Dentistry By Dr. Arida Celebrates 25th Anniversary as Westfield Local Magazine’s 2022 Business of the Year
Your family names: Kenneth W. Arida, DDS.
Family Names: Wife: Jeannie;
Kids: Elena, Christina and William
Company name: Dentistry By Dr. Arida
Website: drarida.com
Phone number: 908-654-6262
Business address: 131 South Euclid, Westfield
Tell us about your family:
I am married for 29 years to the love of my life, Jeannie, and we have three wonderful children Elena, Christina and William in their 20’s. We have lived in Westfield for twenty-five years and my children are graduates of Westfield High School and Seton Hall Prep. We love our Westfield community. It’s been a blessing to build my career here and raise our family. I come from a family of dentists starting with my father William, cousin Rick and niece Monique along with my daughter Christina, who is aspiring to be a dentist. My father went into WWII as a Captain in the Dental Corp in 1944 and practiced in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn for thirty-five years.
What do you like best about the community?
To start, the word community says it all for our town and area. There are few places I know where neighbors and residents express as much concern for the people around them, the way of life, the small-town feel and a communal sense of helping those in need. Our downtown is a wonderful magnet for gathering and enjoying time with friends and neighbors.
Congratulations on your 25th Anniversary of the business! Tell us what it feels like to be named this year’s Top Business of the Year?
I am incredibly grateful to my patients and my amazing Team for the opportunity to provide dental care in an office and community that I love. I have been in practice for coming up on 40 years, the last 25 of which have been in Westfield! Every dream I have ever had professionally has come true and I couldn’t be more thankful to do what I love in such a great town.
Describe what your company does and how you were able to keep your practice so successful for so long?
My Team, they are amazing. I have worked hard to become the best dentist I can be but that is only a part of what makes my office the best we can be. The rest is all about my My Team: Marie, Sabrina, Donna, Marianna, Maryanne, Sandra, Jackie and Vanessa are caring and experienced professionals who make my job easy. My patients comment all the time about how easy my Team makes it to receive quality care with comfort, caring and all of the details attended to. Hard work and caring are key!
How did you decide on this industry (events that led up to where you are now, etc.)?
Funny question. When I was a teenager my father would come home from work and say “Son, don’t be a dentist!” My mom would tell me not to listen because he was just tired. The more I started to pursue the field, the more I learned it was a natural fit for me. I loved the sciences, wanted to help people via my career, and the opportunity to follow in my Dad’s footsteps meant a lot to me. (I like to think he’s proud looking down on us now!)
I wound up in my Westfield practice when I met a wonderful dentist named Dr. William Patton in 1996 who was ready to retire. We worked together for some time before I took over the practice in 1997.
What should our neighbors know about your company? How is it unique?
We are a personalized practice that focuses on each patient as a person and each individual’s oral health concerns, fears, and needs. My Team will address any insurance concerns, billing, fears or desires so together we can provide the most personalized, quality and comfortable care possible.
Our office has the latest dental technology including digital scanners and x-rays, along with offering almost all the specialty dental care that you might need within our office. From Invisalign to implant surgery and everything in between, our office is geared from regular checkups and cleanings to full mouth restorations.
“My kids don’t fight when I say we have to go to the dentist! They love going to Dr. Arida’s office. That’s a win in my book!,” said the Mom of 3 boys on the cover, Meredith Goldblatt.
Is there any one simple thing in particular you can tell our neighbors in terms of maintaining proper dental health?
Please, please, please visit your dentist regularly. We are your team and your advocates for good oral health with all of the diagnostics to tell you how you are doing.
The other important thing is to brush and floss at least twice a day.
Technology seems to be accelerating ahead in every field of business. Can you give us a look into the future of dentistry? What can we expect?
There have been tremendous strides in the level of care during my career but I think going forward the advances will be more technical and nuanced. From possible vaccines that will improve resistance to periodontal disease to robotic placement of implants during surgery, yet the actual practice of dentistry will have a similar face. I feel dentistry has always been and will always be a highly personalized profession and that is what I love the most about it.
How can others learn from your commitment and inspiration? What’s most important to success?
Hard work and true caring. You cannot fake genuine care and advocacy for patients. It’s an honor to care for the patients in our community and I take that responsibility seriously. As a result, I truly believe that our patients feel the caring that comes out of my team and myself. We are a family dental practice that truly considers our patients family.