Highland Family Dentistry

Meet the Team

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Afnan Sweidan DDS

Dr. Sweidan completed dental school in 1996 at The University of Science and Technology in Jordan. In 1997, Dr. Sweidan moved to the United States and received her Doctorate of Dental Surgery from The University of Michigan in 2000. Dr. Sweidan has been practicing general dentistry since 2000.

Dr. Sweidan has been helping patients in the Highland area since 2002 and became sole owner of Highland Family Dentistry in 2005. Dr. Sweidan’s goal is to provide a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for her patients. It is important to her that she provides her patients with a complete understanding of the importance of good oral health.

It is also very important to Dr. Sweidan to remain current with advancing technology and the best possible dental products available on the market. Since 2005, she has renovated the office and implemented software that allows the office to be paperless and digital.

Dr. Sweidan lives in Ann Arbor with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She is very involved with her childrens education and extra curricular activities. Dr. Sweidan is truly dedicated to both her family and her dental family. 

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Tara Chwalek RDH

Tara graduated from Oakland Community College in 2003 with a degree in Dental Hygiene. Tara has worked with Dr. Sweidan for 14 years. It is important to Tara to understand her patients needs and concerns about their dental health. It is her goal to make her patients comfortable and at ease with their treatment. Tara continues to take formal continuing education courses and enjoys reading professional dental magazines to keep up with the ever changing dental developments.

Tara is active in the Highland/Milford community. She enjoys providing dental health education to pre-schoolers in the area during Dental Health Month in February.

Tara resides in Milford with her husband and two children. She enjoys spending time with family and friends.

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Sue Tyrrell RDH

Sue started her dental education in 1985 at Southwest Oakland Vocational Education Center earning a certificate in dental assisting. She instantly found dentistry fascinating and knew this was what she wanted to do in her life. Over the years she has performed a variety of duties including front office and hygiene assisting and then earned her dental hygiene degree in 2003 from Oakland Community College graduating Summa Cum Laude.

Sue loves helping and educating patients with their dental needs. Her primary mission is to make the patients feel relaxed, and comfortable. Along with calming any fears that they may have with using a gentle hand.

In her spare time Sue enjoys playing with her 1-year-old puppy, spending time with her friends, golfing and traveling to sunny destinations to unwind. She has been married for 29 years and loves spending time with her husband, 2 daughters, 3 granddaughters and her very large extended family. 

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Sandy Essian- Dental Assistant

Sandy started in the dental field 20+ years ago as a graduate of Macomb Community College for dental assisting. She spent a large portion of her career working for a large family practice in Waterford, Michigan and has since enjoyed assisting with Dr. Sweidan at Highland Family Dentistry.

Sandy is knowledgable and experienced in several different dental specialties including: general dentistry, orthodontics, periodontal assisting, and oral surgery.

Sandy enjoys working with people, especially children. As an assistant, Sandy strives to make each and every dental visit comfortable for each patient. Sandy will be more then happy to inform you about your treatment and answer any questions you may have. Sandy enjoys taking the time to explain all procedures in a way that is easily understood. 

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Kathy Pyden - Office Manager

With a combined 10 years of experience in the dental field, Kathy is able to help out in a variety of areas. You’ll see her mainly battling with insurance companies and every once in a while she might pop in to take an x-ray, or even greet you as you walk in. Sometimes she even deals with all the computer problems in the office.

When Kathy was in high school she worked in a dental office as part of a work study dental assistant program and has since moved into a front desk position and now an Office Manager position. She has been with our office since December of 2011.

Her family keeps her really busy with their outside actives and she enjoys golfing and scrapbooking.

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Danielle Schultz - Front Desk

When you visit our office, Danielle is one of the first smiles that you will see. She is there to schedule appointments, help with insurance questions, check your medical history, and answer any questions that you might have. She also assist our patients with financial details of their care so they can get optimum dental health.

After high school, Danielle worked for a Root Canal Specialist for 4 years as a dental assistant, but has since moved into the position as a front desk receptionist. She has been with our office since March of 2015.

When not at work Danielle loves spending time with her husband and three beautiful daughters. She also enjoys the outdoors and camping with family and friends.

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Karen Smith - Assistant

Karen is the new face in the office. As a recent addition to the dental field, you will find her helping Dr. Sweidan, charting and assisting Tara and Sue in hygiene, lending a hand to Sandy and helping Kathy and Danielle a the front desk.

When not at work Karen Loves spending time with her husband and son. She enjoys reading, hiking, vacationing in the UP, and sandblasting on glass.

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