Mili and Sachin Patel started with three operatories in Dade City. Two decades, 60 practices and one Heartland Dental deal later, their most useful invention may be the operating system behind the drills.
Bright Now! Dental is one of the largest affordable dental care brands in the United States, operating a network of roughly 160 affiliated offices across about a dozen states. Backed by parent company Smile Brands Inc., it offers general dentistry, orthodontics, cosmetic care, implants, clear aligners and emergency services, with evening and weekend hours, financing options and an in-house OneSmile discount plan designed to make routine and specialty dentistry accessible to families who might otherwise skip the dentist.
Sarika Sood is a DDS practicing in Hayward, California, where she works as a Director of Care with Bright Now! Dental, the patient-facing brand of Smile Brands. She trained at MRA Dental College in India and built her chairside career across Northern California, focused on the kind of community-rooted general and cosmetic dentistry that keeps a retail dental office humming.