A Briter Smile Offers Quality Dental Care For Wesley Chapel

By Celeste McLaughlin

With a convenient location where Wesley Chapel and New Tampa meet, a bright and spotless office and an incredibly friendly staff, A Briter Smile Dental Care is waiting to help you care for your teeth and have your best smile ever.

Dr. Saied Shayes, D.M.D. (Doctor of Dental Medicine), and Dr. Azita Eskandari, D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery), are a husband-and-wife team who have been treating patients for 10 years at their office in Trinity, called Trinity Dental Care. They opened their New Tampa office in 2011, located in an office plaza off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. at County Line Rd., just south of the entrance to the Meadow Pointe I subdivision.

Dr. Eskandari received a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Maryland in College Park in 1993 and her D.D.S. degree from Howard University in Washington, DC, in 1997. She says she came to Tampa to complete a residency with the Hillsborough County Dental Research Clinic and enjoyed Florida so much she decided to stay. She worked in both nonprofit and corporate dentistry before going into private practice with her husband, opening their Trinity location in 2004.

Dr. Shayes received his D.D.S. degree in 1995 from Shiraz University School of Dental Medicine in Iran (this program included his undergraduate training). He then received his D.M.D. degree from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale in 2000, before entering private practice.

“Our practice feels like a family,” says Dr. Eskandari. “Everyone in our office is cross-trained so that we can all help each and every patient with their dental care and insurance questions.”

One patient who loves this approach is Natalie Smith, who has lived in Tampa Palms since she moved to the area in 2012. A breast cancer survivor, Smith says that she had neglected her teeth while undergoing cancer treatments. In May, she saw an ad for A Briter Smile in the New Tampa Neighborhood News and decided to give A Briter Smile a try.

“My teeth were in bad shape,” Natalie says. “I wanted to get back on track with dental care and needed an excellent dentist to help me maintain my teeth. I had an old bridge that needed to be replaced and needed extensive work. It was very appealing to me that they would use nitrous oxide gas to help me feel more comfortable with the initial procedures. If anyone fears the dentist or has pain, (the dentists at A Briter Smile) are wonderful about working with you to make you feel comfortable.”

Dr. Eskandari explains, “We use nitrous gas when patients are seriously frightened of going to a dental office. It helps the patient relax, but they still feel like they are in control and aren’t completely sedated. Many people have a fear of the unknown, but once they get comfortable, many of them find that they don’t need the nitrous gas anymore.”

That’s what happened with Natalie. “They are nurturing, caring and compassionate, and put me at ease to address my needs,” she says. 

And the best part? “My teeth look beautiful now,” says Natalie. “They’ve never looked this good.”

Natalie adds that she highly recommends A Briter Smile. “The office is clean and in an excellent location,” she says. “I drive by several dentists to get to them, but it’s worth the extra five minutes on the road to see Dr. Shayes and Dr. Eskandari. They are extremely professional and were very helpful with explaining the treatments I needed and the cost. They reviewed everything with me, and were great working with my insurance.”

Regarding insurance, A Briter Smile takes almost all PPO dental plans, although they are not a provider for HMO plans. 

“We always have our (patients’) insurance information in advance so when a patient is here there are no surprises,” says Dr. Eskandari. “Because we work with the insurance companies so much, we often understand our patients’ insurance better than they do, so we’re happy to educate them about what their insurance covers.”

In addition to continuing education to stay on top of all the latest materials and techniques in dentistry, Dr. Eskandari and Dr. Shayes do their own research to see if new products are a good fit for their patients. One unique option that Dr. Shayes found and received training for is “Snap-On Smile,” a thin, removable device that is custom made for each patient to “snap” over their real teeth to provide a more beautiful smile that resembles naturally straight teeth. Patients even are able to eat and drink while using Snap-On-Smile.

“This is a great solution for patients who need a lot of work,” says Dr. Eskandari. “It can be a temporary fix while the work is done gradually over time. It’s much less expensive than a bridge.”

They also offer Invisalign, an orthodontic treatment and alternative to braces for adults, especially those who want to close a gap in their teeth. 

“We like Invisalign because you can take it out and brush your teeth, so there’s less likelihood of cavities than with traditional orthodontics,” says Dr. Eskandari, who adds that they do not offer Invisalign for children, as those under the age of 18 are still experiencing growth in their jaw bones and should see an orthodontist.

But, what really sets A Briter Smile apart are the office’s customer-focused policies. “I hate having to wait for the doctor,” says Dr. Eskandari. “So, our goal is to have each patient in a chair with their appointment started within 10-15 minutes of walking in the door. Our patients appreciate that they won’t be waiting around for a long time when they visit our office.”

That’s just one way A Briter Smile’s patient-centered approach shows through. Other accommodations patients will notice right away are the availability of Saturday appointments and the fact that the office offers treatment immediately when a problem is diagnosed. So, if the dentist finds a cavity while doing your regular exam, you have the option of having it filled right then, rather than scheduling an appointment to come back another time.

“Because there are two of us, we work as a team,” explains Dr. Eskandari, who adds that they can jump in to help each other to be sure that all patients are seen and they also can be flexible to do additional procedures, too.

“We know it’s hard for working people to take time off for multiple appointments, so we try to make visiting the dentist easy for them,” she explains. And, although their office hours in New Tampa are currently only part-time, they make themselves available to see patients for emergencies in Trinity or by appointment.

“We will always accommodate our patients when they’re in pain,” says Dr. Eskandari. “A toothache is one of the worst pains you can experience, so we want to take care of the pain until comprehensive dental work can be done.”

But, pain is not the only indicator that something is wrong, she emphasizes. “Don’t wait until it hurts to see a dentist, because you may develop a more serious problem than if you see a dentist regularly,” Dr. Eskandari says, adding that patients should see a dentist every six months and have X-rays taken once each year.

So, if you haven’t been to the dentist in a while and want to try a new office or need a second opinion, A Briter Smile offers a new patient special of just $39.99 for a comprehensive exam and X-Rays, with the coupon from the ad on page 9. Let Dr. Shayes and Dr. Eskandari show you that they’re the friendliest dentists around. 

“We understand that not every patient ‘clicks’ with every office,” says Dr. Eskandari. “So, we want to offer an easy way for people to give us a try without an expensive treatment.”

A Briter Smile Dental Care is located at 20729 Center Oak Dr., Unit 108, just south of the corner of BBD and County Line Rd. (behind Walgreens, south of the entrance to Meadow Pointe). For appointments or more information, call 907-1222 or visit MyNewTampaDentist.com. 

The office is open Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and every other Saturday, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.  Additional hours, especially in case of a dental emergency, are available by appointment.