This is the month of sweets & treats! Yesterday, actually, was National Dessert Day. And we all know what goes down on the last day of the month. Sweet-toothes unite.
All that sugar making the rounds, thinking it’s not a bad time to spotlight the best dentist I’ve ever had, a guy who might also just be the closest thing Winter Park has today to Mr. Rogers.
I write that and I can easily visualize a big smile from said dentist, Dr. Drew Byrnes, when he reads it. He’s not just Mr. Rogers-esque, he’s a fan! A big fan. While waiting for your treatment at Park Smiles Dentistry in their new digs on Fairbanks Avenue (adjacent to 4 Rivers Smokehouse), you can peruse lots books on Winter Park and Mr. Rogers, including a copy of his senior Rollins College yearbook. It’s a hoot to see, I’ll tell you . . . . Mr. Rogers easily and quickly identified in any photo in which he appears. It’s the smile, the dapper style. Finding Waldo can be hard. Finding Mr. Rogers is easy.
I compare Dr. Drew to Mr. Rogers and it is a sincere comparison. I remember in the past seeing a social media meme, some poster, paraphrasing here, but the gest was along the lines that I want to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am. It's about creatures, beings, maybe people, who seem so honest, genuine, they inspire you to be a better version of yourself. Dr. Drew is that kind of person. I'll never forget a few years ago, after learning he and his wife would have their son, Andrew, Dr. Drew writing on Facebook: "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life".
Dr. Drew is that kind of guy, that kind of person. He's also a big goof ball. I'm never surprised by the outfits he will wear on holidays, his kid-like joy for wearing costumes, going all out for a Christmas event, July the Fourth. He shows up bringing the party with him. My kind of dentist in that regard for sure!
That said, he's also got a super serious side. If you didn't understand that in the way he approached opening his new Park Smiles Dentistry office on Fairbanks, his clients have surely realized it since the advent of Covid-19.
Before I showed up for my regular cleaning in August, I was briefed on their interim procedures via phone. I checked in from my car, was brought in to find myself basically alone in the facility, aside from a few employees. There was a temperature check, an anti-viral mouth rinse, screening questions. Those are the things which are obvious, yet Dr. Drew also tells me of new air purifiers in every treatment room and throughout the office. He searched online to find units which have filters fine enough to capture particles as small as a virus, turning over the air in the facility once every hour. They've also added hours, ensuring a minimum number of individuals in the office at any one time. If you need a new dentist, if you find yourself avoiding the dentist during Coronavirus days, I can strongly recommend Dr. Drew and his staff at Park Smile Dentistry. In this time and all others.
Like Mr. Rogers, Dr. Drew is also a big fan of Winter Park. When you visit the Park Smiles Dentistry office, that's hard to miss. Each exam room is named for a different area of the community, his own photography hangs on the walls.
Dr. Drew grew up here, born at Winter Park Hospital, now AdventHealth Winter Park. He and his wife, Julie, met while attending the University of Florida.
"Initially – when we’re dating – when I told her I wanted to go back to Orlando one day, she really didn’t think much of that, wasn’t too fond of it," he says. From Coral Springs north of Miami, she has specific ideas of the Orlando area. "I asked her where she would like to live and she said she’d always pictured a small town. When I said I wanted to go back to Orlando she was picturing Disney World and I Drive and touristy. She wanted that small town feel, nice shops and restaurants and people are personable. So I said come with me. So we drove down from Gainesville to Winter Park and we went out and ate on Park Ave. And she literally said to me in the rose garden, 'I could live here.' I said this is what I meant when I said live in Orlando."
The Park Smiles Dentistry office was initially located on Welbourne Avenue, just off Park Avenue. The practice itself has been around for 80 years, photos of the founding partners hanging in the entry of the new office on Fairbanks. Aside from Coronavirus, there's been lots of change with the practice in the last year and a half, meaning a lot for dentists and staff to deal.
"I LUV it more now than ever," he says. "Every year I LUV it more than ever before. Since we’ve been able to re-open, our customers have been amazing." He tells me stories of comments, interactions which demonstrate a clear attachment between dentist and patient. "I tell them we’re fine, thank you. The support from our patients has been amazing."
Coronavirus has presented challenges, but he says it's also presented opportunities to do more of the treatments he enjoys. "I’m getting to do more of the dentistry I really LUV, like smile makeovers." He describes them as “really fun” and says they're more of the life-changing procedures which can have big impacts on the lives of the individuals receiving them.
In the numerous times I have been in a Park Smiles Dentistry chair, I can honestly say I have never had a moment of pain. And a few of the procedures were more involved, requiring numbing of specific areas. In the new facility, I can say the only complaints I have ever made involve not being able to finish whatever I was watching on the television screen overhead, while also enjoying a back massage from the motorized chair. Yeah, this is not your grandfather's dental visit! I might sound a bit crazy when I admit to enjoying it. The old me would never have believed this was possible.
Dr. Drew says this new facility was "designed around making dentistry easier for people, dentistry as easy as a walk in the park." For me, that mark has definitely been hit! I used to dread dentist visits. That is no longer the case.
If you are in need of a dentist -- a great one -- Dr. Drew and crew also offer unique opportunities for maintaining good dental hygiene, your best smile. Called their Smile Assurance or VIP Membership Plan, they offer a pay-by-the-month schedule to take care of preventative maintenance. "Over half of our patients do not have dental insurance. And dental insurance, in the way that it’s moving, rarely is a good deal for patients anymore, full of loop holes," he says, specifically mentioning a propensity to dictate procedures, overall downgrading what might be best for a patient.
"So we’ve simplified it. It covers – you can pay for it yearly or monthly – and it covers your cleanings, xrays – all the preventative stuff for the year – exams. All that stuff," he says. I am on this plan and can vouch for its ease of use, customer-friendly structure.
Dr. Drew adds, "And you also get a small discount if you do need a dental treatment. I think one of the main advantages of our plan over a dental insurance plan is that you are only paying for the dental work you need. With dental insurance, you might be overpaying for years, maybe you’re getting your cleanings but you’re overpaying for cleanings. With another, you could be overpaying for years, cap it out and losing financially in the long term. With our plan you pay for what you get, what you need."
As a happy Park Smiles Dentistry customer, I strongly endorse them across the board.