Published: July 04, 2008 12:10 pm      

Dentists flock to Edmond

4 new practices open since April

EDMOND — Cavities won’t be a problem for Edmond residents. In the past few months, four new practices have opened here.

Coffee Creek Family Dentistry, Comprehensive Dental and Oral Care, Bright Smile and Joe M. Harris, DDS have made Edmond their new home.

Tim Rudd opened Coffee Creek Family Dentistry in April. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry in 1988 and established a practice in Murrieta, Calif.

“I really enjoyed my practice ... the work, the patients and the relationships that developed over time,” Rudd said. “Dentistry was fun for me and still is.”

He and his wife Becky, who was born and raised in Oklahoma City, decided to move back to Oklahoma before their children Thomas, 16, Emily, 13 and Savanah, 9, started high school. Rudd managed the Faculty Practice at OU for about a year and a half.

“At the end of 2007, I left the school to begin work on opening up my own practice once again,” he said. “We love to treat children and we enjoy treating seniors as well.”

Coffee Creek Family Dentistry is at 775 W. Covell Road, Suite 160.

In June, Comprehensive Dental and Oral Care joined Edmond’s dentistry market and Bright Smile opened a new location.

Bright Smile opened its seventh location at 3225 TeakWood Lane under the partnership of Eli Jarjoura and his wife Julie Speights. The practice provides professional dental services for families and specializes in state-of-the-art cosmetic surgery. Speights graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry in 1996 and Jarjoura graduated from the same college in 1997. The couple opened Bright Smile in 1997, which has since expanded to seven locations.

Speights said she knew she wanted to be a dentist after having an abscessed tooth removed in third grade.

She said Bright Smile offers customers a comfortable atmosphere and the latest in technology. They also offer 24-hour emergency dental services.

“We want them to feel at home,” Speights said of customers.

Dentists Lida Radfar and Jennifer Jenkins opened Comprehensive Dental and Oral Care, 1713 W. 33rd St., on June 22.

Radfar is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry and works part time by appointment at Comprehensive Dental. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in oral biology and a doctorate in dental surgery.

Radfar said she always had dentistry in mind.

“When I was in high school, my role model was a female dentist in my family. While I was a nurse in the hospital, I noticed that the mouth was considered as a closed box and gets the least attention. I became more and more interested to pursue dentistry,” Radfar said.

She is trained to take care of dental problems in medically complex patients, including heart disease, liver and kidney disease, different infectious diseases, cancer and pre- or post-bone marrow transplant patients.

Jenkins, Radfar’s partner, will work at the office full-time and grew up in Edmond.

“I really feel like our practice can serve this community the best. I think that the people of Edmond want and deserve a comprehensive practice like ours. We offer the latest in technology, like cosmetic procedures, but our No. 1 priority is our patient’s oral health,” Jenkins said.

Dentist Joe M. Harris also opened a practice in late December at 16145 N. May Ave., Suite B.

Carrie Harris, his wife, said he graduated from the University of Oklahoma Dental School in 1999. He worked as an associate for several dentist practices before establishing his own, which provides general and cosmetic dentistry.

Carrie said her husband’s goal is to provide the best dental care and to help patients achieve lifelong dental health. Patients also can enjoy a massaging dental chair and watch movies or cable TV from an overhead television while they get their teeth worked on.

Harris’s office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday.