South Florida Annual Holiday Smile Giveaway 2006 - Smiles by Jiveh<

Changes Local Woman's Life

Story by Lisa Keeney

West Palm Beach cosmteic Dentistry As the winner of Smiles by Jiveh’s Second Annual Holiday Smile Giveaway, Rhonda Barona’s life has changed for the better now that Dr. Farokh Jiveh has erased the outward signs of a decade-long battle with severe anxiety. “We were looking for someone in need of a new smile — someone who is not just a good person, but who does great things for the community,” Dr. Jiveh said. “And Rhonda fit the bill.”

Rhonda is a mother of three and a 25-year employee of the West Palm Beach Parks & Recreation Department, where she currently serves as a recreation manager. Her dental health problems began more than a decade ago when she had a panic attack at the dentist. Rhonda’s issues became so debilitating she became agoraphobic. She still battles her demons, but Dr. Jiveh and his staff made it easy for her to return to the dentist’s chair. “Dr. Jiveh is just such a nice guy. They are all sincerely involved in what they were doing. I felt really comfortable right from the beginning. I think that’s one of the reasons the panic attacks weren’t bad,” Rhonda said.

Restoring Rhonda’s smile required several visits. “She was a very extensive case,” Dr. Jiveh said. “It was a complicated full-mouth reconstruction. We restored every tooth with a combination of 24 veneers, crowns and bridges.

Spending 25 hours in the chair, Rhonda made good use of the DVD players built into each of Dr. Jiveh’s dental stations. “I got to see a lot of movies that I had never seen before,” she quipped and smiled.

The end result was worth every second in the chair. “It changed a lot of things that you really wouldn’t think of,” Rhonda said. “I was very self conscious. I had to think about not smiling all the time.”

Now Rhonda finds herself laughing and joking with others, more true to her original personality, which had been stifled by fears of people seeing her teeth. “When you don’t smile, people get a certain impression, and that’s what they think of you,” she said.

Dr. Jiveh said he finds the experience just as rewarding as his patient. “When we do stuff like this, it changes not only their personality, but their attitude and confidence. We see that time and time again,” he said. “It makes me realize what a great profession I have. It’s about changing lives.”

After her smile makeover was complete, Rhonda went for a full makeover at Michael Angelo Salon & Spa, and then on to her photo shoot. “I was all dolled up,” said Rhonda, who usually doesn’t wear makeup. “I’m still getting used to the picture. It really does not look like me at all. If you had given me a hundred pictures of people with that one in there, I could not have picked myself out.”

And it wouldn’t have happened if not for her youngest daughter Melissa. “This would not have been possible without her nominating me,” Rhonda explained.

Dr. Jiveh said he hopes the Holiday Smile Giveaway is an inspiration to others. “We do it to motivate the community to do service projects,” he said. “It has always been a dream of mine to give back. This is one way that I could really give back, in my capacity, to the community.”

It is a tradition of giving that Dr. Jiveh plans to continue. “We know that not everybody can afford a complete smile redesign,” he said. “And I would like to encourage people to nominate someone well deserving who has done great things for the community.”

For more information about this year’s contest, call Smiles by Jiveh at (561) 798-9997 or e-mail info@smilesbyjiveh.com.

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