There are a few names that come to mind when thinking of professionals who are active in the Lynbrook community. One of these names is Dr. Todd Kshonz, a dentist. Working at his practice that has been in Lynbrook for 26 years, he also has a goal to break stigmas along with motivating and mentoring the next generation of dentists.
Kshonz started his practice from the bottom by working for another practice to next starting his own near what is now the Regal Movie Theaters. After a few years, he moved locations to where he is currently: 142 Union Avenue. “After a couple of years of being by the movie theater, I outgrew the location,” said Kshonz. “Then [the current location] came up for sale, and I said, ‘Alright. Let’s take the gamble,’ and it was great.” A goal for the family-centric practice is to make everyone who walks through the doors feel like family and to welcome community members into their home. The devoted and loyal staff have been by Kshonz’ s side for over a decade – some as long as 18 years – and they work to make every patient as comfortable as possible.
Kshonz did not always know that his passion would be dentistry. He said that he excelled in the sciences in his junior and senior years of high school. Knowing he wanted to be some sort of doctor, he volunteered in a dental office during college. The office worked with patients who had limited access to dental care due to financial problems or the inability to travel to the dentist. While volunteering in the office for a summer while in college, Kshonz discovered his passion and future profession. “I thought what they were doing there was spectacular…I was like, ‘This is going to be for me.’ It combined my affinity for science and my hand-eye skills, and I thought it was going to be a great profession. And it is,” Kshonz recalled.
Kshonz is active in the Lynbrook community, from mentoring students and young people in his office to coaching baseball. Some of these acts of service come as traditions, like the annual Halloween Candy Buy-Back. The event was started by a dentist in the Midwest, and it was later adopted by Kshonz. The day after the candy-filled holiday, adults and children come into the office to weigh the amount of candy that they have collected. For every pound of candy donated, Kshonz gives out a dollar. After the long day of weighing bags of candy, the process is done. Kshonz sends out the candy to a processing center in California, where it is then sent to military personnel around the country. Not only is the office giving back to soldiers throughout the country, but Kshonz sees it as an opportunity for children to get a “feel-good” and welcoming vibe from his office. The Halloween Candy Buy-Back has been a tradition for over a decade.
Kshonz gets involved in other activities to help the community as well. When his children were younger, he coached a variety of sports teams, ranging from soccer to CYO basketball and baseball. As his children got older, he began to take on helping with even more activities.
“Basically, I like giving back to the community, so any type of sport or event that they need either some personal time from me to volunteer or something else, I’m happy to contribute,” said Kshonz. He sponsors local teams like t-ball and Lynbrook and Hewlett football, lacrosse, and tennis teams. “Any team that’s going to come and ask me to be a sponsor, I’m more than willing to help them,” added Kshonz.
Kshonz also mentors high school students in dentistry. Students from both LHS and Hewlett High School volunteer in his office. Kshonz teaches students about dentistry and has a mentorship program where students stay for different periods of time, ranging from weeks to months, and are taught office skills and about dentistry. Some students who have been mentored by Kshonz have become dentists and opened their own practices in the city as well as in other states. Kshnoz also teaches classes as a residency program. He describes his mentoring as “gratifying” and said he likes to be around younger people and to teach them.
Every year, Kshonz goes to the Kindergarten Center to speak at its annual career day. He says that there was a time before Covid when kindergarteners would come to his office for different interactive activities in order to teach them about dentistry. The children would be broken up into smaller groups and sent to different stations. One would be a short presentation by Kshonz, and another was playing dentist games; students would even get the opportunity to do dental crafts. Kshonz saw this as an opportunity to help young children to no longer be scared or nervous about going to the dentist. By using creative activities and approaching them in a friendly and warm way, he showed that dentists are not as scary as some may think.
Kshonz has been a part of the Lynbrook community for a long time and has made an impact on many young adults along the way. He sees helping the community as an important part of his profession and something that he enjoys. “I find that everyone who’s in town, whether it’s Lynbrook, East Rockaway, Hewlett, or Valley Stream, is really nice and lovely. My patients love going to the dentist, and that’s all I really want. We try to treat every person who comes in like family members, and that’s the type of pride we want to have,” Kshonz said while smiling.
