A new dental office offering a café, state-of-the-art technology and amenities and comprehensive care seven days a week has opened in the Beaches area.
Located at 3316 Third Street South, Suite 101, across the hall from Atlantic Eye Institute in the Beaches Medical Pavilion of Jacksonville Beach, Gentle Dentists Beaches opened Oct. 18 as part of the Gentle Dentists USA company.
“Basically, the idea was to create a different concept of dentistry,” said Dr. Shyam Paryani, CEO of Gentle Dentists USA and a Ponte Vedra Beach resident. “We thought the Beaches was the perfect spot for it.”
Paryani has a background primarily in oncology, serving as director of First Radiation and Oncology Group (FROG) for several years. In addition, Paryani teaches graduate courses in healthcare administration at University of North Florida, where he received a master’s degree in health administration. He is also, however, a patient of Dr. Holly Nadji, a dentist with a practice in the Baymeadows area who expressed interest to him about expanding her efforts to the Beaches area. So, applying his business background, Paryani helped Nadji open the new office in Jacksonville Beach and start Gentle Dentists USA, which now includes Nadji’s Baymeadows office.
Upon entering the doors of the new Beaches office, patients enter the café, or what Paryani describes as the “sitting area,” instead of a traditional waiting area. Six comfortable chairs positioned in a semicircle, rather than a line, sit in front of the front desk, with views of large screen TVs displaying soothing pictures of beaches and coral reefs. Adjacent to the chairs is a table serving as a station for fruits, sweets and nuts, among other treats. Next to the table is the self-service cappuccino machine offering pumpkin spice lattes and several other favorites. Everything in the café is complimentary for patients and non-patients alike.
Paryani said the goal is to create a gathering place and to provide a resource for the community, as opposed to simply just a dental office. One way in which the office is attempting to do so is by holding a weekly breakfast on Thursdays from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Gentle Dentists Beaches held their first such breakfast the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and 30 people attended, none of whom were patients, noted Paryani. In the future, he said the office is planning to incorporate health education into the breakfasts.
“The idea is for it to be a completely non-threatening place,” Paryani said. “So, when you do need dental care, you’re already used to the place.”
Beyond the reception area, Dr. Shankeertha Sundar, the Beaches office’s primary dentist, said patients feel this sense of comfort during their treatment as well, with access to TVs on the ceilings and wireless, Bluetooth headphones. Other state-of-the-art features in the office include electronic dental records that can be accessed via any location on the Cloud and a panoramic X-ray, among other features.
Another differentiating factor of Gentle Dentists Beaches, Paryani said, is that the office offers patients a one-stop shop in the dental arena. Instead of referring patients out to other physicians, the new Beaches office has specialists on demand that will come into the office, including endodontists, a periodontist and an oral surgeon. In addition, they have access to the specialists at Nadji’s Baymeadows office.
“Integrative care … that’s where everything is headed in medicine,” Paryani said. “We want to make sure the patient care is seamless, so you’re not handed off to somebody else.”
Unlike most dental practices, Gentle Dentists Beaches is open seven days a week, with hours on Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The office will modify hours on demand for patients, and often stays open later on Tuesdays. New patients will receive their first exam and X-rays for free.
The office is hosting an open house on Thursday, Dec. 13 from 3 to 7 p.m., featuring food, fun, gifts and appearances from former Jaguars players. Visit http://www.gentledentists.com/ for more information on the practice and http://www.gentledentistscafe.com/ for more information on the café.
Overall, Paryani thinks the new concept is going to catch on like “wildfire” and is planning to expand to other locations in Northeast Florida.
“Traditionally, healthcare has been at the convenience of the provider and more so set for the convenience of the provider rather than the patient,” Paryani said. “So, I think we’re finally getting to the consumer aspect of it. It’s a pretty novel concept.”
