Smiles off to a good start

PRESCOTT – Smiles of Prescott is up and running and doing well.
The dentist, Dr. Ted Zawislack DMD has 30 years of experience in dentistry and originally hales from Pennsylvania. He was recruited to come to Prescott by Dr. Robee Carter, DDS, and Reese Shuffield, chief financial officer for Smiles.
Zawislak’s wife is remaining in Pennsylvania until their home is sold, at which time she’ll be moving to Prescott and the couple will begin looking to purchase a home with land. This is because, in part, his wife wants to have horses. They have two in Pennsylvania they’re trying to sell at this time and at one time had 40. In addition, they have two children living in the Plano, Texas area. He enjoys outdoor activities and sports.
An agreement was finalized between the city and Smiles of Arkansas to locate a dentist’s office in Prescott. The office will be at the former Nevada County Health Office on Hwy. 67 and be Smiles Family Dentistry.
Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, said the project began around 18 months ago. Prescott had lost its only dentist, Dr. Darrell Fain, who passed away, and the citizenry had to go elsewhere for its dental needs. The city and EDO, she said, realized the void Fain’s death left and began working to get a new dentist to locate here. “Prescott needs to provide basic services, such as dentists, doctors, fire and police. We started searching and recruiting dentists or looking for a company that would provide one.” Eventually a deal was made with Dr. Carter and Smiles. Smiles has offices in Hope, Texarkana, Magnolia and De Queen, and, shortly after the first of the year, Prescott will be added to the list. Dr. Carter also has a second, private practice in Hope.
“This will be family dentistry,” Carter said of the Prescott practice. “It will be Smiles Family Dentistry.”
The EDO and city began working to find an appropriate building for the offices and decided the former NCHU building would work, as it’s owned by the city. The city agreed to do some renovation work to the facility to help get the dentist’s office up and running.
The office currently has three full-time people, Dr. Zawislak, Amy Miller, the dental assistant, and Paula Ledbetter, office manager/receptionist. At this time, he said they’re getting the bugs worked out of the phone and computer systems and plans are to hire at least one more person for the front office along with a dental hygienist.
He said the office does all general dentistry, from extractions and bridges to false teeth and root canals. In addition, Smiles accepts most forms of dental insurance along with Medicare, Medicaid and ARKids First. Office hours are from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday.
When asked about the office’s plans, the answer was for it to grow. So far, business has been good, with a fairly steady flow of traffic.