FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – For years, Prosthodontists Fernando and Adriana Padron have been committed to giving Clay County residents the smile they’ve always wanted, and more.
The husband and wife are now thriving with their own dentistry in Fleming Island, Doctors Lake Family Dental, which they recently acquired.
The secret to success? Their practice is a one-stop shop.
It’s a dentistry for regular cleanings and checkups, and where they use their advanced training, to completely reconstruct a person’s mouth.
News4JAX show director Matt Harms recently had his first visit to see Doctors Fernando and Adriana Padron after losing nearly all his teeth to diabetes.
Harms did not know he had diabetes until he experienced a worsening cut on his foot, which quickly led to a leg amputation.
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Fernando Padron said complex cases like Harms’ are when his and his wife’s skills as prosthodontists become life-changing.
“Sometimes we take for granted the fact that smile,” Padron said. “It’s a different person when they were able to give them back that smile. How they change? More opportunities come to their you know, the door. They find jobs, relate better to people, find a partner, eat better. It’s so important.”
Adriana Padron said their goal is to provide their patients with the perfect environment.
“Not only for general dentistry, but also for the prosthetic side and the surgical side. So we are expanding the office,” she said.
Both Fernando and Adriana are from Venezuela, but didn’t meet until moving to Florida for their dental studies.
The Padrons said they’re still close friends with the practice’s original owner.
Dr. Dayn Boitet created the business more than 40 years ago.
He said he had a hunch that the Padrons were the right ones to take over, just a few months after meeting them.
“I could have actually done a lot better if I went the corporate route. But... it was more important to me that the right people be here taking care of my patients. I just, I love my patients. I was friends with lots of them, and I just didn’t want somebody to come in and ruin that relationship with people, because it was, you know, I always wanted to be where you were, like family, with them.”
With their own young family in tow, and extended family in town. The Padrons have continued Dr. Boitet’s community impact and the tradition of giving back.
Meanwhile, Harms has had a couple more visits to the Padrons’ dentistry, and the doctors said he should have a brand new smile around the end of October — for free.