Meet Our Team

  • Dawn
    Practice Manager

    Dawn comes to us with over 20 years of experience in the dental field. Throughout her career, she has excelled at many different positions within the office, both clinical and administrative. A skilled DANB Dental Assistant with X-ray license, she enjoys helping the staff be the best they can be, while ensuring patients achieve their dental needs from scheduling to payment options.  

    Dawn grew up in Holbrook, NY graduating from the Sachem School District. She has a daughter, Jocelyne (24) who is a tattoo artist in NYC, a 16-year-old cat named Moe, and enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Her happy place is the beach, where she could easily live a simple life in a camper. Her favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, because it brings family and friends together to enjoy each other’s company around great food.  

  • Nichole
    Lead Treatment Plan Coordinator

    Nichole joined our team in July 2017. She began working at her childhood family dentist when she was only 16 years old. From that point forward, she was determined and driven to grow as a dental professional. Nichole has been expanding her knowledge in the dental field for over 20 years. With her exceptional customer service skills and expertise in all aspects of dental billing, coding and treatment planning, Nichole is well on her way to achieving her main goal – providing our patients with the sincerest care and exceptional customer service. Nichole loves to give all she can to the needs of our patients while handling all large treatment plan cases. If a patient has any questions regarding their insurance and the best way to utilize benefits, Nicole is the perfect person to ask!

    In her spare time, Nichole enjoys being in her garden, spending quality time with her son, cooking, having family dinners at her house, going to the beach, listening to music, and going on bike rides and hikes with her son.

  • Lori
    Lead Administrative Assistant / Scheduling Coordinator

    Lori grew up in Commack and has lived in the Commack area for 45 years. She has been married to her wonderful husband Ronnie for over 20 years and they have two amazing children. Lori was a meeting planner for a pharmaceutical advertising agency in the city for many years until she started her family. After being a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, she decided to work for a local preschool, where she has been able to share her love for children for the past 7 years. Lori’s warm and friendly demeanor along with her strong work ethic, will add to our already top-notch staff and wonderful front desk. Lori loves spending time with her family, connecting with her friends, walking her dog Roxy and reading a great book.

  • Dawn
    Administrative Assistant / Insurance Coordinator

    For the past 10 years, Dawn has been in the dental field, first starting out as a dental assistant, then branching out and expanding her knowledge to the financial end of dentistry at the front desk. Dawn’s consistent, nurturing personality drives her desire to be compassionate to the patients’ needs. For Dawn, true satisfaction occurs when she’s exceeded the patients’ expectations.  One of Dawn’s greatest assets is her expertise and knowledge of insurance plans. She loves helping patients with their insurance questions and benefit plans. In her free time, Dawn is an independent jewelry consultant for Swarovski Crystal where she enjoys party planning for her hosts.Dawn is also a mom and loves spending time with her daughter, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends.

  • Raine
    Director of Accounts and Billing

    Raine joined our team in 2021 and fit right into place. She was born and raised in Hawaii and moved to New York in 2013. You will often see Raine greet you as walk into the office. Raine's great customer service came from her management duties in retail for many years before she was trained in the dental field. Since 2017, she immersed herself in the dental field and Raine has since graduated from SUNY OLD Westbury in 2020 where she earned a BA in Politics, Economics and Law. She's a mother to a beautiful baby girl and another baby boy on the way. Whatever spare time Raine has, when she's not studying for the bar exam, she likes spending time with her fiancé and her daughter. Good luck to Raine as she hopes to enter law school in the fall of 2022. 

  • Patti
    Administrative Assistant

    Patti is our newest employee and brings with her an extensive knowledge in business. She most recently comes to us from Catholic Health Services where she worked as a Financial Clearance Representative verifying insurance and authorizations for upcoming surgeries for St Charles; St Catherine of Siena; St Frances and Good Samaritan hospital. Patti started her career as a real estate agent where she developed and grew to the position of Regional Manager of 9 offices for DeSimone/Better homes & Gardens. She later went on to open her own business A1 Prime Properties Real Estate where she was successful in helping many families with their real estate needs. Patti’s passion to help patients started when she wanted to learn something new and was offered the position of supervisor of outpatient registrations, Emergency Dept at Southside Hospital NSLIJ. Her business background led her to want to learn financial services. She later took a position at Northwell Health where she oversaw insurance verifications and authorizations for two practice offices. She is so happy to be part of this amazing team at Dr. Helfner’s office! She is looking forward to helping patients with their insurance needs! In her spare time, she still loves real estate, yoga and spending time with friends and family!

  • Helen
    Registered Dental Hygienist

    Helen joined Dr. Helfner’s team in 2002. She holds a BS degree in Economics from NYIT and is a graduate of the Farmingdale State College School of Dental Hygiene. Helen is a New York State provider of infection control training for healthcare professionals in addition to writing a bi-monthly blog for Infectioncontrolcourse.org, pertaining to the field of infection control in health care settings. As an American Heart Association Instructor, Helen teaches courses in basic life support to other health professionals. She is actively involved in continuing education, participating in numerous study groups to stay up to date in the latest research and clinical practices in dentistry. Helen is a passionate educator, instructing her patients about the benefits of optimal oral health and its positive effects on overall health. When she is not working Helen enjoys spending time with her family and being outdoors, biking, kayaking, running, and hiking.

  • Sarah
    Registered Dental Hygienist

    Sarah has been in the dental field for more than fifteen years. After working as a dental assistant for ten years, Sarah graduated from the State University of New York at Farmingdale as a dental hygienist where she earned the prestigious Guggenheim award for excellence and proficiency in the profession of dental hygiene. Sarah was also an active member of the Student American Dental Hygiene Association where she was a historian and helped with organizing fundraisers & functions. Sarah joined our practice in 2009 and has been an instrumental team player ever since. She is very warm and compassionate, always putting the comfort of her patients before anything else. Having grown up on Fire Island, Sarah has a love for the beach and enjoys visiting there when she can. Sarah is married and has a beautiful son, Kyle, and just recently added a baby girl, Hailey, to their family. Sarah has a philanthropic side to her as well. She has participated in Relay for Life, Give Kids a Smile Day, and volunteered at the Cancer Walk in Farmingdale.

  • Amanda
    Registered Dental Hygienist

    Amanda’s passion for dentistry started when she was a child and first started going to dentist appointments with her mother. She was always fascinated by the tools and techniques the staff would use during her visit and she quickly knew that she wanted to be a hygienist as she grew older. Starting as a receptionist in a dental office, and working her way up to dental assistant, office manager, and finally as a hygienist after graduating from SUNY Farmingdale in 2016. Amanda thoroughly enjoys educating patients on proper oral hygiene and loves seeing them visit after visit. Patients love her for her outgoing and bubbly personality and the gentle care she takes with their children as well. While not working Amanda enjoys having her toes in the sand with a good book and a beautiful Long Island sunset.

  • Marianne
    Registered Dental Hygienist

    Marianne has an Associate's Degree in Dental Hygiene from the State University of New York in Farmingdale and has been a practicing Dental Hygienist for the past twenty-nine years. After graduating from dental hygiene school, she pursued a Bachelor's degree in Health Care Management from St. Joseph's College while volunteering at Mather Hospital to screen newborns for hearing problems, and teaching dental hygiene to new mothers at Regina's Residence. Marianne is committed to making every dental visit a positive and comfortable experience for everyone she meets. She stays up to date on her continuing education and participates in study groups for Dental Hygiene. 

    She enjoys spending time with her husband, Michael and two teenage boys, Daniel and Noah. She volunteers a lot of her time to the Special Education PTA in the West Islip School District, where she has held a position on the board for the past few years and is responsible for fundraising & organizing events. She enjoys traveling, walking, biking, yoga and visiting family and friends.

  • Doreen
    Dental Assistant

    Doreen has been Dr. Helfner’s invaluable dental assistant since 1999. When Dr. Helfner first met her, she knew Doreen was talented. At a very young age, Doreen had already worked with many dental specialties including periodontics, oral surgery and orthodontics in addition to her extensive work with general dentistry. Doreen loves being a part of the team and she and Dr. Helfner have become like family. When Doreen is not working, she enjoys spending time with her beautiful family including her husband Nick, her adorable daughters, Ava and Bella, and her pet boxer, Roxie. Doreen also loves hanging out with friends and playing cards. Her favorite foods are Mexican and Italian, specifically foods with lots of cheese. Two of her favorite movies are Grease and Overboard. It’s no wonder that everyone who knows Doreen loves Doreen. She is genuine, compassionate and has such a big heart. A few years ago, Doreen donated nearly a foot of her hair to Locks of Love. In 2014, Doreen suggested to Dr. Helfner that the office participate in the Adopt-A-Family program during the holidays. It wound up being a tremendous success as the office “adopted” two families. She is a very special asset to this practice.

  • Yolanda
    Dental Assistant

    Yolanda started working for Dr. Helfner in January 2015. Yolanda may be new to the practice but not to the field of dentistry as she has been a dental assistant for the past twelve years and loves all aspects of dentistry.When not at work Yolanda enjoys spending time with her husband Paul and her Puggle, Jax. She also enjoys cooking, taking walks, and travel. 

  • Eudora
    Administrative Assistant / Dental Assistant

    Eudora has been a dental professional for over thirty years with expertise in the areas of general dentistry, cosmetics, periodontics, orthodontics and pediatrics. Eudora has joined our team in 2021 in a dual role within administration and dental assisting. When Eudora is not at work, she enjoys movies, cooking, dancing and spending time with her family. Eudora has been happily married for 26 years. She's happy to be a part of such awesome team where she's found her new home!

Our Location

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Hours of Operation

Our Regular Schedule

Monday:

9:30 am-7:00 pm

Tuesday:

9:00 am-6:30 pm

Wednesday:

9:30 am-6:30 pm

Thursday:

9:30 am-7:00 pm

Friday:

8:30 am-2:00 pm

Saturday:

8:30 am-2:00 pm

Sunday:

Closed