Watch: A Tour of Riverwalk Family Dental with Dr. Jill and Dr. Angelica

In this Living in Naperville episode, host Dan Firks visits Riverwalk Family Dental in the heart of downtown Naperville with co-owners Dr. Jill and Dr. Angelica. They talk through the practice’s history and move downtown, play a lighthearted get-to-know-each-other game, and give a tour of the office, its technology, and the visiting specialists.

Read the full local highlight on Riverwalk Family Dental →

Video Transcript

Dan Firks: Today we’re at Riverwalk Family Dental, where I have the pleasure of meeting with Dr. Jill and Dr. Angelica, two separate entities that work together in perfect harmony, keeping Naperville smiling. Let’s check it out. Good afternoon, ladies, how are you doing? Angelica, how are you today?

Dr. Angelica: Oh, thank you very much, thanks for having me today.

Dan Firks: I’m excited to get to know you and your business a little bit better.

Dr. Jill: Happy to have you.

Dan Firks: Excellent. Ladies, I’d like to start with a little bit of history about your dental practice here in downtown Naperville. Where did you guys used to be located? Wasn’t it just a couple blocks away?

Dr. Angelica: Yes, not too far. We started off in Naperville close to downtown, but just on the outskirts, on Aurora and Webster. It was an older house, like a 100-year-old home. We were looking for a new place because we knew we needed more space, and while we were looking, we saw that Naperville didn’t have the 5,000 or 6,000 square feet we were looking for. So we used a commercial realtor, and he found us this beautiful property we’re at right now.

Dan Firks: It looks quite different from what it was. But the original office was a great foundation to start your business and grow your practice. You’re already starting to build relationships here in Naperville, that’s wonderful.

Dr. Jill: Absolutely. I think that’s the core of our business: building relationships, getting to know our patients, and treating them like family. As we started off, we quickly grew out of that space and found that we needed a bigger one.

Dan Firks: And it’s modern and up to date, and I love it. I’ve been coming here for years, and it’s just an amazing practice to be in. Thank you so much for building this in the heart of downtown Naperville. So I’m thinking what we might do is play a little game. I’ve never done this on Living in Naperville. It’s called How Well Do You Know Each Other. You guys up for that?

Dr. Jill: Sure, let’s do it.

Dan Firks: Here’s how it’s going to go. I’m going to ask a question, and you’re going to write down what you think your partner’s answer is going to be. Does that work? All right, no cheating now. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a long day here at the office?

Dr. Jill: Relax with the family, and with Oscar.

Dan Firks: Who’s Oscar?

Dr. Jill: Oscar is my 14-pound Yorkie.

Dan Firks: Well loved, well loved. And where’s the family, Angelica? Are you local?

Dr. Angelica: Yes, I am. I live about 6 minutes from here.

Dan Firks: Nice, best commute, right?

Dr. Angelica: Best commute ever. I planned it that way.

Dan Firks: Next question: what is her favorite snack during a busy day at work? You guys have the same snack?

Dr. Angelica: This is an easy one, I got this one. Pretzels and hummus. That is me, because she’s pretzels and peanut butter.

Dan Firks: All right, next question, ladies: one word that would describe yourself?

Dr. Jill: Dedicated.

Dr. Angelica: Passionate.

Dan Firks: You guys are a perfect team, I love it. So if you weren’t a dentist, what would you be doing as a dream job?

Dr. Jill: I said a pastry chef.

Dr. Angelica: A pilot. That is totally my chosen profession. I was always so amazed by planes.

Dan Firks: What is your favorite dental procedure?

Dr. Angelica: Cosmetic procedures, 100%.

Dan Firks: Next question: who is more organized?

Dr. Jill: We both said neither of us, so there’s a lot of moving parts all day. It’s tough.

Dr. Angelica: We were working together, not as owners, at another practice. I was always going to do my own thing. From day one I was looking for practices to buy, and one day I happened to be looking at the computer right next to her at work, and she just goes, hey, would you want a partner? And I’m like, sure, and that was it. From that day on, we started looking at practices together. We came across our original building, and we were going to see it, so we were meeting there. She pulls up, and then I pull up, and I ask, how long did it take you to get here? And she says it was 32 miles from home, and I was like, oh my gosh, it was 33 for me. It was the perfect meeting, the perfect mix. She is a south-sider and I am a north-sider, and this was our perfect middle, so we kind of took it as a sign.

Dan Firks: Ladies, thanks for playing that little game. Let’s talk a little bit more about the business. Being here in the heart of downtown Naperville, what are your favorite things to do?

Dr. Angelica: The kids love going to Naper Nuts & Sweets, they love Anderson’s Bookshop, and they’ll spend time at the library sometimes. They love Pro Image Sports, if you know what that is. We’re a big sports family, so they love buying jerseys and hats and all sorts of things there. You never have to leave town, there’s plenty to do here.

Dan Firks: Plenty to do living in Naperville. Dr. Jill, what’s your favorite thing down here?

Dr. Jill: I would have to say I’m kind of a sucker for the shops. I like to bring my family down here, my kids love coming down here, and there’s a great energy that the downtown has. Molly’s Cupcakes is a big hot spot for me and my kids. Really great vibe and energy down here.

Dan Firks: I would love to take a tour, is that in your schedule for today?

Dr. Jill: Sure, let’s go. So these are just some awards that we were nominated for by our peers, a top dentist award, and we’ve had a few years in a row of runners-up for Naperville Magazine’s Best of Naperville. This is the start of the clinical part of our office, where we have seven operatories where we see our patients.

Dan Firks: Is any room different than the other?

Dr. Angelica: Yes, so some of the rooms we strictly use for teeth cleanings, and some of the rooms are geared more toward procedures. But each room has a TV, which is nice, so we can ease some fears. We can pull the TV up and over, and you can watch a movie.

Dan Firks: That’s the best part, the screen comes right over when you’re working on us, and we can watch a little Netflix.

Dr. Angelica: A lot of the kids like to watch cartoons too, which probably chills them out, so they’re not so stressed and it gets their mind off it. This room is typically mine, and this one is Dr. Jill’s. We call hers the country club room because she’s got all the windows; that’s the shortest one, and I’ve got the biggest room. We also have a little technology in this room. We have Zoom Whitening, and an intraoral scanner we sometimes use on our patients.

Dan Firks: What is that? Tell me a little bit about it.

Dr. Angelica: So we’ve used that to replace conventional impressions, which I think is kind of a struggle for a lot of patients. It comes in handy for a lot of different cases, but we use it a lot for things like Invisalign. And this is our sterilization area, it has all different stations, everything neatly organized inside. This is where you clean out the tools, and it goes from dirty, crosses over the sink to clean, and then to even cleaner.

Dan Firks: This is a very interesting machine. Tell me what this item does.

Dr. Angelica: So this is our 3D imaging, it’s called the Panoramic X-Ray. It’s nice for kids with small mouths, as well as for seeing pathology. It’s an x-ray of your entire jaw. Sometimes we can’t see things on the little x-rays we take, so it gives us a more in-depth, general view, a step back versus being so detailed. Here at Riverwalk we also have two specialists that come in. There’s a root canal specialist, Dr. Beth Damas, as well as an implant specialist, Dr. Carl Leonard, and about once a month they come in and take care of our patients in-house. That’s one of our greatest offerings, keeping patients comfortable by having them come to a familiar place to see these specialists.

Dr. Jill: One thing that sets us apart, Dan, is our ability to educate our patients. We take the time to do the best quality care we possibly can, and all of the dentists here have many years of experience, we’re about 20 years in practice. So we believe very strongly in continuing education and keeping up with the latest technologies. Our patients who come here truly get the best dental experience possible.

Dan Firks: Be sure to like and subscribe to get updates on our next episode, and for all your real estate needs, please visit Naperville.com.

Read the full local highlight on Riverwalk Family Dental in Naperville →