Offering unmatched dental health services, Cobeer ‘Anand’ Persaud, is a ‘Special Person’
By Sharmain Grainger, May 05, 2019 , Kaieteur News, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...is-a-special-person/
“I always tell my staff, we have to respect customers and I respect my customers tremendously, because no matter how big a business you have, if you don’t have customers, you will have no business at all, and so we cannot exploit our customers. We even say prayers thanking God for our customers, because without them we are nothing…they have many options, but they choose to come here and we are thankful for that.”
All Guyanese should strive for health in its entirety, especially since, unlike some countries, a gamut of health services are offered free of charge or at least they are very affordable, so much so that even some persons who live overseas make an annual journey here to access them.
Cobeer ‘Anand’ Persaud
According to the World Health Organisation [WHO], health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. But Dental Technician Cobeer Persaud, who is also popularly known as Anand, has sought to make it clear that embracing health cannot be completed without accessing oral health care on a regular basis.
He counselled that a dental checkup, at least every six months, could help to thwart a number of dental problems which could be impacting to one’s health. But many people, even today, do not take this advice, a worried Cobeer speculated during a recent interview. However, he does not intend to stop preaching the good dental health sermon, and with good reason too.
Cobeer is the personality behind the ever-thriving C. Persaud [Anand] Dental Lab and Clinic situated at 14 Peter’s Hall Public Road, East Bank Demerara. The business, which has been in existence for close to four decades [37 years to be exact], is one that offers just about any dental health service one could need, save and except for implants, which Cobeer has already given much consideration to.
With the love of his life, Sandra
He assured that he has been offering, and will continue to offer to the public, services that are financially feasible as well as affordable. He even has on offer free dental checkups for entire families, but this is only one of the many ways this family-oriented businessman has been giving back to a society which has helped him to become the owner of a successful multimillion-dollar dental service operation.
GROOMING FOR THE PROFESSION
Born Cobeer Persaud on September 18, 1965, to parents Harry and Liloutie Persaud, [who were more familiarly known as Kit Singh the Dentist and Ms. Doris] he was the last of their seven children [five girls and two boys]. Cobeer was in fact the only one of his siblings who opted to follow the dentistry path of his father. This must have been heartening to his father, since dentistry was a profession that had become synonymous with the Persaud family over the years.
“It started with my father’s foreparents…his great grandfather who came down from India, to his grandfather, father, then my father; they did it for about 35 years, and I have been in it for 37 years now,” Cobeer eagerly shared recently.
He remembers growing up at Back Street, Peter’s Hall, but recalled that his passion for the dentistry profession did not manifest until after his parents separated, and he was forced to take up residence with his father at Herstelling, also on the East Bank of Demerara.
Cobeer with his four offspring
By this time, his father was already a practicing Dental Technician for many years, and he recalled making numerous house calls with him to attend to persons with various dental health problems.
“In those days there weren’t many dentists, so my father would ride around on a bicycle to do his dentistry work. He would take me with him when he went to pull out people’s teeth or to take impressions [for dentures] so I actually grew up seeing my father doing that, because I was like 10 years old when I moved to live with him,” Cobeer recalled.
But although his father was the ‘go-to’ person for all things dentistry back in the day, Cobeer recalled “we grew up very, very poor, and we ourselves didn’t have access to dentistry.” Providing this service, he recounted, was merely an income-earning exercise for his father so that he could provide for his family.
Given his family’s financial standing, Cobeer recalled doing odd-jobs many days just to make a dollar to support the household too, which was often cash-strapped, even when it came to the provision of some basic needs. In fact, he recalled that his first haversack was sourced out of a garbage dump.
Cobeer might have envisaged one path for himself, but destiny had long started to map another without him knowing. He recalled attending Peter’s Hall Primary School first, and when he moved to live with his father at Herstelling, he was transferred to Providence Primary, where he wrote the Common Entrance Examination and became eligible to attend Houston High. Because of his family’s financial limitation, Cobeer only attended High School for a single day.
Moreover, he became more engrossed in the dentistry business, even learning some of the tricks of the trade from as early as 12.
“Sometimes even at nights or one, two o’clock in the mornings when we would be sleeping, people would come rapping at the door calling out for
‘Uncle Kit Singh come see meh daughter teeth ah hut’ or to deal with some other dental problem,” Cobeer vividly recalled. He added, “He [his father] would come and wake me up and say ‘Anand we got to go pull out teeth’.”
Describing a typical house call for this two-man team, Cobeer said that while his father was busy administering anesthetic to the patient’s mouth to facilitate an extraction, he was tasked with mixing the salt water concoction which the patient would use to gargle with afterwards.
BECOMING A MAN
But continuing along the dentistry path didn’t seem to be in Cobeer’s future after he and his father were unable to see eye to eye on some issues. As such, he decided to pursue employment as a Livestock Assistant at Guyana Stockfeeds Limited, a government-run entity at the time. However, it was just about a year and a half into his newfound profession that Cobeer’s father passed away, causing many to ask the question: who will take over the family business?
Customers taking advantage of some of the services on offer
Cobeer was certainly becoming a man by this time as he had, by then, met and married his first wife who mothered his four children: Sursattie aka Vasti, Mandy, Yogeshwar and Sandy. Even as he considered leaving his Livestock Assistant job, many of his father’s former customers desperately wanted him to continue the dentistry service.
Although he wasn’t as yet versed in this field as his father was, he eventually gave in to the demands and headed right back into the field of dentistry, making use of all that he had learnt from his father. In fact he recalled that he started to figure out things about dentistry that he hadn’t been taught, much to the appreciation of his very supportive customer base, which was gradually increasing.
“I remember a lot of people from Linden really supported me in the early days…they really pushed and encouraged me to keep doing this work.
They used to come down early in the morning,” recalled Cobeer, who remembers starting off his business in a 12’ x 12’ room at Peter’s Hall Back Street, which also doubled as his home at the time.
With the unwavering support, Cobeer recalled how his business started to evolve to the point that he needed more hands on deck, as well as a bigger location to meet the growing needs which not only included extractions and filling, but persons were also demanding he tried his hands at making dentures and gold jewellery too.
FUFILLING HIS DESTINY
With some 42 staffers on board, today Cobeer has arguably one of the largest and most recognized dental labs/clinics, not only nationally, but even within the Caribbean Region, catering to hundreds of customers on a regular basis. His operation is perhaps outfitted with the most modern equipment and skilled personnel, including three dentists, three dentexes, four dental nurses and 27 dental technicians.
A tour of his sprawling operation would leave just about anyone in awe.
But the evolution of his business over the years hasn’t merely been about making the ‘big bucks’ as he has been simultaneously harping the need for persons to take their dental health seriously too.
Customers taking advantage of some of the services on offer
In fact, Cobeer disclosed that in addition to the demands from faithful customers, he was forced to put in place the latest technology and bring on board skilled personnel, because he had recognized for himself the importance of dental health the hard way. He recalled having a dental health problem for which he found much difficulty to get the needed help.
“It was in the early 80s, I had a serious dental problem and the service I needed just wasn’t available, and you had to wait for months to even get to see a good dentist,” Cobeer recounted.
Recognizing that he wasn’t the only person in need of dire dental health services, Cobeer said that he decided to expand his business here, even as he was being offered the coveted opportunity to permanently migrate to the United States and earn even more.
Although he currently holds US residential status for over 12 years now, Cobeer insists that he intends to continue to offer his wide-ranging dental care services to his homeland.
“My goal is to offer to every Guyanese dentistry services at an affordable cost because one of the problems in this country that I have noticed is that there are some people who are exploiting the patients…we open all day long from 8am to 5pm, six days a week, and our prices here are affordable,” he assured.
EMBRACING CRUCIAL TRAITS
Cobeer is convinced too that his business was able to stand the test of time because of the respect he and his staff show to customers.
“I always tell my staff, we have to respect customers and I respect my customers tremendously, because no matter how big a business you have, if you don’t have customers, you will have no business at all, and so we cannot exploit our customers. We even say prayers thanking God for our customers, because without them we are nothing…they have many options, but they choose to come here and we are thankful for that,” Cobeer confided.
The façade of C. Persaud [Anand] Dental Lab and Clinic
Although he has been encouraged to open branches across the country, Cobeer is convinced that he would be able to maintain the best possible operation at his current location. There, he believes, he is able to direct all of his energies to continually improving services offered. So advanced and extensive is the Peter’s Hall operation, customers are able to get same-day services for procedures that are known to take multiple days at other facilities.
Even as he underscored the importance of ensuring that customers are satisfied with the services offered, as far as possible, Cobeer said that he always urges his customers “if you are happy, tell others; if you are not, tell us, so we can do better.”
And as any good businessman, he has been fulfilling his corporate social responsibility by giving back to the less fortunate. His company is one that has over the years been offering free cleaning and other dental services to many of the vulnerable of society.
With the support of his current wife, Sandra, and his eldest daughter who have integral roles in the business, Cobeer is convinced that the dental health services his business offer will continue for many more years to come.
COMMUNITY POLICING
But life for Cobeer has not only been about dentistry, rather, he also harbours a keen interest in community policing. He reflected that at one point he even caressed the idea of joining the force, but this did not materialize. His desire might have been triggered by the fact that he grew up in an area where a number of persons went on to become police ranks at various levels.
However, Cobeer has been able to use his success as a businessman to lend support to the police force in various forms, including by becoming involved in Community Policing some 28 years ago. In fact he is the only civilian who has received 16 commendation awards from five police commissioners over the years.
Additionally, he has held the position of Chairman of the Herstelling Policing Group for some 12 years, was the Treasurer for the ‘A’ Division Community Policing body for over seven years, and is currently the Chairman of the Providence Policing Management Committee. He has fervently advocated over the years for youths to stay away from crime, since there is so much that life can offer if they put their minds to becoming decent and productive citizens.
For promoting good dental health and for his contribution to community policing over the years, today we at Kaieteur News bestow Cobeer Persaud with the deserving title of our Special Person’.
