Our Staff

My name is Joni and I have had the pleasure to be part of Team Ames for 8 years. As a dental hygienist and former certified dental assistant I have been exposed to many phases of dentistry. I have certification in Orthodontics, Brite Smile in-office Tooth Whitening and CPR. My primary focus is on prevention. I love to work with people. My patience with one-on-one patient homecare instruction enables me to formulate an individualized plan to help improve or maintain our patients' gingival health. I perform deep scaling and root planing on patients with deep gingival pocketing. I also place a slow release antibiotic in deep pockets which promotes pocket healing. Most of the time these procedures (in addition to regular periodontal maintenance visits and great home care) mean no need for periodontal surgery! I feel blessed to be part of Dr Ames' state of the art practice which shares my values and encourages my continued professional growth.

On a personal note I am married and have one son. I have two cute Italian Greyhounds, Luigi and Guiseppe. I enjoy power boating and am a league bowler. I love my volunteer work at the Serving Our Savior Feeding Ministry in Babylon Village as well as being a member of my church choir.

My name is Barbara . I received training in Dental Lab Technology through the L.A. Wilson Technological Center (1977), and went on to work in a Dental Lab.  Having been presented with a better opportunity, I joined Underwriters Laboratories in Melville and worked my way up through the File/Mail Department, switchboard operator, engineering aide, secretary to Associate Managing Engineer, Engineering Assistant, in charge of Document Control System (maintaining clerical papers) for the Quality Assurance Department.

After 25 years I left Underwriters Laboratories to be a stay-at-home mom for my only child (Brenton) who is now almost 15 years old. I have been happily married for 25 years to my high school sweetheart, Scott. We enjoy spending time with our son and traveling when we can.

I have been a patient of Dr. Ames for many years and through the years of friendly chair side chats she discovered that I had a background in the dental field. Over the years Dr. Ames would ask me to join her team but I declined, as I wanted to be at home with my young son.

About 4 years ago Dr. Ames asked me again if I would be interested in joining her team. I hesitated but discussed it with my family and decided I would give it a try. Almost 4 years later, I have happily discovered how interesting and fulfilling the field of dentistry is and I am so grateful that Dr. Ames has taken me under her wing to teach me the latest dental techniques. Through her patience and guidance, a whole new world is unfolding continues to unfold before me and I feel that I have a new purpose in my life.
For the first time in my life I enjoy going to work. Everyday I learn something new. It is an honor to work with such a dedicated and professional group of women who share the same values both personally and professionally. Our team is always there to make a patients' dental experiences as pleasant as possible. We have wonderful, warm and friendly patients and we look forward to seeing them.

My name is Marion  I have been married for 32 years to a great guy and have 3 daughters. I am a certified Dental assistant but found that I enjoy the administrative part of the office much more. I have lived in many parts of the country and I taught pre-school for 7 years. Nine years ago we moved back to long Island. I have been back in the dental world ever since. I have worked with Doctor Ames for 3 years, but my family have been her patients for 9 years.

From the moment you enter the office, we aim to cultivate a warm, professional and caring atmosphere. We all strive to make your trip to the dentist a pleasant experience.
The staff is certified in CPR and we are all encouraged to pursue many up to date continuing education courses. Christine and I have taken a 2 day computer program course in New York City so we can maximize your insurance benefits electronically. This also helps us keep accurate records of your finances so when it comes to tax time, we are able to provide up to date records for your convenience. When the need arises to visit a specialist, we have the ability to e-mail your digital x-ray directly to the doctors for review.
The office is constantly pursuing new techniques and Dr. Ames encourages us all to strengthen our skills and expand our knowledge. That's what is so great about working with Dr. Ames.

Cindy

My degree may be in dental hygiene but my passion for the health field runs deep.

My job goes far beyond dental hygiene. To me, my job is to listen to my patient, care deeply, serve and educate them with all my integrity.

I have been practicing dental hygiene for 27 years. I worked for a prosthodontist for 16 years in Great Neck and have worked with several periodontists as well. I left my job of 16 years to come work for Dr. Ames because our core values in life and for our patients are the same; we work from our hearts.

I have been working with Dr. Ames for 11 years now. She has given me the opportunity to learn CPR, Teeth Whitening (Brite Smile), Orthodontics, Oral Conscious Sedation. Most importantly, she has given me the time and support I need to make a difference in our patients' lives. Whereas many offices have a 30 minute in-and-out "cleaning," our standard is a full hour which allows me to be thorough, help patients relax, (I often do such things as placing lavender at my patients' temples to help relax them), and to teach patients how to continue to improve their hygiene skills at home. I enjoy helping make a difference in their lives.

Biomimetics is the latest advancement in dentistry. Both Dr. Ames and I believe in keeping dentistry to a minimum, that is, maintaining as much of the patient's natural tooth structure as possible: minimally invasive dentistry.

I have helped many patients avoid the periodontist (and associated gum surgery) through scaling and root planning, placement of antiobiotics in deep pockets, and educating patients how to fine tune their home care of their teeth and gums.

I travel to many cities in an effort to attend many continuing education courses including anything from Periodontal treatment and orthodontics to the detection of oral cancer to pharmacology, including the latest drug interactions in the dental field.

My favorite patient is the apprehensive, frightened patient. I love being able to relax them and reassure them that they are in best hands possible.

My interest and passion for the health field has only grown over the past few years.

I have an extensive and growing knowledge of the health sciences. As a hobby, I love to study all the fascinating fields, in particular, holistic health and herbology.

On the personal side, I love working with children and have been doing so since high school. I am a fitness instructor, martial arts instructor, and a personal trainer in a few local gyms. I have also been teaching martial arts for 11 years at a local Tae Kwon Do school.

God gave me one wonderful son who is an awesome athlete and outstanding student.

I live in a wonderful home in East Northport which is surrounded by nature to feed my soul. I try to spend as many relaxing hours there as possible. I love to ski, run, bicycle, and hike and am currently learning to play tennis.