vandergrift.

At first glance, dentures and statues wouldn't seem to have much in common. However, one local artist has found the two are more similar than expected.

Tom Panei, a local Butler artist and custom denture fabricator, was recently commissioned to restore statues for St. Gertrude Parish in Vandergrift. According to him, experience in these lines of work helped in his endeavor to recondition the statues.

“Working with dentures, (this) comes natural,” Panei said. “Dentures and statues are alike: They're both complicated and technical.”

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