Dental Hygienist Tara Savage of Bethel will hold an open house on August 1 at her new business Polished Dental on Mayville Road. Rose Lincoln

BETHEL — Tara (Lunney) Savage plans to open Polished Dental this month, before her open house on August 1.

She had hoped her grandmother would see her renovated business space, too, but she passed away in April.

Eleanor Brooks, Savage’s maternal grandmother, was her biggest fan, she said, traveling to Bangor, Berlin, NH, or wherever Savage was working. She was there to have her teeth cleaned but to support her granddaughter in her work as a dental hygienist, too.

“Any dental office I ever worked at, she was my patient and the proudest person,” said Savage.

But when the day came to show her the new space Brooks was too sick to go.

The space

In November of 2023, after family friend Mike Pelletier had purchased the building at 44 Mayville Road,  Savage toured the first floor still set up for the previous owner, a dog groomer. Savage said she could see that the space would work for her business, too.

Polished Dental is just shy of 800 square feet, with a lobby, one patient bathroom, one staff bathroom, a staff room, two operatories and a sterilization room.

Pelletier began extensive renovations, ripping out the floor in Savage’s space and adding apartments above and below the first floor dental offices.

A new handicapped ramp was built on the back of the building, as well.

Filling a need

For the past six years Savage has worked for Bethel Family Dentistry (BFD), currently Bethel’s only dentistry office. She will stay on part time until a replacement is found, working at her new office on Wednesdays (when BFD is closed), Thursdays and Fridays.

Savage said after the BFD staff struggled through COVID and all its restrictions, people returned in much higher numbers for hygiene appointments. Currently BFD struggles with overbookings.

“We are pretty typically booking eight months out,” said Savage, one of two hygienists at BFD. She said opening her own practice will help even out the flow of patients so that the three, four, and six-month recalls can all be on their desired/recommended schedule.

Savage said while hiring a third hygienist makes sense for BFD, in the past she has not enjoyed working in busy offices. “The appeal of Bethel is that it is small. I don’t want to ruin that appeal for the patient or for me.”

Savage will offer preventative services: cleanings, x-rays, sealants, fluoride treatments, and non-surgical periodontal treatments. Patients will book on-line until she can afford a receptionist.

Patients with and without insurance are welcome; she lists prices on her website.

Polished Dental is one of approximately 25 independent hygienist offices in Maine. Savage said the State authorizes dental hygienists to own and operate their own practice independently from a dentist with the goal being to reach a wider range of patients for preventative dental needs.

Patient of record

Savage stressed that it is important to continue to see your dentist annually to remain, “a patient of record.” Appointments with Savage might be every-other-visit, she suggested.

“Obviously if I see something when you’re with me, I would say, ‘ok it’s time to see [BFD dentist] Dr. Sapak … The whole goal is to not have dental pain, do it while it is inexpensive, before it is a blown-up problem,” she said.

The staff at BFD has been supportive and they are anxious to see some relief from the overload. She said the change will allow Jan Sapak to book new patients, too, something he can’t do now without available appointments for their corresponding cleanings.

Savage’s grandmother was not only her proudest patient, but was a Bethel business owner, too. For several years she worked alongside husband Don and other family operating Brooks Bros. Inc. It was in the 1920’s when Savage’s great grandfather founded the hardware store.

Today under different ownership, Brooks Bros. Inc. looks much as it once did and is still a Bethel Village mainstay. “I know every where those floors creak,” said Savage.

When Savage worked in Conway, NH, her mother, Donna Brooks; sister, Meagan Lunney; and niece Olivia Lunney travelled over to have their teeth cleaned. Her grandmother, Eleanor Brooks was there, too.

A photograph taken that day will hang in Savage’s new space on Mayville Road.

The public is invited to an open house on August 1, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Polished Dental, 44 Mayville Rd. Come to enter a raffle, schedule an appointment, meet Savage and see the new office. www.polisheddentalmaine.com; (207) 824-1079.