Newspaper Page Text
Page 6B
The Braselton News
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Social
Russian immigrant in Braselton fulfills American dream as dentist
Alla V. Brown, D.M.D., P.C. is a
Russian immigrant who resides in
Braselton’s Mulberry Park neigh
borhood and is living her American
dream as a practicing dentist in our
community.
And after interviewing her in per
son for this column, I have to say
she’s not at all what I expected a
native of the former Soviet Union to
look or sound like.
This young professional from St.
Petersburg more closely resembles
a beguiling high fashion model, who
just stepped out of the pages of
Vogue magazine than she does a ste
reotypical passenger on the Trans-
Siberian Railway. And with barely a
hint of a Russian accent, she seems
to have just what it takes to make
her patients literally beam on seeing
their reflections after she transforms
their smiles.
You don’t have to be an aspir
ing movie star or stage entertainer
to fully appreciate the value of a
flawless smile and what it can do
for your career and self-esteem.
Yet, a surprising number of people
in sales, customer service, politics,
and other interactive work probably
don’t reach their full potential in this
regard because of their less-than-
attractive teeth.
Without a doubt, an eye-catching
smile can be a person’s most out
standing feature and, that in mind,
Dr. Brown decided to make it her
mission to help locals achieve this
through her dental skills.
And to start the ball rolling in that
direction, she will open her new
Lanier Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
Clinic on Friendship Road, Buford,
this week. Previously, she was in
dental practice for two and a half
years with Winder Drs. Mark Benner
and Cyndie Townsend.
Formerly Alla Bukshteyn when,
as a teenager, she moved with her
family to Atlanta, completed her pri
mary education at Druid Hills High
School, graduated from Georgia
State University with a major in
biology and a minor in chemis
try and then obtained her doctorate
from the School of Dentistry,
Medical College of Georgia,
Augusta. Since then, Dr.
Brown has taken post-grad
uate classes offered by the
Hinman Dental Association
on the latest techniques in
restorative and cosmetic den
tistry.
In 2005, she married George
"Buck" Brown, a few years her
senior and currently studying phar
macy at Mercer University.
"We loved the look and feel of the
Braselton area, and decided this was
a great place to live and to estab
lish my own dental practice. And I
was especially happy to change my
last name to something a lot easier
to pronounce than Bukshteyn,” Dr.
Brown said.
When I asked her why she decid
ed to pursue a career in dentistry,
Dr. Brown told me she was spurred
toward this profession in America
by the deplorable state of dentistry
in Russia and the fact that her home
land offered little hope for her future
there.
"Dental care in Russia is so ter
rible, routine treatments are often
very painful. My mother told me
of friends who had to endure root-
canal procedures with no anesthe
sia,” she noted.
Although Dr. Brown is both
trained and qualified to perform all
of the basic treatments required by
her general dental profession, she
told me that she most enjoyed the
cosmetic side of her practice.
"You can’t really call cosmetic
dentistry a specialty, though, because
even fillings, braces, bonding, and
crowns which address general oral
health have a cosmetic value, too,”
she pointed out.
"But, for me, there’s nothing quite
as fulfilling as seeing the reaction of
patients when they first see a beauti
ful new smile from my cosmetic
work. Sometimes they are so over
joyed by their new look, they cry,”
she said.
Others may shed a few tears over
the price tag for such work, since
In Focus
with Fil
Fil Jessee
filwrites@aol.com
dental insurance does not cover any
thing considered to be primarily for
aesthetic benefit. Costs for veneers
alone can be as much as $800 to
$1,600 a tooth and a total oral make
over can easily run into the $4,000
to $7,000 range.
“But it’s really impossible for
me to give an accurate estimate
until I actually examine a patient;
then offer recommendations and
options,” Brown said.
And according to the American
Dental Association, the options for
improving smiles are as varied as
the individual faces that display
them. These include tooth whiten
ing through a number of bleaching
techniques, bonding, enamel shap
ing, veneers, full crowns, bridges,
braces, and the replacement of old
silver amalgam fillings with less
conspicuous white ones.
Dr. Brown’s 2,500 square-foot
Lanier Family & Cosmetic clinic is
well-equipped to handle all of these
options, and is slated to welcome
the first patients there on Thursday,
Jan. 24.
The state-of-the-art facility will
feature some of the most techno
logically advanced imaging equip
ment, including digital radiography,
which requires no film, no chemi
cals, a lot less radiation exposure for
patients, and which electronically
projects instant pop-up images on
TV screens.
That’s quite an improvement
over old-fashioned X-rays that
require patients to hold multiple
bite-plates of film between their
teeth while getting zapped by short
bursts of radiation for each separate
image. And it requires no dark
room space, chemicals, or bulky
equipment to develop negatives.
But what impressed me most
NEW OFFICE TO OPEN
Dr. Alla V. Brown’s own winsome smile exemplifies the main objec
tive of her dentistry skills at her new clinic on Friendship Road,
Buford.
about both Dr. Alla Brown and her
new facility was the considerable
focus of both on the comfort of
patients. Although many were likely
programmed by past appointments
to associate any visit to a den
tist with considerable discomfort if
not outright pain and fear, they are
not likely to experience any of this
there.
Offering patients more creature
comforts than the first class cabin of
a jumbo-jet, Brown’s clinic boasts
ergonomically relaxing examination
seats, multiple music channels on
headphones that block out nerve-
racking noises, a coffee bar, and
even blankets in case you get chilly.
I wonder if Brown has something
to prop mouths open when patients
drift off to la-lah land as a result of
all of these tranquilizing perks. I’d
hate to be repeatedly jolted out of
this mode by a command to “open
wider” or “spit" every few minutes.
On a more serious note, if you
feel compelled to consider an over
haul for your own smile or just
need a local dentist with plenty of
room for new patients, I suggest
that you visit the Lanier Family &
Cosmetic Dentistry web site, www.
laniersmiles.com, for further details
and contact information.
Fil Jessee lives in Braselton, where
he works as a freelance journalist.
He can be reached at filwrites@
aol.com.
Breast cancer
fund-raiser
set March 14
Kelly Charles-Collins, a Johns
Creek attorney and certified bridal
consultant and event planner, has
announced that the second annual
“Pink Ribbon Runway” fund-raiser
will be held on Friday, March 14,
at Carl House in Auburn.
The event — an evening of cel
ebration, education, with good
food, auctions, a fashion show and
live entertainment — is Charles-
Collins’ way of saying “breast can
cer does not just happen in October
(national breast cancer awareness
month); it happens every day,”
according to a press release. She
believes breast cancer education
should be an ongoing focus and has
committed to doing her part with
an annual fund-raiser.
“My mother,” says Charles-
Collins, “has been the inspiration
for The Pink Ribbon Runway. She
was diagnosed with breast cancer
in 2001, underwent surgery, chemo
and radiation therapy and is, thank
God, doing well today. She is the
reason why I founded The Pink
Ribbon Runway.”
Tickets for the event may be pur
chased via the organization’s web
site, www.thepinkribbonrunway.
org, or by calling Kelly Charles-
Collins at 770-476-9865.
The Pink Ribbon Runway is a
Georgia non-profit corporation,
with IRS designation as a 501(c)3
charitable organization.
Recycle!
Assisted Living At Its Best!
QAFaqrwlia GLstates
624 Gainesville Hwy. • Winder*, GA 30680
CARHARTT-LARGEST INVENTORY
LOWEST PRICES ANYWHERE!
One of Georgia’s largest Carhartt dealers.
Winter clothes just arrived!
CARHARTT COATS, PANTS, BELTS, CAPS, GLOVES,
VESTS, THERMAL UNDERWEAR, INSULATED &
UNINSULATED OVERALLS & COVERALLS
Carhartt
IF CARHARTT MAKES IT, IRVIN’S HAS IT!
Sizes from 2T for kids to 60 and 4XXXL
IRVIN’S STORE & HUNTING SUPPLY
Located 6 miles South of Baldwin on Old 441. Look for the signs.
4964 Hwy 441 N, Baldwin • 706-778-6116
Hours 9:00-5:00 Mon-Sat, December Hours: Sun 10:00-4:00
Get ALL
Your Questions
About
LASIK
Answered!
Win
FREE
LASIK!
• Does LASIK Hurt? • Is It Safe? • Can I Really Get 20/20 Or Better?
• Can I Really Throw Away My Glasses & Contacts? • How Long
Would I Be Off Work? • Can I Afford LASIK? • What's The Best
Technology? • Are The Benefits Really Worth it? • And Much
MORE!
FREE LASIK SEMINAR
February 5th
6:00 PM
651 Milledge Ave.
Athens, GA
Call NOW To Reserve Your Seat
1-888-237-2583
~\
Blue
laser
CROUP
bluelasergroup.com • Athens, GA • Gainesville, GA • Greensboro, GA • Franklin, NC
Join Us
And Be In
The Drawing
To Win Free LASIK!
Make Our Home, Your Home!
Services Include:
• Private Rooms
• Supervision of Medications
• Church Services & Bible Study
• Full Laundry Services
• 3 Balanced Meals
(And Special Diet Plans)
• Recreation & Activities
• Emergency Transportation
• Continous Assessment of
Needs & Conditions
• Transportation To & From
Local Doctor Visits.
Enjoy better
quality visits
without the
worries of daily
household
chores.
Special ocasions
arc still to
be cherished
and celebrated
with family.
(7/ Gn/7/y//m//7
The Best In Independent Retirement Living!
Now Pre-Leasing For March '08
One Monthly Fee
For All Services
At The Villas, residents will live in a low maintenance lifestyle home with our fully landscaped
and maintained surroundings and the freedom of not having to worry about outside repairs.
Located on the campus of Magnolia Estates, residents can live with peace of mind that assistance
is only minutes away and provided by one of the area's best-assisted living teams!
For more information about For more information about
oWaanolia GLstates The Villas at
c-ali 770-867-4256 Magnolia Estates
email magnoliaestates@alltel.net ca ^ Debbie Patrick at 678-227-1989
or visit our website at
www.magnoliaestates.com
or email to
debbiempatrick@yahoo.com