Meet our wonderful staff at Mills River Family Dental!
Margaret Roddy
Office Manager
Margaret has been in the healthcare field for 7 years and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management at Appalachian State University in 2019. She enjoys spending time with friends and family and loves to travel with her husband, Zach. One of her favorite trips involved camping and sightseeing across Colorado! When she is home, she is usually in the kitchen baking cakes and cooking a variety of foods in her free time. She loves her work family and desires to provide exceptional service to our patients at Mills River Family Dental!
Heather Gray
Chief Operating Officer
Heather started out as a dental assistant but left the “back” and became our office manager and then our COO. Heather loves coming to work every day and views both her patients and coworkers as family. When not working, Heather enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband, Jesse, spending time with their three kids, and one of her most favorite hobbies is shopping!
Laura Dixon
Hygiene Coordinator
Laura joined our practice in July of 2019. Laura is the Hygiene Coordinator and brings a wealth of knowledge from the financial world. Laura is from the Hendersonville area. She is married to her husband Matt. They have 2 beautiful little girls. When not working Laura’s favorite place to be is at the beach! She looks forward to meeting everyone and helping them in any way she can.
Cortney Aardema
Treatment Coordinator/ Accounts Manager
Cortney will be the first person to greet you with a warm welcoming smile as you come in the door. Cortney has been with the practice since 2015 and is our New Patient Coordinator and will most likely be the voice you hear when calling the office. She prides herself on making sure our patients are scheduled in a timely manner and get the care and attention they need. When Cortney isn’t working, she can be found spending time with her husband Ben and their three children Kyndall, Hayden, and McKenna.
Sarah Masterson
Insurance Coordinator
Sarah joined our practice in September of 2022, shortly after graduating with her B.S. in Health Science from Western Carolina University. Since Sarah was little, she has always wanted to reach out to better her community. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys spending her time with her husband, Jacob, camping, drinking iced coffee, and watching scary movies. Sarah is delighted to be a part of the Mills River Dental team and is excited to meet all the MRFD patients!
Madison Honeycutt
New Patient Coordinator
Madison graduated from Western Carolina University with a Bachelors in Communications, Sciences and Disorders. She spends most of her free time with her dog watching Criminal Minds or Friends. Spring is her favorite season and she loves being able to get outside to exercise
or just sit on the porch with her warm cup of coffee. She is so
excited to be a part of Mills River Family Dental family!
Dental Hygienists
Christy Wright
Dental Hygienist
Christy is part of our hygiene team. She is a native of Hendersonville and has been practicing dental hygiene for almost 10 years. She earned her associate degree for dental hygiene at Greenville Technical College in S.C. and is currently enrolled at East Tennessee State University working on her bachelor’s in dental hygiene. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Josh, and 2 girls, Rylee and Catelynn, and 2 Boston terriers. Favorite activities: Going to concerts, running, being outside. Favorite vacation spot: Florida Keys or the lake. Favorite food: Anything dessert!
Sara-Diana Owen
Dental Hygienist
Sara-Diana has worked with the office since 2015 and has been a Dental Hygienist since 2014. She is a native to Brevard and currently lives in Mills River. She loves working with her patients to help them keep happy and healthy smiles. She is loving the new journey of motherhood with her daughter BaxleyKate. She enjoys traveling with David and her daughter to see as many new places as they can. Summer is her favorite time of year and loves spending time at the lake with family and friends. Her favorite food is Mexican and of course anything chocolate!
Alicia Rachels
Dental Hygienist
Alicia has worked in the dental field for 11 years, and joined the Mills River Family Dental team in September of 2020. Alicia enjoys playing softball on the weekends with her friends, and spending time with family, boyfriend, and dog outside of work. Alicia looks forward to meeting new patients, and patients that have been with our practice for many years.
Doreen Ferguson
Dental Hygienist
Doreen is originally from New Jersey and moved to North Carolina in 1990. She received her Dental Assisting diploma and Associate Degree in Dental Hygiene from AB-Tech. Her undergraduate degree is Health Promotion from Appalachian State University. She is working on a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from Western Carolina University. In her spare time, she enjoys mountain biking, family time, and traveling to watch her daughter’s volleyball.
Megan Hill
Dental Hygienist
Megan graduated from the Dental Hygiene Program at Greenville Tech in 2006. She has been in the dental field for over 15 years. She started in general dentistry and then worked in pediatric dentistry for 9 years. Megan was born and raised in Hendersonville, NC. She loves spending time outdoors with her husband, two boys, and their dogs Tiger and Macy. They are big Clemson Tiger fans.
Tamara Edwards
Hygiene Assistant
Tamara joined MRFD in August of 2022. Tamara also has experience in dialysis and currently is a Certified Medical Assistant. In her free time, she likes to shop and pamper herself. Tamara’s favorite thing to eat is seafood and she also loves sports (her favorite team is UNC Tarheels). Tamara is really excited to be a part of the team and is eager to learn the dental field.
Dental Assistants
Kayla Rowland
Lead Dental Assistant
Kayla joined Mills River Family as a dental assistant in April 2017. She has always aspiredd to help people in the dental field since she was young. Kayla loves spending time outdoors and on the water with her husband, son, and three dogs.
Shauna Whiteside
Dental Assistant
Shauna has been working in the dental field for over 2 decades and obtained a technical certificate from Hinds Community College. She enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren. She feels lucky to be a part of such a great team of co-workers that provide excellent care to their patients. When she’s not working at MRFD- you can find her playing in the fields of a local flower farm.
Lauren Harrelson
Dental Assistant
Lauren joined Mills River Family Dental as a Certified Dental
Assistant in April of 2022. She loves the MRFD family and helping others any way she can. When Lauren is not working, she loves traveling, online shopping, and finding new yummy places to eat around
town. My favorite place to eat is Champa in downtown Hendersonville!
Tierra Goins
Dental Assistant
Tierra’s hometown is Knoxville, TN, but has lived in North Carolina for the past seven years. She originally went to school for Physical Therapy school but shortly realized her love for dentistry. She hopes to advance her dental career by going to hygiene school in the future. She has been a dental assistant since 2017. She loves spending time with her son, Kannon, doing things outdoors, working out, and traveling. She loves building relationships with her patients and guiding them with the knowledge she has learned throughout the years.
Meredith Thomas
Dental Assistant
Meredith joined Mills River Family Dental in November of 2022. She obtained her certification from the Accelerated Dental Assistant Academy at Hendersonville Family Dental. She has always wanted to be able to help people and found her passion in the dental field. She is also in the Military. When she is not at work she loves to travel, be outdoors, or be with family and friends.
Yuriza Carachure
Dental Assistant
Yuriza has been working in the dental field for 3 years and is a graduate from Asheville- Buncombe Tech Community College. She enjoys spending time with friends and family. She is very blessed and feels lucky to be part of our team that not only provides the care and needs of our patients, but also the friendly environment everyone contributes to the office. When she is not at MRFD, you can find her dancing and getting her cardio in for the day.
Courtney Smith
Dental Assistant
Courtney is a South Asheville native who started her dental career as an orthodontic assistant in 2022. However, she has fallen in love with general dentistry! Courtney strives to grow her knowledge and skills and strives to better assist the doctors and patients in the office! In her free time, she enjoys laying by the pool and spending time with
her cats!
Sh’Kyla Gilmore
Dental Assistant
Sh’ Kyla moved to the Asheville area in February 2023 to explore outside her hometown of Charlotte. She has been a dental assistant for over two years and enjoys everything about dentistry! When she is not working, she enjoys binge-watching Vampire Diaries and finds cleaning the house very therapeutic!
Restorative Assistants
Mayra Mora Villanueva
Dental Rover
Mayra joined the office in April of 2023. She’s a Colorado native and graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Psychology. She spent some time after that teaching English abroad before arriving here. She enjoys gaming, Korean and Mexican food, crafts, and being outside. She’s delighted to be here at Mills River Family Dental.
Contact our wonderful staff here at Mills River Family Dental in Mills River, North Carolina to schedule your next dental appointment today!