Dentaltown June 2017 - 51

Women

in Dentistry

Editor's note:
For the second installment of our 2017 series about women in dentistry, Dentaltown
magazine and Benco Dental's The Lucy Hobbs Project found an author who's been
in practice for nearly 30 years: Dr. Alexandra S. George, who specializes in high-end
cosmetic dentistry, implants and TMJ issues at her comprehensive dental practice in
Pittsburgh.
A member of several dental associations, George often hosts seminars to inform
dentists about TMJ common signs and symptoms, and for the past six years has been
involved with Amachi as a mentor for children who have a parent who is incarcerated.
George credits her success to the support of her husband, John, and daughters, Melina
and Amalea, as well as her hard-working and dedicated dental team of hygienists.
To discover more about The Lucy Hobbs Project, which was created to help
empower women in dentistry, visit thelucyhobbsproject.com.

W

e all have defining moments
in our lives, and here's one
I remember vividly: While
I was in high school, my
family was going through
financial hardship, and my parents drilled
into my head that I needed to get the type
of education that would let me support my
own family one day, if need be. I eventually
decided to become a dentist because the
career would let me help people, be my
own boss, and still be a wife and a mother.
When I graduated from dental school
in 1990, I was green and didn't know what
was in store for my professional future.
Fast-forward 27 years and my career has
taken me though different stages. I bought
a startup practice, built an office building
to move that practice into and then built
another office. I've learned five things along
the way that are needed to operate a solo
practice. Three of these are personal qualities:
guts, a great work ethic, and the ability to
grow and change. The other two are more
business-specific-location and marketing.

Grit and determination
If I had gone by the proverbial book when
it came to opening a practice, I should've
gone in with a business plan, a consultant
and some type of strategy. Consultants can

be very knowledgeable, but my problem was
the price tag. They came at a point when
my pockets were empty-and in fact even
had metaphorical holes in them, thanks to
student loan debt. I had no choice but to
identify and buy a practice myself, and that's
just what I did. There wasn't any business
strategy education in dental school, but my
parents had taught me to listen to my gut.
I bought my first practice just eight
months after I'd completed a general
practice residency program, and I knew
nothing about what would be necessary to
run a business or which hurdles I'd have
to overcome. I did know that I wanted to
look for a practice that had been owned by
a woman, because I believed it would be
easier for me to fill her shoes than a man's.
During an eight-month stint as an associate
for an older, male dentist, I'd come up
against too many patients who wouldn't
believe me or my recommendations. If I
suggested a crown for a tooth that had
been patched 10 times already, I'd always
have to ask the male doctor to back me up.
The practice that I bought had indeed
been a woman's practice, but it was a satellite
office with a measly 80 patients (and because
the retention rate of existing patients was
about 70 percent then, I ended up with
closer to 50-55). I didn't have any money
dentaltown.com \\ JUNE 2017

51
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown June 2017
