Hygienists
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Brandy
 Brandy grew up in Bradenton and attended Manatee Community College for her training in Dental Hygiene. She is a member of the American Dental Hygienists' Association and the American Association of University Women. She is an Adult ManaTEEN Volunteer. Brandy LOVES being a dental hygienist and finds it thrilling to find and clean out hidden calculus! Seeing the improvement in her patients’ oral health is something she truly enjoys!
She has been married to her husband, Chris, for 12 years and has two children, Sebastian and Isabella. When not here at North River Dental, Brandy enjoys being outdoors, running, biking, trailblazing and simply playing with her kids!
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Kristin
 Kristin grew up in Bradenton and received her training in Dental Hygiene from Manatee Community College, now recognized as State College of Florida. In her program, she was given the designation of “Queen of Polishing” and “Best Sense of Humor!” She has been a hygienist with North River Dental for 3 years. Kristin enjoys making a connection with her patients and seeing a difference in their dental health and overall health.
In her free time, she enjoys photography, modeling, shopping and travelling.
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Alissa
 Alissa grew up in Auburn, Indiana and knew she wanted to be a hygienist since she was in sixth grade! She completed her education in Dental Hygiene at St. Petersburg College and was secretary of her hygiene class. She is currently the Vice President of the Manatee Society Dental Hygiene Association. Alissa has travelled to Panama to educate patients on dental health. She participates in local community service events, such as cancer walks. Alissa loves meeting new patients and seeing the improvement in their dental care and overall health!
When not seeing patients here at North River Dental, Alissa enjoys travelling to see her family in Indiana, spending time at the beach and anything that allows her to hang out with her family and friends!
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Jessi
 Jessi grew up in Queens, NY. At the age of 16 she moved down here to sunny Florida! She completed her training in Dental Hygiene at St. Petersburg College (SPC), and in 2005 was part of the inaugural class of SPC to receive her Bachelor’s degree in Dental Hygiene. For the past four years, Jessi has participated in “Dentistry with a Heart,” a non-profit community service event that provides dental services to people in need. She enjoys meeting new patients and forming a personal connection with them as she improves their oral health!
Jessi has been married for 4 years and she and her husband, Alex, have a beautiful baby girl named Gabriella. She loves to travel and learn about new people, places, and culture. Jessi is a history buff and loves going antiquing!
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Ashley
 Ashley grew up here in Manatee County and received her training in Dental Hygiene form Manatee Community College in 2009. She volunteers with the Special Olympics: Special Smiles, Oral Screenings. Ashley loves that as a hygienist; she not only improves a patient’s’ oral health, but also creates a new confidence in a patient’s smile! She believes a smile is the one universal gesture throughout the world!
In 2006, Ashley was selected as the Hernando DeSoto Historical Society Queen, where she had the privilege to travel throughout the U.S. and Spain as an ambassador for Manatee County. In her spare time, Ashley enjoys shopping, dancing, boating, spending time with her family and loving on her two cats, Belle and Archy.
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Jeffa
 Jeffa grew up in West Virginia, but moved to Florida in 1996. She completed the Dental Assisting program at Manatee Technical Institute and worked as a dental assistant here at North River Dental for several years. Wanting to continue her dental education, Jeffa enrolled at the State College of Florida where she received her Dental Hygiene degree. Jeffa was consistently on the Dean’s List and received the “Golden Scaler” award. She loves working with amazing dental professionals and truly believes that a happy, healthy life can begin with a great dental cleaning.
In her spare time, Jeffa enjoys travelling, playing golf, running, volunteering and attending Rays baseball games. She loves just spending time with her family and friends.
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Assistants
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Kristin
 Kristin grew up in north eastern Pennsylvania and completed her training in dental assisting in Pennsylvania as well. She has been a dental assistant for 18 years, serving 3 years at North River Dental. Kristin is certified in Dental Assisting through the Dental Assisting National Board. She holds her Dental Radiographer license in both Pennsylvania and Florida. Through dentistry, Kristin enjoys working with people and helping them achieve the smile that makes them feel good about themselves!
She has been living in Florida for 7 years with her three “kids,” dogs Gaspar, Roderigo and Maggie. In her spare time, Kristin enjoys going to the beach with her dogs and is active in supporting charities and rescue efforts for abused and abandoned dogs. She created the non-profit animal rescue, Brethren of St. Francis, to shelter abandoned and abused dogs and to find them loving homes.
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Sara
 Sara grew up in Palmetto and completed her training in Dental Assisting at Manatee Technical Institute. A certified dental assistant through the National Dental Assisting Board since 2008, Sara also holds her Dental Radiographer license. She has been a member of the North River Dental team for over three years! She enjoys providing patients at North River Dental the best care, and helping to improve their smiles! In the community, Sara has participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time at the beach, shopping and doting on her 2-year-old pit bull, Bruno.
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Jessica
 Jessica grew up in Bradenton and completed her training in Dental Assisting at Manatee Technical Institute. She has been a dental assistant for 5 years and has been with North River Dental for 2 years. She enjoys making temporary crowns and seeing her patients smile bigger and brighter after simply refining their smile with their temps!
Jessica and her husband, Josh, have a son, Tyler. In her spare time, she likes to take Ty to the beach and for walks around the neighborhood, and she loves to spend time with her parents and sisters, who also live in the Bradenton area.
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Kelli
 Kelli grew up right up the road in Apollo Beach and completed her training in Dental Assisting at the Concorde Career Institute in 1993. She LOVES that dentistry is one of the only health care professions in which you can see instant results and that changing a patient’s smile can increase their self-confidence and attitude. She enjoys being a part of that transformation. Kelli was a part of the North River Dental team from 1997-2005 and was excited to come back to the NRD “family” after returning from North Carolina in 2010.
She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Michael, for 13 years and they have one son Zachary. In her spare time, Kelli enjoys spending time with her family and is an active advocate for Autism Awareness and helping her son, Zach, manage Asperger syndrome.
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Zack
 Zack grew up in Maryland and is happy to be living here in sunny Florida. He attended Catonsville Community College and has been working as a part of the North River Dental team for 5 years. Zack is great with his patients and enjoys talking with them and finding out “their story.” He can be seen here at NRD with an X-ray sensor in hand as he takes the majority of the X-rays during the new patient experience!
His hobbies include racing, skydiving, photography and riding his motorcycle.
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Jorge
 Jorge grew up In Sarasota and the North River Dental team is proud of his service of 5 years in the United States Navy. In the Navy, Jorge had the opportunity to travel the world and was awarded a medal in good conduct. He knows NRD well, as he has worked in both administration and now, as part of the clinical team. As with Karen S., Jorge can be seen jumping from operatory to operatory making sure that the doctors have everything that they need. He certainly helps to keep the schedule running smoothly!
Jorge has been married to his wife, Juanita, for 8 years and they have an awesome son, Francisco. He loves spending time with his wife and son and the many other extended family members who also live in the area.
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Bobbie Jo
 Bobbie Jo grew up in New Port Richey. She has been a dental assistant for 17 years and has been a key member of the North River Dental team for 10 years. Bobbie Jo is the clinical team supervisor and can be seen popping into the operatories just to say “Hi!” to our patients. She loves the artistry of the dental field and enjoys making temporary crowns. She can truly transform your smile with her temporaries!
Bobbie-Jo has one daughter, Kate. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, her boyfriend, Dan, and his two boys. They can often be found camping, enjoying concerts at the Amphitheater and just enjoying activities outdoors.
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Karen C.
 Karen grew up in Tampa. Prior to graduating from Concorde’s program in Dental Assisting in 2006, Karen went to both culinary school and real estate school. She loves dentistry and would love to have the opportunity to go to dental school to one day become a dentist. She enjoys helping our patients to achieve a perfect smile and making a difference in their life.
Karen has been married to her husband, Anthony, for 8 years and they have two girls, Emily and Kayla! She loves to spend time with her family and travel when she has the opportunity.
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Administration
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Lea
 Lea has been with North River Dental for 2 years. She knows well all aspects of the NRD front office as she began her time with NRD at check-out and is now in charge of insurance submissions. She is thorough and detail-oriented and is exceptional in acquiring the information needed to get the most coverage for you out of your insurance benefits. Lea is fluent in Spanish.
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Terry
 Terry grew up in Pittsburgh, but is happy to be living here in Florida near the beach and the sunshine! She came to North River Dental seven years ago with a toothache and has not left since! Immediately noting her dynamic personality and “gift of gab,” the doctors hired Terry to work with our new patients, both on the phone and in the office. When patients arrive, they are sure to notice Terry giving a tour or helping all of the NRD patients to feel at home. In fact, after getting to know Terry during the new patient experience, our patients often pop in to see Terry at their subsequent visits. She adores the “wow!” factor that NRD offers our patients!
Terry’s hobbies include reading, dancing and bike riding! She has participated in Habitat for Humanity and the Relay for Life breast cancer awareness walks. She has one true love: her “evil” weiner dog, Viktor that she rescued!
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Bonnie
 Bonnie grew up in Cincinnati, but completed her education here in Florida at the State College of Florida and Manatee Technical Institute. She is the positive voice you will often here on the other end of the line when you call us at North River Dental! Bonnie is not only an excellent scheduler, but she also is very knowledgeable about dentistry as she was previously an orthodontist’s assistant. She LOVES working here at NRD because she truly enjoys helping patients get the dental treatment that makes them feel better!
Bonnie and her husband Michael have two children, Sophie and Mikey. Her hobbies include cooking and playing with her kids. She adores her boxer, Gwen, and hopes to rescue many more dogs one day.
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Tammy
 Tammy grew up in Northern Maine, but completed her schooling at Manatee Community College and Lee College. She loves meeting patients and is the smiling face they see at check-out. Although Tammy joined North River Dental after a 20-year career in banking and finance, she is a quick study in regards to dentistry!
Tammy has been married to her husband, Jeff, for 15 years and has two step-children, Greg and Tina. She has one grand-daughter, Hailey. In her spare time, Tammy enjoys boating, kayaking, video games, reading and travelling.
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Maritza
 Maritza grew up in Sarasota and joins North River Dental at the front desk! Maritza is one of the first smiling faces you will see here at NRD as she is the patient greeter at the check-in desk. She really enjoys seeing the smiles we get from patients when they leave thrilled with their dental results, and is proud to work in such a professional environment.
In her spare time, Maritza enjoys working out (yoga, kickboxing, weight lifting), lying out by the pool, cooking dancing, travelling and reading books with an inspirational message. Maritza is fluent in Spanish.
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Karen J.
 Karen grew up and completed her education in New York. She is certified in dental radiology and has been working in the dental industry for 16 years – 10 years in cosmetic dentistry and 6 years in prosthodontics (crown and bridge). She is proud to be a member of the North River Dental team and is the friendly face our patients see in consult! She truly enjoys helping patients understand what is “going on in their mouth” and explaining all that NRD has available to help them achieve the smile they deserve. She is wonderful at allaying the fears of our patients, allowing patients to be less anxious about scheduling appointments. She treats each patient as an individual and NRD is lucky to have her on board!
Karen has been married to her husband Max for 18 years and they have two boys, Nicholas and Zachariah. She is an active volunteer for the Sarasota County Fire Fighters.
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Yuri
 Yuri grew up in Miami and was trained in dental assisting at the Manatee Technical Institute. She loves dentistry and has a strong clinical background. Here at North River Dental, we are proud to have Yuri as a key member of the administration team. As our Administration Supervisor, she is an amazing leader and helps to keep our business operations moving smoothly! Yuri is fluent in Spanish as well!
Yuri has been married to her husband Carlos for 11 years and they have one daughter, Kaily. In her free time, she likes to travel to new places, spend time with her family and shop!
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