Soni and Snipes bring more than 40 years in orthodontics to partnership

Apr. 1—Between them, Dr. Parag Soni and Dr. Brad Snipes have a combined 44 years of orthodontics experience in Dalton.

"We were competitors for years and now we are partners," said Soni. "We've always had a great relationship even though we were competitors. Now, it's great to be working together."

Orthodontists are dentists who specialize in the alignment of teeth, and provide services dealing with issues such as crooked teeth, crowded teeth, misaligned teeth, overbites and underbites.

The two have combined their practices and joined Smile Doctors (smiledoctors.com), a dental service organization that includes 370 locations in 27 states. A dental service organization provides business support such as billing, human resources, information technology and payroll to dental and orthodontics practices.

"We think being with Smile Doctors provides a better experience for patients, better experience for doctors," said Soni.

"It helps us be able to focus more on patients," said Snipes.

"I ran a practice by myself for 26, 27 years," said Snipes. "Smile Doctors lets you give up some of the administrative aspects, do some of the back office work for you. It lets me concentrate on seeing patients, which is the part of orthodontics I really love. It has been a great fit."

The two have an office at 1205 W. Walnut Ave. in Dalton.

"We also have offices in Calhoun and Fort Oglethorpe, and we rotate through those offices," said Snipes. "It is working out fantastically."

Soni joined Smile Doctors five years ago. The organization was founded by two orthodontists that both men have known for years.

"We discussed Dr. Snipes joining with me at that time," Soni said. "It took a few years, but it has been a natural fit."

Soni graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in 2002 and completed his residency at the University of Florida. While at Florida he taught at the St. Petersburg College of Dental Hygiene. He completed his three-year orthodontics residency at St. Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx, New York, before moving to Dalton in 2007.

Snipes graduated from the Medical College of Georgia and completed a residency at Baylor College of Dentistry in Texas.

"Working together has made us better orthodontists," said Soni. "We have another orthodontist here in the office to talk to and to consult with. I know that I have an excellent doctor who can check everything that I do. We both want to go above and beyond for every patient, and we are always encouraging each other. That's fantastic for our patients."

Having two orthodontists also makes it easier for patients to see a doctor. "We can see more patients," Soni said. "We can spend more time with patients."

"Our office is open more now than it was when we were practicing alone," said Snipes. "We've got more days open, more hours, so there's more times for patients to come in."

Snipes said their primary patients are still children and adolescents.

"But we do a ton of adult orthodontics," he said. "I saw someone the other day who was 70 years old who had a couple of teeth that were shifting and didn't like it. We see the whole spectrum."

"We believe that no matter how old you are you deserve a beautiful smile," said Soni. "It's never too late."

The Dalton office is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.