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Drs. Muhammed Saif and Myra Jehangir want their young patients to feel safe and welcome at their pediatric dental practice.

New Practice Focuses on Dental Care for Children

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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Peak Smiles is located on Canal Street in Lee. 
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.
 
You can book appointments through the website.
 
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.

Tags: new business,   dentist,   

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Berkshire Special Olympics Returns to Monument Mountain

iBerkshires.com Sports
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Hundreds of athletes of all ages converged at Monument Mountain Regional High School Wednesday for the 45th annual Berkshire County Special Olympics meet.
 
Runners, jumpers and throwers from throughout the county put themselves to the test and were recognized for their accomplishments.
 
As always, one of the highlights of the day was the banner parade, when Special Olympians from various teams make their way around the track to be honored by the fans in attendance.
 
This year, the newly-created Lee High School/Monument Mountain Unified Sports team had the honor of leading the athletes behind a contingent of local law enforcement officers.
 
Unified Sports, an initiative of Special Olympics and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, allows students with intellectual disabilities to compete in basketball in the winter and track in the summer alongside peers without disabilities while representing their schools.
 
Coaches varsity student-athletes from around South County participated in Wednesday’s event, helping to coordinate competition on two sides of the track and throughout the infield.
 
This year’s meet was dedicated to the memory of longtime Special Olympian Michele Adler, who competed for the Berkshire County-based Red Raiders team for more than 20 years and represented Massachusetts as a bowler at the 2010 USA Games.
 
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