THE CARIBBEAN BUSINESS REPORT
Celebrity dentist: Crown Heights orthodontist
brings smiles to community, clients
By Alexandra Simon
A young and hip Brooklyn
dentist loves to bring the
smiles to her Crown Heights
community, as much as she
fixes them. Dr. Barbara Peterson,
affectionately known as
Dr. Bobbi, has been practicing
dentistry for about 15 years. An
orthodontist as well, she runs
her Rutland Road clinic, Aces
Braces — providing all sorts
of dental needs and improvements.
The New Jersey-born and
raised doctor, now a resident
of Bedford-Stuyvesant, has
lived and practiced in Brooklyn
since 2003. Being all too
familiar with the invasiveness
that her career demands, Dr.
Bobbi aims to create a relaxed
environment that eases white
coat syndrome, she said.
“I think there’s this fear of
coming to the dentist simply
because someone may have
had a bad experience when they
were younger, or someone else
they know had a bad experience
— but I want my patients
to know that I feel their pain,”
she said.
She employs a staff of 12,
which includes her mother and
daughter, and a pair of sisters.
A combination that helps the
clinic easily build and maintain
the family environment
she loves.
“I love the environment
we’ve created here because one
of the challenges i had when
open my old office was getting
reliant stuff,” said Dr. Bobbi.
“But I have a staff right now
that is absolutely and insanely
perfect, and I couldn’t ask for a
better staff.”
She relates to the average
dental patient more than they
may expect, and because of her
intimate experience as both a
patient and doctor — she prioritizes
CGID asks Guyana’s Coalition gov’t to reject no confidence vote
Caribbean L 26 ife, Jan. 4–10, 2019
client comfortability.
“In general, I don’t like dentists
either,” she laughed. “It’s
an experience where a stranger
invades your personal space,
and I want people to know that
I know that pain, and that by
coming here — I try to make
the experience as pleasant as
possible.”
As a result, her clinic exemplifies
that. Dr. Bobbi prides
herself on being in tune with
current trends and culturally
relevant history and pop culture,
by adorning her practice’s
walls with photos of mostly
famous black figures and entertainers.
And her young patients
are huge fans of the visuals.
In addition to also being well
aware of the specific odors that
can trigger the fear of dentists,
her office’s use of scented
candles deodorizes Aces Braces
from the typical and distinct
dentist office smell.
But sharing some of the
fears her patients have do not
prevent her from loving her
job. A graduate of Howard University
in Washington, D.C.,
Dr. Bobbi enjoys interacting
with her clientele. From her
Caribbean-American patients
playing the guessing game on
where in the region she is
from, others assuming she is
a white male based on her
name, to putting a smile on
her younger visitors.
“There are a lot of things
that I love about being a dentist,”
said Dr. Bobbi. “I get a
lot of mixed reactions when
people actually see me, but
the reaction I get from seeing
actual patients — the kids and
teens — is priceless. They love
seeing me.”
Unlike many orthodontists,
Dr. Bobbi sees an even
number of children and adults
about braces, whereas most
orthodontists see children and
teens.
Being an orthodontist also
means she gets to interact
with patients in ways a lot of
nonsurgical dentists do not.
“I’m in an aspect of dentistry
where I see my patients
every month, so I get to bond
with them and ask them about
their birthday or prom, and I
get to form a personable type
of relationship with them,”
said Dr. Bobbi.
Prior to her current location,
the dentist had two past
clinics on Utica Avenue not
far away. But as her clientele
grew and wanting to avoid
the limitations that come with
being a renter, she purchased
the property on Rutland Road
between E. 95th and 96th
streets.
The moderately sized space
was personally designed by
Dr. Bobbi herself to give her
patients a bit more freedom
and space than usual.
“Each visit on average is
only a few minutes, so I didn’t
want a bunch of doors and
dividers, because patients get
out of the chair quickly so
that’s why I have it in an open
area,” she said.
But if patients want privacy,
they have the option in
a private space where she does
consultations and botox treatments.
Her office accepts most
insurances, and she offers
affordable payment plans for
patients paying out of pocket.
Aces Braces 1049 Rutland
Rd. between E. 94th and 95th
streets in Crown Heights,
(718) 989-1949, www.allthingsdrbobbi.
com. Open Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Fridays,
11 am–3 pm, Wednesdays, 10
am–5 pm, Thursday 11 am–7
pm, and every other Saturday,
11 am–3 pm.
Like a family: Her staff of a dozen, including her mother, apply a family-oriented atmosphere
that clients love. Photo by Alexandra Simon
Guyana constitution. Article
155.1 states that “No person
shall be qualified for election
as a member of the National
Assemble who: (a) “Is by virtue
of his or own act, under any
acknowledgment of allegiance,
obedience or adherence to a
foreign power or state.” Charrandas
Persaud is a citizen of
Canada, assumption on which
he took an oath of allegiance
to Queen Elizabeth II. He was
therefore not qualified to be a
member of parliament.
(iii) There is mounting evidence
that Charrandas Persaud,
opposition politicians and persons
in the business community
conspired to overthrow the
democratically elected government
of Guyana. The conspiracy
involved using Charrandas
Persaud’s no confidence vote to
bring down the government. The
opposition PPP allegedly engineered
the payment of a multimillion
dollar bribe to Persaud
for his vote. When this information
became public, he admitted
the bribe, saying in a Facebook
post, “So what if I was paid?”
Bribing a member of parliament
is a crime under the Laws of
Guyana Criminal Offences Act
Chapter 8:01. Sections 336 and
338. The Speaker or the courts
will now have to make a determination
about this alleged corrupt
transaction. The Guyana
Police Force has launched an
investigation in this treasonous,
bribery transaction.
CGID therefore resolutely
rejects the notion that the
will of the people of Guyana,
expressed through the 2015
general elections, and a democratically
elected government
should be terminated on the
basis of a criminal act and a
vote that violated Article 155.
1 (a) and Article 156.3 (a) and
(b) of the constitution. Moreover,
there are serious questions
about whether the confidence
was passed by the legally
required number of votes. “A
corrupt tree cannot bring forth
good fruit.”
CGID therefore calls on
Speaker of the National Assembly,
Dr. Barton Scotland, to
nullify the no confidence vote,
as Parliament cannot violate
the constitution. CGID also
calls on the people of Guyana
to stand and rise up their voices
in rejection of the attempt
to overthrow their duly elected
government.
Rickford Burke
President of the Guyana Institute
for Democracy (CGID)
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