New Dentist Moves Into New Location With Deep Riverhead Meaning

For dentist Dr. Kevin Sheren, moving into a new office in Riverhead has been a meaningful journey as he takes over a space long held by two beloved dentists now gone.

Sheren, who currently has offices in Hampton Bays and East Islip, expects to open his new Riverhead location later in November.

The building, located at 960 Roanoke Avenue, was constructed some time in the 1950s as a dental office, Sheren said. The original dentist, Dr. Francis Menendez, was a former town councilman and active member of the Riverhead community.

"When he opened the office, his daughter saved her money and bought him a desk set," Sheren said. "When he passed away she got the desk set back.She has been a patient of mine in the Hampton Bays office for years. She just gifted me with her father's desk set.  I plan on inviting her to be my first patient when I officially open."

Dr. Sheren said he has big shoes to fill, moving into the office of Dr. Menendez, fondly known to any as "Doc." Menendez died at 86 in 2002.

"Doctor Menendez’s daughter, Gale Parker, has been a patient of my for years," Sheren said. "When she found out that I purchased the building that her father built we were both in shock. She was thrilled that I was the one to take it over because, as she expressed it, she was glad that someone as good and caring as her father would be treating patients there. Gale told me stories about her footprints in the concrete foundation, and that an Indian arrowhead was placed in the cement for good luck."

Being given the desk set that once belonged to Menendez means a great deal to Sheren.

"Obviously, after years of short encounters and stories, when I received the desk set and the beautiful note that Gale gave me with it, I couldn’t have been more touched by the gift and gesture. The gift of the desk set made me feel that I was part of the family. Receiving the desk set made the history of Dr. Menendez tangible and truly made me a part of it."

Sheren purchased the building from the widow of Dr. Robert Keller, the second dentist whose office was located there. Keller died unexpectedly in 2004 at 54.

"I have patients in my Hampton Bays office that were previously in his practice," Sheren said. "They all loved him."

The office, he said, was set up so that two dentists could practice independently, each with one treatment room, a lab and a common waiting room and bathroom. When Sheren purchased the building and began planning renovations to modernize the space, his plans included moving a door and adding a handicap ramp, which held up renovation for three years.

"It gave me plenty of time to meet patients and hear stories about the doctors whose shoes I’ll be filling," he said.

Sheren said he's thrilled to be coming to town. "I’m happy to see the effort that is being made to revitalize downtown Riverhead," he said. "I bring my children to Dr. Joshua Rothenberg, whose office is two buildings away from mine, and when we are there we try to get to Star Confectionary for hot open turkey sandwiches as often as possible. When my twins were young we maintained membership at the Aquarium. Now that they are older we hope to enjoy the newly renovated Suffolk Theater."

The caring spirit of the two dentists who walked before him will guide Sheren at his new location, he said.

"Hopefully, I will be seeing more of Dr. Menendez' and Dr. Keller’s patients when I open in Riverhead," he said. "Both were excellent clinically and loved by their patients."

Dentistry, he added, has changed, as have all forms of medicine. "A successful office can’t survive on one chair. My new office has five chairs.  Most offices have cut back significantly on the amount of time that the staff spends with patients. We still schedule the old-fashioned way."

That service, Sheren said, includes hour-long hygiene appointments for initial visits to make sure that the patients are diagnosed and treatment planned properly, so that they "can begin a proper relationship with the doctor and staff. It is rare that there is ever more than a ten-minute wait in my Hampton Bays or East Islip offices and I expect to maintain that in Riverhead."

Sheren said he hopes to open the new office within the next few weeks. 

As for what patients can expect, he said the goal is to make the offices modern, with green technology; the office will also be paperless. In addition, Sheren selected what he considered the best digital X-ray system on the market to improve diagnosis and limit exposure time.

The office will provide all phases of family and cosmetic dentistry, as well as feature Sheren's expertise in obstructive sleep apnea with oral appliance therapy, he said.

"This has become my passion. I have traveled around the country taking hundreds of hours of course work to learn about treating patients with sleep disorders," he said.

As a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sheren said he has access to all the most up-to-date data.

"The current research on sleep is showing that OSA not only is responsible for car and truck accidents but also contributes to almost every major illness from stroke to cancer," he said. "I’m excited as a dentist to not only be able to save a tooth but to save a life."

Sheren explained why he decided to expand and add an office.

"My staff and I have developed such a good relationship with our patients in Hampton Bays that we grew to the point that we had no place to put them.  We considered seeing patients in the bathroom."

Patients in Hampton Bays travel from as far east as Montauk, he said. With a large number of North Fork patients, Sheren said, "When I found out that Mrs. Keller was looking to sell the building the timing was perfect."