After Crossing America, Dentist Finds Success in Peachtree Corners

He tried Alaska. He tried Florida. But Peachtree Corners is where Dr. Aristo Shyn has found success with his expanding Link Dental Care practice.

“I think a lot of things fell in place for me because Peachtree Corners turned out to be a great place for us,” said Shyn.

After eight years on Peachtree Parkway, Link Dental moved in December to a space roughly twice the size, with some state-of-the-art equipment, at 6270 Smithpointe Drive off Holcomb Bridge Road. There, Shyn and his staff of nine offer preventive care, crowns, bridges, cosmetic work, dentures and dental implants, and more.

Shyn was born in Missouri but was there only briefly, as his parents moved to Alaska to enjoy life in the great outdoors. “For the first few years, we actually lived in rural Alaska. It wasn’t even Anchorage, the big city,” he says. He still has fond memories of the moose, bears and, yes, even the snow. “It’s one of those things where, when you’re growing up there, you think that’s how things are,” he said. “But I miss it. I miss it a lot — just the nature and the animals.”

Alaska is where he also got a taste for golf and was good enough to consider going pro. The family made a move across the country, and America’s climate offerings, to Florida so he could pursue the sport. But then Shyn realized his calling was to follow in the footsteps of his father, who also was a general dentist. He attended school in the state at the University of North Florida and Nova Southeastern University.

“With regards to Georgia, I’m half-serious when I say I wanted to find a place somewhere between Alaska and Florida,” said Shyn. “One of my best friends from dental school happens to live in Georgia, and it was really on a whim to try it out.”

He came to metro Atlanta and began work in a group practice but knew that wasn’t his future. “Being part of a group practice in the corporate setting, that just wasn’t for me,” he said.

Shyn’s chance came when an existing practice came up for sale in Peachtree Corners. He bought it and opened Link Dental in 2013. As the business has grown, so has his family in Duluth, where he and his wife had a son in 2019 and have another child on the way.

Link Dental is something of a family business, too. Shyn’s mother Alicia stepped in as office manager in 2016 and has remained ever since. “To be honest with you, I never thought I’d say, ‘I go to work with my mom,’” he said. “... All the patients know her, and it wouldn’t be

By PTC Staff Photos by Richard Phillips

I think a lot of things fell in place for me because Peachtree Corners turned out to be a great place for us.

Dr. Aristo Shyn

Opposite page, Dr. Aristo Shyn with staff in the new offices of Link Dental. Top, Dr. Shyn gives a tour of his new expanded and technology integrated office space. Above, Alicia, Dr. Shyn’s mother, leads the front office staff as Office Manager.

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the same without her here.”

When it came time for business expansion, Shyn said, he first considered a satellite office, but discarded the idea because he wanted to retain “the intimate patient-doctor relationship” rather than having patients bouncing between locations and dentists.

The bigger and better office includes not only a lot more space, but new equipment, too. One Shyn points out is the Planmeca Ultra Low Dose imaging system – the device that takes those 2D and 3D pictures of the insides of your teeth and mouth. He says it produces high-quality images while exposing the patient to far less radiation than standard systems. He calls it “a piece of equipment you’ll typically see a specialist have… It hasn’t become the standard of care [yet], but we figured we’d get ahead of the curve on this.”

The new space also provides advantages in dealing with the current challenge for every business: the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our patients have coped as well as anyone could hope,” Shyn said of the pandemic. “We’ve been able to stay healthy and employed several countermeasures to keep everyone safe. We now have better isolated treatment rooms, nine air purifiers, an on-site washer/dryer and more space overall to social-distance.”

While enjoying his personal success, Shyn said, he is mindful of his dental school pledge to contribute to the local community. “I still take that to heart and am always grateful for being in a position to help others,” he said, citing volunteer dentistry at the Clarkston Community Health Center and work with Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries, which aids people in need of food, housing and other services.

With the move to the new space complete, Shyn is also recalling that the growth and patient satisfaction had “very humble beginnings” in the old space. “So one thing that I’m emphasizing to my staff and to myself, quite honestly, is, don’t forget where you came from and [that] all this fancy equipment doesn’t really make up for not treating the patients right or not getting the basics of the whole, overall patient experience,” he said. “So, I think there’s always going to be that humble side in me.”

For more about Link Dental Care, see linkdentalcare.com. ■

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