LEE, Mass. — A new dental practice is focused solely on ensuring Berkshire County children have bright smiles.
Husband and wife duo Drs. Muhammed Saif and Myra Jehangir, both board-certified pediatric dentists, will open Peak Smiles Pediatric Dentistry on March 2.
They had been working at a dental office in Chicopee when they realized many families were coming from the county to see them.
"We saw a vast majority of patients. And what we noticed pretty quickly was there was a huge need in the Berkshire County, because a lot of our patients were actually commuting from Pittsfield, North Adams, Great Barrington, to get to our office in Chicopee," Saif said.
They decided to open an office in Lee, feeling it was a middle point in the county for the patients they were seeing.
They obtained the space in June and began the transformation into a dental office. The only challenge was a plumbing issue that has since been fixed.
Saif trained at New York University's College of Dentistry and did his residencies at NYU Langone Dental Medicine and Johns Hopkins. Jehangir graduated from the University of Maryland, and did her residencies at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and NYU Langone Health in Holyoke.
They currently practice in New York's Hudson Valley and live in Albany. They loved their time in Western Massachusetts and knew they would like to work here again.
"We did enjoy our time in Western Mass, which is why when this space opened up, my husband was really excited," Jehangir said. "Everything just worked out in our favor — the space was big enough, like we could put the seven chairs that we wanted — and then Massachusetts was just somewhere he really likes, so we wanted to be here."
They are credentialed at Berkshire Medical Center and will be taking patients there once they have gained their footing.
"Once we get the systems down, we'll be scheduling patients to get, like, full-mouth dental treatment if they need it," Saif said. "If they're like, superanxious, they're superyoung, they have a lot of dental care needs in the hospital system. We'll be doing cases."
Saif has focused on innovative treatments for children and patients with special needs in his practice. He said he does his best to accommodate everyone and wants children to feel safe in his care.
"We're here to make sure that your child keeps smiling and has good oral care," the dentist said.
The practice is currently accepting patients, including walk-ins and emergencies.
Hours will be every Monday and every other Saturday, with plans to expand later this summer. The office is located at 35 Canal St.
Editor's note: an earlier version of this article mischaracterized the use of nitrous oxide, which is a safe and commonly used sedative used in pediatric dentistry.
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Connecticut Man Killed in Otis Tractor-Trailer Crash
OTIS, Mass. — Thursday's collision between two tractor-trailers on Route 8 killed one of the drivers.
Antonio Luis Marcucci, 32 of Waterbury, Conn., was northbound at about 9 a.m. Thursday when he apparently lost control of the truck and veered into the southbound lanes, colliding head-on with a southbound tractor trailer, according to police.
According to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office, police dispatched to 1322 South Main Road found the truck with Connecticut plates in the northbound lane and a truck bearing Oklahoma plates lodged in a snowback on south side.
The officer began rendering aid to the northbound driver, identified as Marcucci. He was pinned inside the cab of his truck. He was extracated and transported to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield by Otis EMS, where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the Oklahoma tractor trailer in the southbound lane did not receive serious injuries.
Early investigation, including dash camera footage captured by one of the tractor trailers, shows the Oklahoma tractor trailer was traveling in the southbound lane and the Connecticut tractor trailer was traveling in the northbound lane, according to the DA's Office. The Connecticut tractor trailer lost control veering off the other side of the road ultimately ending on the southbound lane. Shortly after the two tractor trailers collided in a head on collision.
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