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In The News

Interview with the Harvard-trained Dentist – Dr. Rina Raichada

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care of that okay yeah so how is this going to work can you just like go through it for me
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because this is all new definitely for sure so uh this
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uh video call is going to be recorded it’s being recorded right now and list can walk you through our plan for today
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okay so video is recorded for our members and they will be watching it later on youtube uh and pretty much we’re going
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to have a series of questions for you interview style but we’ve put them into the format of who wants to be a
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millionaire i’m not sure if you like that game but it’s just a short slideshow and we’ll
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present you with the questions and give you an opportunity to elaborate about your experiences
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as a dentist and outside of dentistry okay so would you like to share your
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screen uh me okay for sure or actually i could do it right
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yeah you can do it as well [Music] i can hear you more clearly than i can
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hear liz uh yes it’s because
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i can’t yeah so basically uh i guess i can read the
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questions to you if you think you can hear me better
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you see the screen that i shared
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can you see the screen that we’ve shared with you
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it’s this screen on the computer can you see the who wants to be a millionaire
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introduction okay okay i’m having a really hard time
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hearing um so can you hear me dr kitusha yes
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oh yes do you see the screen right now that we have on yeah
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okay awesome so we are going to start we are going to ask you a few minutes of questions
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and um it’s in the format of it who wants to be a millionaire meaning that as we go
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along the question is you’ll have more monetary value and they will be more exciting regarding your dental care for sure
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so do i have lifelines
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yeah for sure so basically our plan was for me and liz to read these questions for you but
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since uh there is like a trouble in the communication i will be reading the questions for you
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thank you oh is that okay elise if i go for the yeah definitely okay so let’s just start um
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so um we can start okay okay so our first question for 100
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dollars is can you tell us where were you born
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okay so i was born in sea tanzania wow nice that’s exciting so we’re going
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to talk more about remember your background and the next question yes
Which undergraduate degree did you pursue?
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so uh can you tell us a bit about what did you study uh as an
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undergraduate degree how you came to canada and then alternatively what it led to your
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decision to pursue dentistry nice that’s uh you’re taking me way back
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now undergraduate so i graduated in i majored in biochemistry i graduated in 1997.
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that’s a long time ago and i went to school in boston massachusetts i was in the
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states and then i went to dental school as i was in boston i went to harvest
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full of dental medicine pursued dentistry there and once i graduated i
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met my husband to be and that made me you know come to canada i’ve been in
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canada since 2001. oh awesome awesome so we are going to talk more about those stuff next time so
Where did you study dental medicine? Did you always know you wanted to be a dentist?
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i guess our next question for 300 is about where you where you study dental medicine which
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you already told us was harvard school of dental medicine in boston uh
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yeah that’s awesome so how was your experience there can you tell us a bit more how was the vibe there
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uh i’ve heard there they have combined classes with the medical school so that’s correct so can you tell
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us a bit more about your experience how was it for you was it difficult like it’s an ivy league school for sure
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number one did you do any research
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yeah it uh it’s definitely a competitive program from what i remember back then and one
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of the reasons i actually chose to go to harvard was the combined classes with the medical students
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so the first two years we actually studied more and worked harder than all the medical
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students so we would take all the classes they did in the morning
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and then in the afternoon we would go to the dental lab where we were with the type of dogs and doing dental classes
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and doing head and neck uh focusing on head and neck stuff so it does a lot of work
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and and harvard is definitely noted as a research you know heavily focused on
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research institutions so we had to do a research project and a thesis
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in order to graduate and it’s also very helpful and was very useful at that
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time because it focuses on problem-based learning so we had a lot of cases
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and we would have to work as a group to solve the case just like a doctor in
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private practice you know we have a patient we have to treatment plan and we have to treat the patient
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so we kind of got that learning on problem-based investigates you know what the
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differentials would be and yeah it was definitely fun it was a fun
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time i learned a lot um and it was a good experience for sure
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that’s really interesting so speaking of um having combined classes with medical schools did you ever
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like to maybe change your mind meet bay and study another part of the body rather than head and neck or
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how was it experienced yeah i i was i knew that that’s what i
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wanted to do before because when you asked me earlier when i was an undergraduate i was considering maybe a
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pharmacy school or optometry school or and dental so those were the three things i was
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pursuing more because i i wanted to have a nice work-life
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balance um since then so i applied to
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i took all the entrance examinations and i applied to different schools but when i shadowed a dentist actually
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three weeks i figured that that’s really what i wanted to do i shadowed a female dentist and she had
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a really good experience watching her how she worked in her private practice
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and she was a good mentor so that’s when i decided i’m gonna go for dentistry and then
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while in dental school definitely for uh they fortified the fact that that’s what i really liked
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wow that’s awesome it’s not really exciting glad to hear that so our next question for 400 is about
Where did you complete your residency? What was it like?
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your residency we’re wondering where did you complete your residency and if you can maybe expand more on it
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what did you do was the helpful experience for you right after dental school or not and i really appreciated you
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yeah definitely i think i’m gonna end up being rich because i remember this one as well so
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for 400 the answer is
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[Music] it was a general practice residency and i highly recommend
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dental students graduating to do either a gpr or an aegd um i loved it it was really
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like after you graduate first day as a resident you know you’re wearing your white coat and
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everybody’s in the hospital looking for you to sign off on on a patient that presents with anything
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head and neck so from a student next day you graduate and then you are supposedly an
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expert in that field in the entire hospital so we learned a lot um
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seeing trauma patients you know patients who wait for weeks and months before they come
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back with cellulite abscesses broken teeth and i should call it three in the
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morning go figure yeah so that was us
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you know every third night we were rotating so it was it’s pretty intense not like private
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practice um but you once again learned a lot in a group
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setting because we would present cases to the family residents and other residents with
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presented pieces and working with the patient treatment planning you have a lot of
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help uh mentors are there to guide you and then you rotate in different
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um departments and then you get a lot
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a question on my behalf if you can hear me respect yes yes um do you mind asking dr rina
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i’m curious was it but was it a simple transition from the residency to private practice
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or did you find many differences or did you find that that experience had actually really strengthened your
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skills to uh work on your own or as an associate
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that’s a very good question so the answer the transition is helpful very helpful
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in terms of clinical skills because you graduate from dental school doing very
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few procedures and you take a long time and then the residency was the first when i started picking up speed
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and seeing pain more patients you know from two patients a day to like eight patients a day
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you know so you drastically improve on the skills the second second point about transition
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is the whole uh staff management private practice management insurance
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management that’s a whole different ballgame that nobody teaches us
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or prepares us really so um that is a work in progress and people
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you know we are still trying to figure a lot of things but as you start working in a private
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practice you start building the ropes unfortunately we don’t have so
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a lot of preparation in dental school i wish we had more of that sure that’s really good advice awesome
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uh so our next question for five hundred dollars is uh what kind of dentistry do you practice
What kind of dentistry do you practice? Do you have a favourite procedure?
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on a routine per uh basis because as you know dentistry is a very big fault and not all general practitioners do
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everything so we were wondering do you have any favorite procedures or what you do most often compared to other
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procedures and we have four options for you but really if there is anything else you cannot
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yes so the answer is b i’m a general dentist i love general dentistry and i actually
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do everything um i all aspects of dentistry and in fact
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when you go to harvard it’s known that 90 95 of the students go to
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specialty schools it’s known for a stepping stone to go to specialty school i think i was one of
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the two students who never pursued specialization and you know i think that’s what i
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wanted to do so that was like my specialty a general dentist wow that’s really
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interesting a story especially nowadays that there is this whole competition that people want to
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specialize and i think general dentistry uh is still a very important integral part
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of the dentistry as people who are at the front tears of the dental practice and they
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are the ones who decide whether any specialty treatment isn’t or not so that’s a really important specialty i
How do you use your own experiences to connect with patients from diverse backgrounds?
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think on its own as you mentioned so our next question for one thousand
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dollars is um how do you use your own experiences to connect with patients who
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are coming from diverse backgrounds so this can be either from different ethnicities or
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racial backgrounds or people who have no knowledge about dentistry or people who are so
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foreign with dentistry and who don’t match to your typical patient population so how do you use
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your experience that’s a fantastic yeah that’s a fantastic question and
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it’s something that we use still to date um i think what works for me
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is that i have to make things very simple for the patients be very patient with
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them and and really listen you really have to
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have good listening years to see what their concern is their complaint is what they want from you
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what is is it you know is it a aesthetic concern is it pain on chewing is it
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you know do they want to keep their teeth is that do they want to get healthy what is it that they want
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and you said if you really take the time to listen don’t be surprised people want to keep their teeth you know
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they want to invest in their health but you have to help them get through their treatment plan wow
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that’s a really good advice as you were saying listening is one of those big important skulls that clinicians should definitely have yeah
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so our next question uh we are going up the ladder this is two thousand dollars
How many languages do you speak? Do you use them in practice with patients?
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uh how many languages do you actually speak and uh do you use them in practice with your
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patients or not is it um what’s your preference about that good so i speak
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[Laughter] [Music] yeah so the answer is four
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that’s awesome we already had that right yes yes i speak poor but i’ll be honest
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i kind of use three languages of those more frequently um if if there is a need because
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sometimes patients seek me out or would seek dentists out based on their languages
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they speak so if god becomes a concern and if that helps them get over the barrier or fear then i will
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speak in that language but i predominantly use english unless i get prompted that you know it’s
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going to help if i spoke hindi or gujarati and i speak swat tv as well that’s not very popular here but yeah
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that’s awesome it’s good to know thank you so much you’re definitely very important impressed by that so
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
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uh you have questions about your activities outside of dentistry what do you enjoy doing
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in your spare time when you’re not a clinician that’s that’s a very good question we
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have as a mom of uh two kids and a full-time dentist i have very
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little spare time for myself but but uh yeah i enjoy cooking
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i i cook a lot i make fresh meals for my kids something that i’m proud of
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um i like to watch movies listen to music and i’m a nerd if i’m not here i’ll be
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at the continuing education course which i miss a lot because you know we we have been
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assuming for most of them so uh yeah for sure yeah and especially right now
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the kobe situation has made everything online and it’s not the same as the real
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in person interactions as i can imagine hands-on yeah yeah we missed the hands-on
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a lot yeah yeah so um our next question for eight thousand dollars is how do you
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
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maintain your work-life balance because you know this is always the biggest struggle for people who pursue academic careers and
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feels like dentistry and medicine and also i mean we are fortunate in dentistry we can achieve that work by
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balance but do you have any tips and advice for how to have that sort of balance and
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make sure that we can not only achieve our career goals but also we can have a very balanced life
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yes that’s like the million dollar question right there
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and especially for for women i feel that we wear many hats and i know of men too they have you know
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we all need to have a work-life balance my best tip would be don’t let your
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practice run your life which is what happened in the first
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10 years we have to run the practice so putting more control in the practice
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you know don’t don’t sign up to work six days a week you know don’t open seven days a week or
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if you are open seven days a week have somebody else work for you yeah yeah that’s really good yeah so
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it’s like it’s very important to have a have boundaries and control as to what you would like
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like given my work day i make sure that i start the time that i like and end at a time for my life
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no that’s a really and then every quarter you know evaluate if there’s if i feel that i’ve
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been really working hard and very busy i have to make a decision to take the time off
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or if i want to put in more time because i haven’t been doing other things then it’s my choice so
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i i like to be in control over my practice and what i do with my family and my
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family time and it’s totally achievable but you have to be mindful and make it a priority
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for sure and elise has actually a question right now that she would like to ask
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so i was wondering if you find and related to this question does owning your own practice does that
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create more of an ability for you to maintain this balance or does it pose more added stresses
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um but again on the other side as an associate um maybe not being your own boss is what
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is limiting your work-life balance so i’m wondering uh what the difference between being an associate or your own
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boss and how that relates to your your time and your scheduling
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repeat that for me because i didn’t hear that for sure so basically uh the question
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was about whether working as an associate or as a practice owner would have an effect on you achieving
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your work-life balance and what’s your recommendation about that because on one hand uh that is the idea that as a practice
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owner you have so much more to deal with but at the same time you are considered your own boss but on the other hand
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being um associate gives you possibly more free time so there is always a
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question that which wrote based on your experience uh it’s better for achieving your optimum
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work-life balance is that your question please yes exactly yes yes
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fantastic question thank you for reading no problem yeah um yeah definitely something that a lot
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of us contemplate and have to go through these two stages in my opinion
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a it’s a personal choice but my recommendation would be
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be an associate initially to really learn the ropes of the practice
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staff management the business aspect is what is difficult for most dentists it’s not
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the clinical skills it’s the patient management and business management to be different from your a mentor a
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senior doctor in a good busy practice with good protocols in place
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for sure at least did you hear the time sir yes it did i think the sound is separate
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yeah yeah so the sound so basically i’m just going to repeat what you said is the idea that it really depends on
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your style but for the first few few years it might be better to practice as an associate to learn the ropes and
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alternatively at the end you can sort of make your way up to a practice owner
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where you know how things are going uh yeah so yeah maybe you think of it as similar
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suggestions and i think it’s important to have the associate experience so that when you do
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choose to open your own practice you come in with some additional knowledge for sure yes yes so
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we will go for the next question uh can you tell us that what does a typical day look for you as a
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general dentist in your office
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i wish it was eat but it’s not i missed lunch today
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wow thank you so much for giving us your time do we know how busy you are
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so uh i guess the next question for you uh you
What is the most challenging aspect of your role?
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would be uh what do you i guess you kind of alluded to that earlier on but what’s the most
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challenging aspect of your role uh as a clinician who also tries to balance
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other roles in your lives so what do you find the most challenging
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is the patient management i guess yeah the most challenging part has been
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so large i insurance and businesses really
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are um if you’re not careful they will limit what you can achieve and you have to
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remind us those that comprehensive dental care comprehensive treatment plans
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health of the patient is paramount you know our focus our purpose has to be
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very clear but sometimes you know whether it’s the college guidelines ipad guidelines cdh or guidelines
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all the guidelines under the planet uh insurance limitations really sometimes
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you know forces you to be in a box and we have to you know be mindful of
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the boundaries but always focus on patient care and wellness but first
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for sure that’s that’s always the top priority and as you were saying balancing all these guidelines and the
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requirements in the business aspect having the patient as the top center of everything is definitely
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difficult um so quick question um so i was wondering
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have you ever taken any sort of business courses or seminars to help you prepare for all
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these insurance issues and just general management of your own practice
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or was it more of a learning on the job as you went a little bit of both i took a lot of
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practice management customer service you know skills um public speaking like
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a lot of other soft skills there are lots of courses um through the oda and you know the
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spring clinic and other conventions um in other labs and you know organizing or
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other specialists putting it up so there were evening programs um you know day full day programs
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and i also did um management training through the mga training i did a program
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through them so you know that really helped me actually to handle the different aspects of
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[Music] private practice awesome thank you so much so our next question is for 64 000
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is as a diverse individual as a person who has come from a different background uh did you experience any challenges
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along your journey being that uh for instance you uh you immigrated and then you
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uh sort of like you studied in harvard did you experience any
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challenges on your journey to becoming where you are right now and if you did how did you manage it or how
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did you cope with it
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is i’m left-handed and that believe it or not was the most
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challenging thing because i lost jobs because of my left hand
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that’s yes yes and i remember my very first um
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when i did the end no the examinations yes the end it
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that i had to take when i moved from from harvard and i was waiting for the result but
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meanwhile i was interviewing and i happened to have a fall and i
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fractured my left arm and i couldn’t make it to the third interview when we called from
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the hospital telling them that you know this is what happened i fractured my hand my left hand and they called me back
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that evening that oh we’re so sorry but our ops are all right-handed they’re not going to be dexterous and we cannot
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accommodate you and since then on every interview whenever as an associate when i was
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interviewing i would have to mention it to them i never thought i’d have to but i had to
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over the phone even before i went to see them because i didn’t want to waste their time on mine
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and i was limited and the interesting thing you’re taking me back many many years ago now
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but one of the the one first associations actually ended up i went there and i was shocked
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because the principal dentist actually asked me to work from the right hand side because she did
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not want to move the curing light the other side so imagine i’m like are you serious
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um yeah i’m not gonna move the turning light for the assistance that you’re gonna switch i think when there is a
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patient waiting outside um because the patient already arrived i will see that patient
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but thank you but no thanks and i left because you just can’t do that but that
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was very challenging definitely i think that’s a good lesson
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in in knowing uh when something is a good fit for you and when it’s not just being able to make that decision i
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think it’s a great lesson i’m reminded as well i’m left handed as well so
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you understand we are special right now at the university of toronto where
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i’m in my third year of the studies we do have uh the chairs that they can actually rotate
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so we rotate it yeah so it’s like it has uh you can either use it as a right hand and moving
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everything left or moving everything to the uh right so yeah but but that’s definitely that’s
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very good yeah yeah because i just did my implant residency
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um last year and we had to do live surgery and we had to go to two hygiene
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schools yeah all of them were right-handed
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wow yeah they didn’t have you know ambidextrous or left-handed or
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hygienist for sure that was an interesting story so and the next question we do have is
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about your location of practice so we know that in practice in mississauga but why did you why are you practicing there
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why did you choose that area is there any specific reason or was it just you like the area
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and i was looking for um associations close by and then my first practice and the
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second one both happened to be yeah for sure
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but that’s all i know that that’s really interesting for sure
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yeah so um how do you uh i guess our 250 000
How do you stay involved in the dental community? Do you participate in oral health events/guest lectures?
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question is about your involvement in the community uh rather than being a clinician
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so do you participate in any oral health events do you uh give lectures if you can
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expand a bit more on that um we would appreciate it yeah thank you thank you this is my favorite question
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yeah it’s good you can continue yeah sorry the voice was cut off suddenly yeah do you hear us you can you
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can just speak okay yeah
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yeah yeah i’ll be here okay yes i did i’ve done gone to different
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schools and i’ve you know uh worked with children
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for preventive um oral hygiene projects lots of them lots of different
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schools i’ve done senior centers and i’ve spoken to seniors and create health awareness that way i’ve done
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bridal shows i have done other local community events
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um even during the coldest time we actually went to the trillium uh hospital and donated
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to the nurses there and you know we wanted to be there frontline so if they had anybody in the hospital
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had a dental emergency they could contact us because they wouldn’t know where to go um so we
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have constantly been and we support a lot of different causes these you know we donate we just donated
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65 face shields to a local church for their choir group um you know we
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we support the period first which is for like menstrual equity for um women in toronto
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i think donating backpacks next month to children like i’m doing all sorts of things and i love
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it no for sure that can be really satisfying to be able to give back to the community that’s a very
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important thing and i feel like that’s what uh people who are in a position to donate
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should always consider because it’s just more than the monetary aspect it leaves a really good feeling for the people and
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make sure that people are taking care of a different parts of the society not just the dental field but also others
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as you were saying yes so our next question is about the kobe 19 which is the number one topic in news but how do you
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think that has impacted the work of a dentist you know there are different ideas some people say
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uh there are many portugals and their country uh contradicting with each other some people say it’s actually like they
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are not enough there should be more guidelines so what’s your view on that how do you see kobe 19 impacting the dental field and
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specifically your job as a dentist i feel that a many protocols
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definitely lots of it it’s different now we have lots of extra steps we have
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active screening we have you know fallow times between patients
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um you know we are encouraging use of hand sanitizers we have made
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changes uh plexiglas installations you know test through the plexiglas we have hand
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sanitizer stations throughout the office uh we have air purifiers which are you
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know expensive equipment that we have invested in there has been guidelines
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by the college but definitely confusing guidelines
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uh the hygiene college has their own sets we have our own set and there’s constant
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you know discussions and debates as to how we can best maneuver through these challenging times
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um but we’re we’re actually busier than ever we have a lot of
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backlogs we’re working very hard and just trying to make sure that you
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know we catch up on all the things that we the patients you know were left neglected for
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for a long time so we’re just trying to get everybody’s health back on track for sure so liz has a question uh yeah
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yeah these go ahead yeah so i was just wondering if your practice closed down because of covid or if you’re
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open for a few emergency cases and how if you were able uh to keep in touch
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with uh your patients maybe and give them some tips on oral hygiene in the meantime if you weren’t able to see them
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that’s a very good question too liz for the first five six weeks i think we were all
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paralyzed and what was going on the three weeks we came into three months and you know
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things were very periodic so we were busy at that time getting our ppe and getting things in
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order the office we were always open uh we had
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three staff members working from home so we were in constant touch over the phone we established text system so we were
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sending videos youtube links um texts to keep in touch with patients uh
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to let them know that we were available for emergency so for six weeks i wasn’t able to provide emergency
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services but starting april we have been open i was providing emergency dental services and listed
35:31
with the college to be able to provide and one thing that we did very different was we actually invested in zoom
35:38
um the tele dentistry so the virtual console so we had a hipaa compliant virtual
35:47
uh tele-dentistry established to our website company and so the one thing i
35:53
was doing a lot was was this talking to the patient this is different to not to be able to examine
35:59
them but some of them had cameras in shower cameras that would zoom in [Laughter]
36:09
and about 60 70 percent of the falls was just reassuring them because
36:15
people were panicking and as you as you mentioned most of the offices were closed they did not know
36:21
what to do or where to go should there be an emergency so i know
36:27
i mean we had i was doing free consults actually we published an article and we were
36:32
advertising free virtual consoles for anybody in the community who needed help and then whoever had it
36:38
before we triaged them and then whoever i had to see to treat i saw them
36:44
and they treated them and i think patients really appreciate the fact that you were offering them consultations
36:51
uh even a free basis because when the dental pain hits it can be really challenging for patients and it can be
36:57
really devastating so knowing that there is someone to answer them that was a really uh big thing so thank you for doing that
37:04
i think your patients should really appreciate it
37:09
so the next question which is our final million dollar question well maybe not the million dollar but any
37:16
fun or exciting stories that you would like to share with us either in in your field as a dentist or outside of
37:22
the industry that you think for our audience would be interesting wow and i’m doing so well i don’t want
37:29
to lose the money
37:40
an interesting case uh or patient maybe like from your dental school years do
37:46
you have any interesting stories anything uh that happened that you remember from the
37:52
years you were a student and seeing your patients for the first time
37:57
oh my gosh yeah you’re taking me long time back
38:04
old i think um i don’t i don’t remember no it’s totally
38:10
fine exciting stories i think i told you about my left hand yeah that was pretty exciting for sure
38:17
that was very different yeah um
38:23
but i guess that would be enough if you don’t remember anything let me know so if i meet you i mean in my opinion i
38:29
think that at harvard uh is very exciting so is there anything you could uh touch on about the
38:36
experience of being on that campus uh which is world renowned and just uh being able to
38:42
collaborate thank you thank you for reminding me because that’s one thing i actually wanted to say when i was first talking
38:49
about it that you know yeah thank you liz you read my mind
38:54
one thing for sure the harvard is known for is you know the student to teacher
39:01
ratio is the other way around you have more teachers than students it’s one of the smallest
39:07
dental schools there’s 32 students they were back then and there were hundreds of teachers
39:13
because you have the school of the medical school the school of public health and all the research institutions
39:20
around all the hospitals mass general brigham you know it is so much resource
39:26
you learn so much from from all the people you meet the faculty is very interesting
39:34
they you know they’re very knowledgeable and you really have to you know up your game and you have to
39:40
have it together to be with you know to be on par with the rest of the crew and i had wonderful friends i’m
39:48
still in touch with them on facebook yeah not instagram
39:56
um that tells you how how young or how younger i am um but um it was definitely a lot
40:03
of resource a lot of um you know there’s the joslin diabetes center children’s hospital brigham so
40:10
the rotations we had at different uh institutions helped
40:16
enrich the program you know being on the him him oncology ward you know you learn so much
40:23
you know very different than just routine private practice you know going walking around with uh you know
40:30
uh your instruments in your pocket almost your your autoclave instruments when patients are uh hospitalized and
40:38
they have a surgery but they need a dental clearance because they have fever of unknown origin
40:43
and you have to do bedside treat patients bedside you know order portable x-rays work with
40:50
whatever you have to get that inspection out and they need your signature your clearance before they can have a
40:57
heart or valvular replacement i mean that was very interesting yeah
41:04
so that makes up for an interesting story i learned yeah a lot so don’t you guys i’ve heard in harvard
41:09
people are divided into groups based on the names of famous physicians and uh
41:14
dentists i guess so do you remember which group you were part of and how that experience
41:24
[Laughter] do you remember anything like was it
41:31
based on the lectures you were taking or the instructors you had how did the grouping feel that was
41:38
you know that gives you that camaraderie that you’re not like as a private practice you’re
41:43
working alone you know when you’re in smaller groups you really
41:48
bounce ideas off of each other and when we have a treatment plan that
41:53
that was the most uh [Music] beneficial thing that you know we could
41:59
treatment plan the same patient in so many different ways and and learning
42:05
that what works what doesn’t work and your mentor guiding you
42:11
and we had me weekly meetings and we would do chart reviews and even follow-ups like you know if you
42:17
do a procedure what went well what didn’t go well what could you have done different so that was very very uh beneficial
42:24
for sure and i feel like uh harvard is like among those it was the first school of dentistry
42:30
which was affiliated with the university for the first time and i feel like that’s a very special place because there is more emphasis on the
42:37
medical aspect of dentistry than just the technical aspect which is
42:51
[Music] that’s a big thing and i feel like even though these days they say that all the
42:58
dental education is the same but i still think in those universities there is more focus on the medical aspect than let’s say at other
43:05
universities that they are they have separate dental schools and everything is separate so thank you thank you so much and we
43:12
learned a lot and thank you so much for giving us your time
43:18
and um thanks for making it through these difficulties i mean
43:23
it was very difficult experience but thanks again and we know how busy you were
43:28
thank you liz i am so excited uh thank you for having me and i’m excited to meet
43:33
you soon mentorship and you know i’m here any time just an email away for sure
43:40
thank you so much you will be in touch thank you have a good night bye

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Fixing Dental Emergencies at Home- Dr. Rina Kotecha

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Tips On Fixing Dental Emergencies - Dr. Rina Kotecha

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Community News and Clinic Updates

Giving back to their community is an important part of their practice and Dr. Rina Raichada, along with her team at Dentistry on 10, gives back to their community in many ways. You will see members of Dentistry on 10 active at events promoting awareness to not only oral health issues, but overall health and wellness initiatives, and participating in and sponsoring events to raise much needed funds benefiting research for treatments or cures of debilitating and life-threatening diseases; such as Breast Cancer and Cystic Fibrosis. This motivated and giving team reaches out to their Mississauga, Ontario neighbors also through offering discounted services to seniors, educating children and adults on the importance of oral care, providing spa-like services to those well-deserving mothers, or serving their community in a myriad of other ways. Just look at a few of the ways the caring team and Dentistry on 10 has given back to your community recently.

Ice cream and Sunshine

Team outing for some yummy ice cream in the summer heat after a long day at work taking care of our patients.
What’s your favorite ice cream flavour?
Mine is anything chocolate.
#teamfun #summervibes #icecreamtime #mississaugadentist

We were truly honoured to have MP Peter Fonseca, Member of Parliament for Mississauga East – Cooksville, join us and be part of our 25 year anniversary celebration and book launch.

Peter Fonseca MP presented me with a beautiful recognition from the House of Commons, congratulating me on 25 years in dentistry and acknowledging the years of patient care, professional advocacy, leadership, and community involvement that have been such a big part of my career.
He also came to celebrate the launch of Unmarried — and yes, he left with his own signed copy!
Those of us who own small businesses know how much work happens unseen behind the doors every day.
We employ people. We serve families. We support other local businesses. We contribute to our communities in ways that are not always visible.
And in dentistry, it becomes even more personal.
Over 25 years, you get to know your patients. You know their names, their families, their stories, what they have been through, what they are celebrating, and how their lives change over time.
Some patients have been with us for years and years. You watch children grow up. You hear about graduations, weddings, new babies, career changes, losses, new beginnings.
That is the part of dentistry I have always valued most — the relationships.
So to have this milestone recognized by someone who also understands the importance of community and of supporting local businesses made the moment extra meaningful.
MP Fonseca, thank you for taking the time to attend, for your generous words, and for recognizing both my 25 years in dentistry and this new chapter with Unmarried.
Your support of small businesses, professionals, and members of our community is noticed and very much appreciated.
And thank you for the conversation, the laughs, and for celebrating with all of us. It meant a lot to me.
25 years in dentistry.
Many patients, many lessons, many chapters, and many more yet to come.
#25YearsInDentistry #Unmarried #PeterFonseca #MississaugaEastCooksville #Mississauga #SmallBusiness #Community #Dentistry #WomenInBusiness #booklaunch #mississaugadentist
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon!

A lot of preparation, organization, and hard work happens behind the scenes every day in our practice as each team member takes full responsibility and accountability in delivering patient care to their best of ability.

We acknowledge our team’s contribution not just on Labour day, but every day!
#LabourDay2026
#Teamwork
#MississaugaDentist

Have you ever thought about how you would bite into your favourite pizza, burger… or even an apple, if your front teeth were missing?

For many people, missing teeth affect far more than a smile. They can change the way you eat, speak, laugh, and feel around other people.
There are practical, affordable solutions for missing teeth, and sometimes a relatively simple dental solution can make an enormous difference in someone’s everyday life.
This is one of the reasons we love what we do.
Dentistry isn’t only about teeth. It’s about helping people eat comfortably, smile confidently, and feel like themselves again.
You don’t have to compromise and live with missing teeth.
Talk to your dental team about the options available to you.❤️
#MissingTeeth #RestorativeDentistry #SmileAgain #DentalCare #Dentistry #ChangingLives #AffordableDentistry #PatientCare

Every birthday reminds me that life is written one chapter at a time. – Dr. Rina Raichada

As I celebrate another year, I find myself thinking about the little girl growing up in Tanzania who fell in love with stories.
Some of my happiest memories were listening to my dear Dada bring stories to life. Before long, I couldn’t get enough of The Secret Seven, The Famous Five, Agatha Christie, and every adventure and mystery I could find.
More than once, my parents, Raju Raichada found me reading under the covers with a flashlight because I just had to know what happened next.
Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine that one day I would be sitting at a table signing a book with my own name on the cover…
That moment was surreal. And special. June 13 2026.
As I looked up, I saw family, friends, patients, and readers waiting with a copy of Unmarried in their hands. Some asked me to sign their book. Others shared pieces of their own story amongst hugs and laughter.
Those conversations meant more to me than I can ever express.
Writing Unmarried gave me the opportunity to tell my story. Meeting the people who connected with it gave that story even greater meaning.
To everyone who came to the launch, bought a copy, shared your encouragement, messaged, called, and trusted me with your own experiences…thank you.
You are now part of this chapter too.
CHAPTER 3 | A Book Finds Its Readers
Stories have shaped every chapter of my life. First, I couldn’t wait to read them. Today, I have the privilege of sharing one of my own.
Now available on Amazon.

My partner in crime for the last 25 years! From Boston to Mississauga…my favorite bur block still holding up!

#hsdm @harvarddentalmed
#mississaugadentist
#dentistryon10
Rina Raichada

CHAPTER 2 | The Doors Opened

Some days stay with you forever.
June 13, 2026, will always be one of mine.
As the doors opened, Dentistry on 10 was filled with family, friends, patients, colleagues, and members of our community. Every hug, every smile, every conversation, and every burst of laughter reminded me how fortunate I am to be surrounded by such extraordinary people.
Many travelled across the GTA to celebrate with me. Others travelled thousands of kilometres—from my birthplace of Tanzania and from England—to be part of this milestone. That kind of love, support, and generosity is something I will never take for granted.
For a few hours, my dental office became something more. It became a place where community, friendship, and celebration came together under one roof. We celebrated 25 years of Dentistry on 10, the launch of Unmarried, and the relationships that have shaped every chapter of my life.
To everyone who joined me that day, thank you. Your presence made this celebration richer, warmer, and more memorable than I could have imagined.
Reflection
Community is one of life’s greatest gifts. It reminds me that while each of us writes our own story, our lives are enriched by the people who choose to walk beside us.
Chapter 3 coming soon.

CHAPTER 1 | Preparing for the Big Day

Every celebration begins long before the first guest arrives.
Before the speeches…
Before the book signing…
Before family, friends, patients, and colleagues filled the office…
There were flowers to arrange, books to unpack, gift bags to assemble, and countless details that slowly came together.
Behind every celebration is a team of people who make it possible.
This chapter is dedicated to my family.
They gave their time, their energy, and their love to help bring this vision to life. Every ribbon tied, every display arranged, every book placed and every finishing touch became part of the celebration.
June 13 celebrated 25 years of Dentistry on 10 and the launch of Unmarried. None of it would have been possible without the people who stood beside me.
The doors were ready to open…
Chapter 2 coming soon.
#25Years #mississaugadentist #UnmarriedBookLaunch #WriteYourOwnChapter

Honoured to receive the Sustained Success in Business Award at EWB 2026 – Empowering Women in Business and to serve as a panelist for “Real Strategies for Leading in a Shifting Environment.”

This recognition represents more than 25 years of entrepreneurship, service, resilience, and continuous growth. From building a dental practice, to mentoring others, to becoming a published author, I am grateful for every lesson, challenge, and opportunity along the way.
Thank you to EWB for this recognition and to my family, team, patients, mentors, colleagues, and community for being part of the journey.
The journey continues—guided by purpose, strengthened by resilience, and rooted in service. May we continue to lead with intention, create opportunities for others to rise, and make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.
Grateful. Inspired. Ready for what comes next.
#Ewb2026 #EmpoweringWomenInBusiness #SustainedSuccessInBusiness #mississaugadentist #Leadership #WomenInBusiness #Entrepreneurship #Unmarried #Author #Speaker

I am so proud to finally share this with you.

My book, UNMARRIED, is here.
This book was born from one of the most personal chapters of my life — a chapter of motherhood, change, rebuilding, responsibility, and choosing to stand in my own truth.
For a long time, I carried many roles: mother, daughter, dentist, business owner, provider, leader. But somewhere along the way, I also had to learn how to become myself again.
UNMARRIED is not about blame. It is not about one person. It is about the life that comes after life changes.
It is about finding your voice again.
It is about rebuilding with dignity.
It is about family, motherhood, identity, faith, and the courage to keep going.
If this book reaches even one woman who feels unseen, uncertain, or afraid to begin again, then it has already done what it was meant to do.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this journey.
This is my story.
This is my voice.
This is my next chapter.
UNMARRIED is now available on Amazon.
Purchase your copy here: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0H1T5PWPL

Dr. Rina with Dentistry on 10 staff members

We’re collectively 150 years young and 50 x3!

Combined dental experience spanning decades!

Dr. Rina at Annual Healthy, Wealthy and Wise Women's Retreat

Saturday Smiles!

Throwback to our third annual Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise Women’s retreat. Privileged to be a panelist among these trailblazers for a candid discussion on

The Climb: Overcoming adversity.

Thank you @jackie_joachim_ @constance_roi, and @graceatroi for organizing a superhit event and, more importantly, creating space where women come together to learn, laugh, and get empowered. The discussions continue…

Did you know Dr. Rina Raichada‘s first love was books? (even before chai or coffee!).

These are some of the latest reads, the classics always inspire me and the new ones always teach me

What are some of your favorite books you would recommend?

What a heartfelt, beautiful, and top-notch full-day seminar organized by @ontariodentalimplantnetwork with @hygieneheadquartersinc and @dentalaconsulting.

As a team, we spent the day learning and collaborating on how we can better our patient experience and their periodontal ( gums and supporting bone around our teeth) health so that they can keep their teeth for life!

Did you know 7/10 Canadians will develop periodontal disease and risk loss of teeth?

We have clear goals and implementation steps to up our game for our patients’ oral health. Our team is pumped!

Well done @drazeemsheikh for putting up a never seen before full-day seminar for our hygiene and admin teams!

The decor, violin, dessert bar, delicious treats all day – we were definitely pampered!

#perioandyourpractice #teamlearning #patientcarefirst

Purpose-driven team!

You can see the beaming smile we achieved in less than hour dental appointment! Goodbye to the strained, forced smile.

Every smile has a story, and we are grateful for being a part of every patient’s journey who comes to see us.

Our team celebrated the hugs with our favorite Timmy drinks on a cold February day!

#mindfulleadership #PurposeDrivenLife #mississaugadentist

Mentorship Monday!

Last week @womensdentistry mentors and mentees had our bracelets and bonding meet and greet. What a pleasure to go back to @uoftdentistry and mentor the dental students! Bright-eyed and full of optimism for the profession, the hardworking ladies had insightful questions and concerns. I’m looking forward to welcoming some students to shadow me in my practice and get practical day-to-day tips in Dentistry.

Humbled and privileged to receive my signed copy of “Are you Kindful?” from @urban_buddhist_monk. More than halfway through this impactful must read!

What a treat at the day retreat: practicing mindfulness while eating, walking, sitting, meditating….

Have you been mindful today? No past, no future, just present! #mindempty

Snow day outside, but warm pizza inside!

Well, our team continues to brave through the biggest #snowstorm in #toronto!

We work, we learn, and we eat together!

#teamtogether #mississaugadentist #snowday2026

Taking care of our own!

Our dental team needs routine dental care, too!

#HealthySmileJourney #makingdreamscometrue

Today was a reminder of just how powerful it is when women come together to learn, grow, and invest in our futures.

Sitting in a room filled with brilliant, dedicated women in dentistry — all committed not just to caring for others but also to building strong financial foundations for ourselves and our families — was deeply inspiring.

Thank you, team @womensdentistry and team TD, for creating a space where we can have honest conversations about wealth, leadership, confidence, and long-term vision.

I walked away feeling empowered, informed, and so proud to be part of a profession filled with resilience and heart.

Here’s to women uplifting women, claiming our financial seats at the table, and investing boldly in our dreams.

#WomenInDentistry #FinancialWellness #InvestInYourself #WomenWhoLead #TD #EmpoweredWomen #DentistryCommunity

Our annual team shopping tradition at @bathandbodyworkscanada was scentsational as usual.

Everyone got to pick their favorite products and try new ones too!

Dr. Rina Raichada loves treating her Rockstars and celebrating our wins!

Thank you, @pazjuvy @sheisgemacolaj @dannu_kaur @janet_rdh_pinkblossom and Sekinat, for your dedication to our patients and dental practice!

Dr. Rina appreciates all your hard work and commitment.

We have been a bit “quiet” lately on social media as a team, but rest assured, these lovely ladies have been working hard behind the scenes daily in our dental office!

Helping our patients is our priority, and we always make sure we have a great time along the way!

Did you know this was Dr. Rina Raichada‘s 4th annual visit Queen’s Park as a Political Contact Dentist?

Dr. Rina is proud and thrilled to join her colleagues and fellow political contact dentists from all over Ontario to continue to advocate for better access to dental care for Ontarians.

Our annual #advocacydays hosted by @ontariodentalassoc at Queen’s Park was a huge success. With team advocacy training and mentorship by keynote speakers Tim Hudak and @brianlilley, the political contact dentists met with over 60 MPPs, Ministers and dignitaries to advocate for solutions to address workplace shortages and to continue coordination of benefits between provincial programs and Canadian Dental Care Plan.

Representing the voice of our profession, we continue to lobby for better dental care for our community.

#advocacymatters #communi t y #dentalcare #Ontario #teamwork

Full on learning and team bonding at our annual Spectrum Day Symposium last Friday. Well done, team @palmerimediagroup, for hosting another successful event! #continuingeducation #professionaldevelopment #teamtraining #patientcare #excellence.

Surprise!

My wonderful, hardworking, dedicated and ever-smiling team pulled off a beautiful birthday party for me ????????????!

Thank you to each and every one of you, especially Juvy Palaganas Dela Paz and her gang!

Special shout-out to John Balingit for capturing the beautiful moments on camera ????????????

The venue was beautiful and just perfect!

Thank you so much, I am so grateful ????, the evening was perfect to welcome the fabulous 50! Delicious food, drinks and sweet treats! Games and a trip down the memory lane…

A big shout-out to my amazing team and family!

Mission accomplished!

Thank you, team @hiossenimplant.canada and @aic_education_canada for inviting and hosting Dr. Rina Raichada for a full day of teaching to a very bright and eager to learn group of dentists who want to up their game in dental implant surgery and incorporate guided crestal sinus lifts!

Wow!

It was a busy day with lots of pearls, troubleshooting, step-by-step surgical techniques, hands-on exercises, and demystifying the implant kits – all to set them up for success in implant surgery!

Well done all participants, we had insightful and inspiring interaction throughout the day. All the best to everyone, and thank you for letting me play a part in your #guidedimplantsurgery journey.

#teaching #sharingknowledge #empowering

Medical emergencies can happen anywhere and to anyone. Our team gets trained, #cprcertification, every year, hoping we don’t ever have to use this. However, Dr. Rina Raichada has saved lives on 2 separate occasions when she had to perform #cpr and initiate the emergency medical protocol.

Please protect your friends and families. Consider hosting a family session with team @heaven.can.wait.first.aid at your home, community centers, and schools to educate everyone on how to save a life – from choking, heart attacks, or anaphylaxis- and many more! #communitywellness #savinglivestogether #medicalemergencies #cpr

What a beautiful evening for our team tonight! We had a fun time expressing our creativity at the Paint Night organized by the @haltonpeeldentalassociation.

Our summer social was a huge hit!

Each of our team member is as unique as their painting and brings so many strengths to our organization. Bold and beautiful together we stand ????????????. #shoplocalsupportlocal #summersocial #teambuilding #communitysupport #weloveportcredit

We are thrilled to support the #rakshan project of educating the little girls of villages in Rajasthan organized by the team @ipartnerindiac. The volunteers did an exceptional job of fundraising for this very important cause that is close to our hearts.

The #educateherempowerher project has rescued over 400 little girls by providing them education, boarding, and support who otherwise would have been exploited and forced into sex trade.

Dr. Rina Raichada and team Dentistry on 10 is proud to donate to support this cause! #communitywellness #educationforallchildren

Hi everyone, welcome to today’s show. Right, and today we’re going to be uh discussing with Dr.Reena to talk about beyond the drill, life lessons from a successful mreneur. All right.
And uh with me here is uh Dr. Reena, please introduce yourself.
Hello everyone. Thank you Dr.Linda for inviting me tonight. It’s such a pleasure to have this candid discussion with you.
Uh my name is Dr. Reena Cotcha and I’m a general dentist practicing in Missaga for the last 23 years or so.
Awesome. Thank you and welcome to the show.
Pleasure. Yeah.
And for those that are watching do stay to the end and throughout this session if you have any question that you would like me to ask her, please drop it as a comment. I’m going to see it and I’ll pick it up from there.
And u if you’re watching this as a replay uh do stay to the end and listen to the questions others even had to ask and the responses that she gives or she gives. Right.
So uh back to the topic which is beyond the drill life lessons from a successful mreneur. Of course Dr.
Reena already mentioned she’s a dentist. Dr.
Reena over to you. What inspired you to pursue dentistry?
Yeah thank you Dr. Linda.
Um, you know, I mentioned that I am a general dentist, but I’m also a mother of two lovely children. Uh, my son, Arman, he’s turning 12 this year, and my daughter Malika, she’s turning 17.
So, yes, I’ve been through that journey of motherhood, still going through the journey of motherhood and and a businesswoman at the same time for a while now. Um I remember when I was in undergrad I always thought that you know um I was always motivated by sciences.
I loved science and math and I knew that do something related to that and in healthcare. So I actually explored a few options before picking dentistry.
I actually applied to optometry schools, pharmacy schools and dental schools where I set for the entrance examinations while I was trying to see how what I was going to do. Mhm.
And I always wanted to be a medical doctor, but back in the day in the ’9s, there was a very popular show ER, you know, the doctor’s ER and we always used to watch as uh uh as friends in during my college years on Thursday evenings and in the show they show doctors as the ER docs always, you know, running around and being on call and I thought that’s what doctors did. So I didn’t have the guidance.
I said, “No, I want a 9-to-five job. I don’t want to work nights.
So, um, I think I’m going to apply to other schools.” And then finally, I decided on dentistry because I actually shadowed a female dentist in town who was very gracious to allow a student uh, come and observe her. And I did that for 3 weeks.
And I I liked what I saw. And that made me decide to apply to dental school.
and I got in and that rest is history. Wow.
And you know how did that passion evolve into founding your dentistry on 10 which is your practice?
Yeah, which is my practice in Miss Saga. Um when I graduated I you know I I went to school in Boston, Massachusetts.
I went to Harvard Dental School and I did a residency program there, a GPR program. And then um I met my my spouse then um in who was in Toronto.
So I moved and when I came here I was working as an associate dentist. So, I worked in multiple practices and um one of the things I never thought would be a challenge was that I I am left-handed and I never thought that that would be a problem because in dental school we have ambidextrous chairs and you know I did my dentistry but when interviewing here for associate ships I found that they were very back then 25 years ago the chairs were not as popular to BMBB dextrous and they had right-handed chairs.
So I would have to call in from yellow pages and call in and ask if by the way do you have a left-handed operatory for me to work in because I got refused jobs. Um they would they couldn’t hire me because of the setup of the dental space.
So that was one of the reasons that got me thinking that you know what I got to have my own space where I can practice the way I want comfortably. So that was one of the decisions that led me to start looking at ownership of a practice rather than working for someone else.
Wow. You know, um, first of all, hearing that you’re left-handed to someone listening, if they’re not a dentist, it would just be like, well, some people are left-handed, some people are right-handed.
For dentistry, everything is about, you know, using your hand to drill. And most times is taught in that, you know, right-handed manner, including the setup.
So, hearing that you’re left-handed and you’re a dentist is like, exactly right. Yeah.
It was a it’s a world twisted over the wires, connections and you know left-handed people are generally we have to adapt and adjust in the world the 10% of us and we don’t think too much about it. But here yes this is very specific setup equipment and you’re also working with an assistant another person who has to also adapt to you and the patient.
So it really throws everyone off. Then they’re like no we’re not set up for that.
Sorry, we can’t hire you. Wow.
Yes. See how like from what you’re saying is how um something that can easily happen to somebody else and become the reason they they’re not even successful, you know, then became the reason you went on to build your own business.
Yes. Yes.
Yes. I never kind of thought of it that way, but yeah.
it could [ __ ] someone and it would really discourage someone to take the next step. But I was and that that frustration actually fueled me to to have my own space and build out my own area and set it up the way where I can practice.
And then I had I had a challenge when I had my left-handed setup that during maternity leave I had to find somebody who was left-handed to sit in my space. So it’s a circle and a catch.
Now I’m proud to say we have ambidextrous setup in all the rooms. So everyone can work in all the rooms all the time.
No more headaches. Wow.
That is a major challenge that you overcome that you were able to overcome. That’s awesome.
Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah. So um what are the core values for you now that drive your practice?
Mhm. Great question.
Many many values but one of the strongest values that my office my team is based on is comprehensive patient care. That’s the number one that we care take care of the patient fully.
The teeth are associated with the person. So it’s not just the teeth we treat, we treat the person.
And our mission is that every person, every patient who walks into my my clinic leaves healthier and happier than when they walked in. Because Dr.
Linda, no one likes to go see a dentist. I don’t have people raving, you know, when they’re coming.
They’re usually coming because they have some problems, some some issue. So, they’re not too happy, you know, with like a broken tooth or in pain or swelling or infection.
And nobody wants drills and needles in their mouths, but as you said, life beyond the drilling. So, we focus on healing the patient and making sure they leave out healthier and happier than when they came in.
That’s awesome. What kind of uh like specific services can someone get when they come to your dental practice practice?
Yeah, that’s a great question. Um, we are a general dentist.
We kind of have we provide all the services under one roof. Um from dental cleanings and checkups, fillings, seeing little kids to seniors and everyone in between.
We do dentures and implants, dental implants for older patients. We do crowns, bridges meaning like um like caps or veneers, cosmetics, invisalign straightening teeth, wisdom teeth removal, root canals, we we do it all in our practice.
I have myself and my two associates um who take care of different procedures for the patient. So um yeah, we are a family family uh dental office.
So we see everyone from little kids to seniors. That’s good.
So for you now, how long have you been practicing?
Yeah. Um, I graduated in 2001.
So about 24 years. 24 years now in in dentistry.
Yes, that’s a long time. Yeah.
And I and I love it. I love every day of it.
I’m I’m grateful for the opportunity. That’s lots of experience, you know, under your belt as well.
and thank you for coming today to share some of those with us. Oh, fantastic.
It’s my pleasure. Thank you.
Thank you. Sure.
Uh I also noticed that you’ve had um a lot of roles in fact leadership roles in dental associations which I know yes that’s where you are now but it will have meant you also joining those associations along the way as you were growing in your profession. So, how did your roles in various dental associations and mentorship programs influence your professional growth and the evolution of your brand?
That’s a great loaded question and years of doing this. So, yes, um, ever since I moved to Miss Saga, I, you know, continuing education is a big part of my life.
um I have at least one seminar or a course a week that I’m either teaching or learning still and you know after 25 years I’m still learning so that’s a longterm commitment and dedication to the profession and yes I was a member of several associations the Halton Peele which is the the local association Ontario dental association different study clubs being a member first networking and learning, having a sound skill set, implementing that in the practice, balancing everything. Then as you become more seasoned and as you get older that there are opportunities of mentoring others because you see the younger generation coming in and you know being open when I was younger learning from my seniors and now it feels like you know what we can help the newer graduates who are coming into their practice who are newer professionals who need guidance.
So it definitely gives me a sense of responsibility uh towards the profession and it also makes me feel proud that I have accomplished so much over these years and I am so happy and proud to share that with other professionals who are like-minded with an open mind. Yeah.
Okay. So thank you very much.
Let’s look at uh you know talking about the topic which is life lessons. Let’s start with you know balancing business and motherhood.
So as a mom and business owner, what challenges did you face when you still had little ones?
Yes, I know. I have to just rewind a little bit to when they were little and I clearly remember it’s always full of challenges.
You know the other thing um Dr. Linda, people don’t realize sometimes that mreneurs or in certain professions we don’t have the luxury of a math leave per se, like a full one year of math leave.
Um, I actually had a fivew week math leave, maternity leave. Uh, and I had a C-section both times and as soon as the doctor on the sixth week gave clearance from the doctor’s office, I went to my office to perform procedures with my baby.
So as glorious as as it may seem that you you know you are a businesswoman, you are your own boss, you have your own hours, you have the perks, but believe me all of us in some way or the other have paid our dues in our own challenges. Um, so having my kids with me in the office, changing their diapers on the dental chair, feeding them, breastfeeding them while I was still seeing patients, um, and literally having be having a crib or a play pen in the office because there was no choice.
um we’re going through all those struggles when a when a traditional mom or a mom who’s working and then gets one year off has I’m sure she has her own challenges but they don’t have to take the kids to work their babies to work like you know so it those were the challenges that we had to face that at any time if we had if the office called me I had to go and I had planned for about four months that I’ll have an associate it but that didn’t work out well like it didn’t gel well with the practice and I had calls coming in from the practice that you know Dr. we need you.
The new doctor is not able to handle uh certain cases, certain patients and we need you to come back and I had to come back to work and that happened with both the kids. So when they are little we had lots of challenges to to manage being an owner practicing dentist as well as a mom.
M now thinking about your response you know the question I have in my mind is uh what do you think allowed you to get through that phase I’ll be honest at at times it was very challenging I was disheartened discouraged in lots of tears I didn’t think I could handle it but like everything I think every phase ends at some point. So, and I wish I had that guidance, somebody to tell me that that you know what, Reena, it’s going to be okay.
This phase will end and kids do grow and then there are different phases. You know, you’re not going to be breastfeeding them forever.
Although you know that, but you don’t realize you’re so stuck in that rut and at that time everything seems very challenging. So slowing down and then handling that the challenge that was there at that time and knowing that I did the best I could.
Yeah. I I slept well at night because that was the best I could I could do.
Yeah. Yeah.
But it’s tough. Yeah.
You’ve brought up a point there which is you know even just is like just having that mindset that okay this is a phase and that also means that even when you slow down you know it is not it is not slow down forever it is slow down for this phase to get through it. Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Absolutely. Yeah.
It’s not going to be the same and as we have the conversation we’ll go through different phases of different challenges that come in that you know when yeah when little kids are dependent on you for everything I remember my husband had to bring my son 7-month-old son one day in the practice while I was practicing he’s like Vina he hasn’t had any milk and for 7 hours 8 hours cuz it’s just doesn’t take it through the spoon through the bottle, through anything. I had to to nurse him.
And I had to stop a patient and I’m like, where do I even nurse him?
It was December winter and I had to sit in my car very cold to try to feed him and he threw up on me right after and I had a patient to go to and I’m like, I’m in the moment. And yeah, you pick up, clean up, get them done, and do you do what?
Okay. So, okay.
So, can you share maybe a time where being a mom influenced a business decision or leadership approach in your practice?
Yes. Yes.
I feel that, you know, kids need their mom, their presence of the mom at all times. And I knew that I was working part-time.
I was doing the best I could. But I I also knew that I wanted to have flexible hours that would allow me to attend their concert if I had to attend a concert or a game, a a game that they were playing.
Because I remember when my daughter turned eight in her Christmas wish list, you know, there were kids who were asking for iPods and iPads or whatever the in thing was at that time. And she actually wrote a note to Santa that can my mom please attend my birthday parties and because they were on Saturdays and I would be working Saturdays.
I I worked Saturdays for you know 15 years and and that was a point where I’m like you know what no I can’t wait for my child to tell me what they need. I need to be more present and I decided to shift my hours and take more of a leadership transition into more of a leadership role where I dictate my schedule.
Uh that allows me to balance more uh being a mom as well as being a business owner. So yes, that was a time when it pivoted my thinking that I can’t do this.
I have to change as well with the changing needs of being a mom. Yeah, great.
Okay, so uh let’s look at uh many female entrepreneurs, you know, could sometimes struggle with guilt of this whole especially when the like you’re woman, you have children or maybe even newborns and then you’re also working. So there’s that guilt, right?
So how did you address or manage these feelings in your own journey?
Yes, these feelings are um very common. We all have them and it’s okay to have them.
Uh but navigating through so that it doesn’t bog you down is very important. Acknowledge that yes, you feel it, but then don’t dwell on it.
um when they are younger you tend to have more of those but as the kids get a bit older and you are communicating with them and keeping the children involved in what you’re doing was a was a big help for me cuz I have these conversations like my kids know that I’m going to be talking with the beautiful Dr. Linda today I’m having you know a conversation with her from 7 to 8 uh p.m.
um these are the courses I’m going to these are the associations I I am in these are the types of person they know what I’m doing so having that conversation and they and they are okay with it we sometimes think we feel more guilty and we take the stress that’s self-inflicted on ourselves thinking what are my kids feeling but they’re actually pretty cool and they’re fine they’re like okay mom where’d you go to okay good great So having them involved with you and uh having those conversations and actually have them asking you questions about what you do would make you feel more that they are involved with with what you or your spouse as a family what you guys are doing together. Yeah.
But they will the feelings come but then it’s okay. Yeah.
You’re doing the best you you can so Yeah. Okay.
So I’m a firm believer that uh mindset like it’s like whatever one is doing. Yeah.
Like if you have the right mindset for it then those things work but without that right mindset is like you’re going to struggle. So looking at some of the challenges you you’ve explained and the way you overcame them.
I’m wondering was there a significant mindset shift that helped you throughout this time?
Absolutely. Absolutely.
You hit the nail right on the head, uh, Dr. Linda, because the self-inflicted or sometimes you’re putting that burden, the stress in you and if you’re not ready, then no matter what the world is saying, you’re not going to change.
And for me, it was a moment where I didn’t want to be just the manager of my practice. I wanted to be the leader.
And those are two different roles in a in a business. And instead of handling the day-to-day nitty-gritty, getting pulled down, getting phone call, how do you solve this, this broke down, what to do, da da da da, I hired an office manager to have her deal with the primary uh day-to-day running of the practice.
And I assumed more of a leadership role where I I motivate I I uh I I watch from afar. They the the team reports to the office manager and the office manager reports to me as to what’s going well and what’s not and where is my help needed when things that she needs help with.
So that mindset shift and as a as a mom and as a business owner gave me so much more freedom which I didn’t realize that I I had I could have. Yeah.
Because we want to do it all. We want to wear all the hats all the time.
So it’s good to delegate. Mhm.
Where there’s suitable people to do the like the marketing. You have marketers.
You have payroll payroll people companies to do it. you know they’re office cleaners they can do it.
So different departments can be delegated and then you are just doing what you need to do makes a big difference for the practice for the team for yourself for your family. Win-win.
That’s that’s good. What do you think will be somebody’s um like for example let’s say somebody’s listening to what you’re saying now.
What could be the mindset that or the thinking that stops somebody from going this route like this route of uh becoming a leader right could for example maybe somebody saying something like oh that means that I’m going to spend more money but will doing this actually help to make more money or what do you think ah yeah like the self-limited barrier sometimes they feel that yeah you’re hiring a person but that person will make you five times the money you will become more efficient so it’s definitely worth it to to spend the money I think a lot of people in my position when I talk to them about this they feel that uh uh finding uh good staff members is a challenge in the workforce we have shortage of like dental hygienists dental assistants so a big a a barrier as well as hardship, a struggle is uh manpower, you know, uh finding people for the right job. And and as a business owner, you need to realize that you have to keep hiring, hiring, firing.
It’s a constant process. We are not married to these people.
We always want to keep them and you’re like going to keep them forever. Yes, we do.
But you know it’s like if the it’s a fit work train them and let them grow or if it’s not a fit let them go. It’s a constant process and I think people are afraid dentists um a majority are kind of they don’t like the human resources or dealing with with with the training.
We just want to do dentistry. We don’t want to you know wear the business owner hat.
that’s sometimes lacking that you have to think as a business owner. You know, Walmart will not stop like they’ll keep hiring until they find the people.
They, you know, they’re not going to like say, “Oh, no. What if I spend money?” You know, like corporations don’t think like that.
Business owners don’t think like that, but sometimes we we think like that. So, yeah, having more of an open mindset, you know, I get you.
And the being an entrepreneur, you know, I I face that too because sometimes I have gotten way better. But sometimes it’s like you want to go all out that even when something is not working, you like you want to keep the person.
You want to do your best to keep the person. But sometimes what I’ve realized now is that if something is not working and you are you must the courage to let the staff go for example that can also be helpful for that staff because if it’s not working there is a chance they are not also having a good time.
Yeah. You know they’re stressing out.
Exactly. And Yeah.
So, but I know that feeling of uh just like what you’re saying, which is somebody may feel like if I what if I hired the wrong person, but you are more of the wrong person. Hire if he’s the wrong person, hire hire again.
Exactly. Exactly.
Let go. If it’s not a match for you, we tend to keep that.
That doesn’t mean it’s a bad person. It’s just a not a good fit.
And we tend to stick on as you said, try. Let’s try.
But there has to be a time when you’re like, “Okay, thank you.” But, you know, we need to kind of move on. And keeping the wrong person actually affects the bottom line of a business rather than hiring a good person because that person is going to make you money, but keeping the wrong person, you’re going to lose money.
Yeah, I get you. Okay.
So now let’s look at uh you mentioned um that younger professionals either feel lost or overwhelmed. So could you talk more about that?
Yes, I think um younger professionals especially after co kind of put um at least from dental professionals I know that it impacted their education how like everything became online. uh rather than having the hands-on training so some of them missed on certain hands-on interaction hands-on training and as you know we are essential workers so far AI hasn’t replaced us there’s not a hologram of me Dr.
arena working yet. But so we you know patient interaction, patient management is so crucial and when these new graduates if they feel that they did not get enough experience or what is real life like?
Real life is not like social media depicts. Private practice is is different than being in a dental school.
So for them to get more mentorship and continuing education in their field is would really help them kind of steer them in the right direction and maybe help them with their confusions. Very good.
So okay thank you. So what uh role did mentorship play in your journey as an entrepreneur?
Because like for example you were talking about hiring right?
I’m wondering how did that mind like how did you get to learn these things right was it always like this for you oh my god no it wasn’t Dr. Linda um you know when 25 years ago like you know we had yellow pages even Google wasn’t like we were not even on Google as much or YouTube the learning wasn’t accessible like it is now for us back then and there were very few conversations happening this is amazing Dr.
Linda that you’re offering a platform where discussions are happening but we don’t we didn’t have that conversation before uh openly with other professionals and I actually don’t recall having a single female mentor to talk to or to guide me. I would uh luckily in the associate ships where I was learning the principal dentists uh were very good and clinically would guide me for procedures but I kind of had to learn on the go as I as I evolved because I didn’t have that no I didn’t have that guidance before.
I see. Could that be why you are more into mentorship now for you know people that upcoming?
Yes. What you didn’t have?
Yes. Yes.
Totally. I am you know part of women in dentistry.
I’m in an advisory board and we have a mentorship program with University of Toronto dental students. So yes, I’ve gone to to speak to them.
I offer my clinic as a as a I’m a mentor and they come to shadow me and they actually get to see in private practice how things work. So I’m very open to that and I have high school students, I have college like undergraduates, I have dental students coming to shadow um shadow me.
So yes, I’ve kept my doors open because I want them to learn as much as possible what I didn’t have access to. um if anyone’s interested well I we are not stopping anyone as long as you’re interested see if it is for you they might come and realize that you know what this is not for me so that’s good for them to know that okay I don’t want to do clinical I have yet to convince my own children my children have said no they have nothing to do with dentistry so okay that’s fine that’s fine you know what you don’t want okay then focus on what you Cool.
Mhm. Yeah, that’s cool.
Okay. So, um let’s look at for mreneurs now.
What key leadership lessons will you emphasize based on your experience?
Mreneurs, I would definitely say that go with your gut feeling. If you have a dream, pursue it.
It may take time. Sometimes things don’t happen instantly.
But uh pursue your dreams and and get networking with the right professionals. That’s so important to have uh backing you up.
Whether it’s you know a good bank or a good legal team or you know good accountant, a good investment advisor, you need good people around you as a team to help you flourish. So get a good team of people around you and keep pursuing your dreams.
That’s what I would say. Okay.
So uh how do you stay motivated uh amidst pressure of running a practice and you know having a family?
How do you stay motivated?
Yeah, that can be challenging at times. Um, now that I am more little hands off on my practice, I I definitely spend time on on myself.
It’s very important. I realized it a little too late.
Um, I still remember the first 10 years when my kids were young, like you know, I’d pack my daughter’s lunch, I pack my son’s lunch, I water bottle, water bottle, no lunch for me, no water bottle for me. 10 years, right?
and you forget. You’re like, “Oh, I need to eat too.” Not just Tim Horton’s coffee.
So, for 10 years, I was like, I I didn’t have lunch. And it was like, you adapt to it and you think that’s normal.
It’s not normal. So, I had to pause.
And when I had my office manager, she’s like, she just blocked a slot. Lunchtime for Dr.
Reena. You got to eat.
Like literally something simple as that can be lifechanging that you know you need to to think that it’s not just their lunch boxes but mine too. If I’m not packing it I’m going to make sure I eat something.
So self-care is not selfish. It’s essential.
We need to um sleep. If you want to sleep, sleep, rest, take time off to do whatever you want to do.
I’ve I have uh recently gotten into meditation and I find that very calming and helpful for my mental mental health and um yeah whatever is calling you whatever you feel like doing other than your profession is very important to pursue your hobbies. So yeah, u I it’s it’s little challenging for some moms when the kids are younger because we’re it’s their activities.
What are they into?
Is it swimming for them, biking for them, yog?
Uh taekwond do for them. It’s all about the kids and we kind of forget that what am I doing besides chauffeering them.
So, it’s now taking time for myself and finding out my own hobbies and what I want to do that keeps me fresh, that keeps me balanced and that keeps me excited about dentistry. Awesome.
Okay. My next question for you is how do you approach decision making during period of uncertainty?
Yeah. and uncertain times we certainly have after you know with elections and Mr.
Trump and tariffs and how it’s going to impact economy, elections, interest rates, so many different things, right?
So there realizing what you can control in the uncertain times and realizing what you can’t control. And a lot of times you can’t control the economy, the outcome of the elections, the everything else that’s happening.
But what you can control is you, your own team and your practice. So I make decisions based on is it right for me and my patients?
Is it right for me and my team?
Is this going to help me make money?
Is this going to help my patients?
Yes, then we’re going to do this. No, then we’re going to put this aside.
So really realizing what you can control and what you can do about it is important. But we get lost sometimes and the paralysis analysis paralysis.
You don’t make any decisions because you feel so overwhelmed with all the other noise around us. But this takes practice and time.
It didn’t just come to me. I used to be paralyzed with fear myself.
But over time I’ve come to realize that you know it’s not going to make any difference what happens outside your house your home and your practice or whatever uh profession you are in outside your business but focus on the people that matter which is your team and your patients and your family. That’s a good way to think about it.
Yeah. Because those things happening and the reason for the fear most times is that you don’t have control over it, right?
Yeah. Worry, worry, worry, worry.
And yet you can’t do anything about it. Yeah.
Yeah. Okay.
So, um what about self-doubt?
Like a moment of self-doubt, what strategies or support systems have helped you regain confidence and clarity?
Yeah. Yeah.
And we tend to do that self-doubt, you know, sometimes like, yeah, it has happened that am I good enough?
Did I do this right?
I have questioned myself. Um, but I’ll be honest, Dr.
Linda, I’ve had a good set of professional girlfriends, like dentist friends who are really, it’s, you know, a tribe of women. It’s it’s just so important to have.
And we would chat about things. We would throw these ideas to each other.
select friends of mine who have been with me through thick or thin and I’ve been for them for the same reason and we have a pick up the phone and I get a phone call I have called down a friend let’s go out for dinner let’s go for a coffee what do you think and more often than not nine out of 10 times those self-doubts are not validated you know they actually they’re like no you’re doing great what are you thinking no this is a good idea I would do the same or maybe what about this what about that. So talking out to you know um someone rather than just being on Google and trying or chat GPT but actually having a person to bounce ideas off of who understands you has been very helpful to me.
Yes. To give me clarity.
Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Okay.
Next question is uh what common misconceptions do you encounter about mothers and entrepreneurship like like maybe women running their own business, being a mom running business?
Are there any misconceptions that uh maybe you’ve heard before that you would like to address?
Yeah. Yeah.
Initially I think um especially the cultural or societal pressures that we have as women the responsibilities and initially I always felt that if I’m really good at business or in dentistry in my career then I may be perceived as you know that I’m not a good enough of a mom or a of wife or a you know family woman you uh that was more of a cultural thing uh because men don’t have to worry about those things. it’s it’s uh assumed that they are going to be the bread winners and then having now as as a as a bread winner for my family um initially it was like you know those doubts and misconceptions that I would think but but they were short-lived because um uh my family, friends and society in general like I’m really well um uh thought of in the community and looked up to.
Um so I think that was 20 years ago but now we have less and less of of those expectations around. Um but certainly when I first started I had that um yeah I had that pressure.
I see. Yeah.
Okay. So um you you you talk about the networking and some of these groups that you belong to.
So are there networking tips that you would like to share with us today?
Yeah. Um I think it’s very important to be a good listener.
Um you know be open-minded when you’re approaching people. Like see what they have to offer.
Listen listen to what what they’re good at. do some background research on, you know, where you’re going, who you’re going to be meeting with, and then offer uh what how you can help uh help that person or the team or the community.
And being friendly, polite, it’s a given, you know, um you don’t have to be a charmer, but definitely very respectful and polite um uh with the people you meet. Um and and I I genuinely enjoy that.
So I think people get the vibe of who you are as a person. So the more you do it, the more comfortable you get and the more people you meet and now and we have different implant companies, different organizations, different sponsors seeking me out, I am seeking them out and you and you kind of get into the groove of it as you know more people in your profession.
So yeah. Yeah, it definitely takes takes time.
you build and uh yeah doing your research and being wellversed in in what you want being clear about the purpose of of going somewhere or meeting someone. Mhm.
Okay. So uh from what from your response something came to my mind which is that you know looking at you your background you know researching one thing that comes to my mind is you are a great example of people who say you’re a key person of influence in your field and one thing about being a key person of influence is that um you know I was reading somewhere opportunities comes to you first even before they go to other people like one of the authors was like it is the things rejected by key persons of influence that gets you know get to flow down to others to consider trickle down.
Yes. Yes.
Yeah. So yes, the question I have for you is you know what do you think was helpful in making you a key person of influence in your field?
Yes. Uh your question reminds me of my dental implant journey and I remember when I was uh learning how to place dental implants on a pig jaw or a typodont and I was looking at my mentor with eyes wide.
I’m like I can’t do it. I can’t do it.
I said I can’t do it. Like I I’m like I’m in the wrong place.
I don’t know why I’m here. I can’t do it.
He’s like no you can. You can.
and I finished that program and five years later I am teaching that program now. So I didn’t have that faith myself but my mentor had that faith in me.
So having a good mentor who believes you and doesn’t discourage you and even like clarifies your self-doubts and pushes you is so important. and having that laser focused goal.
I after I did my first surgery that I’m like okay I’m doing this and I like doing it and I mean I don’t like I love doing this and I just kept uh taking more courses in it learning more doing more and seeing the benefits for the patients is what drives you what drives me when because of me and my team a person is eating better a person is smiling fully with confidence. Um, a person no longer feels pain and and it’s chewing enjoying food again.
I mean, those are things that no one else can give you. You know, an accountant, a lawyer, a medical doctor, a pharmacist can’t give them that, but the dental team.
So it really puts that responsibility and pride in our profession that what we are doing is lifech changing and it’s helping people. So I want to do more of it and the more I do the more I learned you climb and you be and before I knew it it’s like key person of influence.
So yeah I didn’t even realize it until it kind of happened and I’m still doing more of and I’m enjoying it. It’s more about helping helping the patients.
Yeah. Oh my god.
I’m just I’m going to have such a a big case on Tuesday morning after the long weekend. Dr.
Linda, where we’re doing a full mouth rehabilitation and this person is wearing dentures which are dancing dentures. He calls them that I call it’s like the dentures fall out.
I have to use glue. I can’t eat.
And we are going to give him fixed teeth. And the only thing that’s going to be dancing is him, not his dentures.
So, we are so excited for that. And that kind of, you know, pushes us to do more, keeps me motivated, and it’s just such a great feeling.
So, well, thank you for that question. It just got me really excited.
Yeah. And some of the things I picked from even what you said in addition to what you said is that this is something you love doing.
So you know because you love doing it it’s like yeah it doesn’t mean the fears won’t come but because it’s something you love doing you even willing to try and when you get it you want to do and do more. So that also means that if somebody is trying to be a key person of influence in an area they don’t like it’s going to be tough.
Yes. And you won’t you won’t be able to do justification to it because it will show in your energy and vibrations that You’re not going to be able to feel the same way and your eyes won’t light up if you really don’t like doing something.
I can’t be the key person of influence in folding laundry because I don’t like doing that. So, it’s not going to show.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. The next thing I picked up was I think you said it before about your your like at the beginning you were like sometimes you are either teaching a seminar or attending one yourself.
So I I see that thing of teaching and learning you know going on teaching and learning and uh you also mentioned so when you were talking about uh you know learning about the dental implants and all of that so I see this idea where you are constantly improving yourself yes being open to new concepts uh trying something out seeing what works for you what doesn’t work for you and Dr. Linda like dentistry has evolved a lot since we graduated and with technology digital AI it’s almost some of the ways we are practicing has become obsolete the it’s just different and I I’m still in business we’re still going to be in the business for next 10 15 years so in order to keep up with what the times are offering we have to evolve and adapt We can’t otherwise we will be left behind and our patients deserve the standard of care like your kids and my kids deserve the now not yesterday or you know 20 years ago what was happening.
So yeah, it’s constant learning and being um absorbing things like a sponge and implementing that’s also key because you can’t just learn and be textbook savvy but you got to implement and not be afraid to implement in your practice. So that’s key.
Yeah, that’s a very good in fact awesome mindset to have and the approach to life as well. I don’t know me myself I I love I love learning like I’m like okay I had somebody that was coming on my show and so when we connected initially she was like oh there’s this book and she told me the book by the time so we booked the show time by the time she came the day of her show of her taping right I have bought the book I’ve read the book I’ve even implemented something this is just couple of weeks So when she came, I was showing her the book.
I say, “Hey, thank you for your recommendation.” You know, she was like, “Wow, that’s really good.” Because you’re fast recommendation. They won’t even try it or Yes.
Yes. You’re willing to take that chance, a step, explore.
You may like it, you may not like it. That’s different.
But you did it and that’s amazing. Sure.
Okay. So what advice will you give to entrepreneurs who are becoming a mom soon?
Yeah, we always think you know when you want to have kids like is it the right time?
Is it the perfect time?
And there’s never a right time. It’s whenever you feel like and and for us for for women we have our biologic clock too biological clock as well that’s always ticking and puts some pressure on us.
So um it’s it’s it’s never a right time in your career. Your career you’ll always grow.
There’s nowhere to go but to grow as far as your career and you won’t be left behind. uh if you decide to have kids uh things might slow down a little bit but that’s okay and then things pick up um and then more opportunities come so if you want to have kids have kids and one of my uh three of my girlfriends actually when I had my daughter they had the three separate dentists and three occasions they had tears in their eyes and they said have a second one because they didn’t have a second one and they were regretting cuz they were so stressed and they couldn’t manage and they really and the time went and it was too late for them to have a second one.
But those girlfriends prayed for me. And you know that the conversations you have in the parking lot or in the ladies room or you know somewhere where you least expect it and and five years later I did have my my second uh baby.
And and I’m so glad that I did because it’s important for the kids to have their sibling. And although they they think the other one was adopted or picked up from a dust bin can, they’re always fighting.
But it’s a love between them is genuine. So siblings and having a family is so important.
So if that’s even something you’re considering, please don’t postpone it. Have your children, your business, you can always uh you know work on the side and uh get help and and work on it on the side.
Yeah. Okay.
So, let me flip the question a bit and say, “What advice do you have for um moms who are at the crossroad of starting their entrepreneurial journey?” Yeah, that’s a good one, too. And and bravo for thinking about that and wanting to to be an entrepreneur.
It’s uh definitely a good idea to have some family support as well like whether it’s your supportive spouse, your parents uh with you in raising your kids. Um that helps to kind of reduce the burden or the guilt that we might feel as a mom.
But then not everyone is lucky. I didn’t have my family around.
Uh I had to do it on my own. But having a good like family support as well as professional support right you know whether it’s um as I mentioned earlier like whether it’s like a a banker or a website social media person or somebody who does marketing like having those good people with you to help you run your business you don’t have to do everything on your own AI and other tools are there for you to to kind of make it easier for you so yeah it is possible ible to do both.
Having support from both sides helps. I see.
Okay. So, what’s the vision for dentistry on 10?
Uh-huh. So, uh my vision for my practice is that we are going to grow, keep growing.
Um my plan is to expand. I’ll be buying another practice and maybe merging or being bigger.
But I definitely envision uh helping more people wherever I can get the opportunity, helping more people, making a difference in people’s lives and continuing having this dialogue with wonderful people like you and being part of my um dental professional community and leadership roles and maybe pursuing more of those things um because I find that very rewarding and satisfying. So, uh, bigger and better things onwards and upwards for all of us.
Mhm. I get you.
Okay. Let me uh What question do you wish that I asked you but I have not asked you yet.
That’s good one. Dr.
Linda, you asked me a lot of questions. A very lot of insightful ones.
Um, I can’t think of anything. I think we we covered a lot of different things.
I think um I guess maybe when you were asking about what the the the newcomers when they are coming, what are some of the challenges uh the younger professionals have?
And I think one of the things I wanted to mention was that you and I mentioned like social media and technology which are so important for us to learn and improve but them having chat GPT and like AI not to have technology as a substitute for education. You know we learned how to read X-rays.
we learned how to diagnose. But if a doctor’s graduating without them using their own minds, but AI is telling them what to do, that kind of scares me.
Um, as a professional that when you have younger professionals coming in who are using entirely AI based tools but not their knowledge, experience, education. So I think using technology as a add-on adjunct and not as a substitute to our um education.
I think that’s the only comment I guess I had to make. But yeah and I get you but let me ask you something deeper which why is that important?
Like why is it important that we should be thinking of uh AI as a as an adjunct or compliment instead of as a substitute?
Yeah. because we are dealing with people and we are dealing with a person with feelings with comp you know we need compassion when we’re approaching a person healthcare you know um it’s never going to be the same listening shaking someone’s hand putting a pet to reassure them looking them at them in their eyes and telling them it’s going to be okay you’re never going to substitute ute those things with AI.
People still need that reassurance. Um you know um still old school a lot of us are still old school and they want that tender loving care chairside.
They want somebody to call them by their name and remember and laugh and you know smile acknowledge what happened like you know last time I h you know something that they shared. It’s it’s still relationships and people we are dealing with.
So I don’t know how it’s going to be with with AI and yes it’s good to have tools but I don’t think that not as a substitute. No I get you.
Yeah. So um maybe aside AI since we’ve talked about AI already are there other maybe trends or evolutions you see that are coming in your field dentistry to be precise.
Yeah social media social media Tik Tok trends I mean people all put the best foot forward and we kind of get trained to think that’s how it is. But people don’t share their bad day, their bad outcome, the patient who yelled at them, the the filling that broke, the thing that they couldn’t fix, the failure of the implant.
People don’t showcase those things. So you got to have a balanced view of what reality is really like.
Um and that’s why I was thinking that mentorship when when the pe when the person goes to real world and sees that and talks to mentors at what it is like to be in a private practice social media just shows one aspect of it. It’s not a full reality of it and we get sucked into that perfectionism the best picture the best everything and is this picture even real or is this AI generated photo?
I mean, right. So, it’s it’s it’s it’s just one aspect of it.
I see. Yeah.
Yeah. I get you.
And one thing just like this conversation right that we’re having now I noticed that as a person and uh as an entrepreneur I watch a lot of podcast myself like video podcast or shows because I noticed that uh people tend to have deeper conversations that then can include you know both the wins and the challenges and lessons because sometimes Um just like what you said the the regular social media posts tend to be tilted towards the wins you know we just got this we we just got this partnership right but you don’t know that they worked on that partnership for two years and three month partnership fell yes or didn’t work out before this first one worked out all you know is that they had one partnership that worked out and you you are feeling so sad for yourself why your own partnership hasn’t worked out so Yeah, I noticed that listening to entrepreneurs who have built companies through these podcast shows uh tend to give more depth. So that’s one way absolutely amazing and that’s such a big uh uh diff distinction because having a conversation with a real person and sharing and the depth at which with which and answer candidly is is uh absolutely amazing and you can’t replicate that you can’t get it anywhere else but yeah more I was more about those like what we make regular posts on which only show the best foot forward.
So yeah, that and that’s great. We should but that’s not all for somebody who’s learning and starting, right?
It gives a skewed skewed vision of what to expect. Wow.
Thank you so much for coming and uh you know sharing a lot of your experiences with us. It’s been an amazing time.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
I’m so grateful for the invitation and I had I really enjoyed being on the show. So, thank you Dr.
Linda once again for inviting me and I look forward to seeing you soon. Thank you.
And for those watching, you know, see you at the next episode. Bye.
Yeah. Keep continuing the good work you’re doing.
Thank you. Okay.
Bye.

Dr.Rina Raichada was thrilled to be invited to Dr.Linda Show!

It was an inspiring evening with a candid discussion on Women in Business- a journey of successful entrepreneurs.

Podcast Topic: Beyond the drill: Life Lessons from a Successful Mompreneur

What an honor for Dr. Rina Raichada to participate in the annual @womensdentistry symposium! A full day of continuing education by impressive educators, networking, mentorship, supporting exhibitors, and, of course, indulging delicious treats! Both with sugar and without. It was epic! Amazingly well done, @effiehabsha and team, @palmerimediagroup, and @baharpalmeri. Congratulations! #fifteenthanniversary

Dr. Rina at Business in Dentistry series

We did it!!!

I am so proud to complete the 9 sessions of Business in Dentistry series over 3 years at the @haltonpeeldentalassociation with my colleagues. We learned a lot from various industry leaders, and I’m grateful for its impact on my dental practice.

Thank you, @haltonpeeldentalassociation, for the lovely surprise party!

#collaboration #community #continuingeducation #celebrations #ProfessionalGrowth #friendships #patientcare.

Dr. Rina Raichada is so excited and grateful to be one of the finalists for the 2025 Women R.I.S.E awards by the prestigious @ewb_womeninbusiness.

What an honor to be amongst the trailblazers and powerful women in business!

We are looking forward to meeting all the inspirational entrepreneurs at the annual #ewb2025 conference this weekend on March 7 and 8.

“I am grateful for the enwavering support and encouragement from my family and friends throughout my journey’’- Dentistry On 10 – Dr. Rina M. Raichada DMD

What an incredible event hosted by the wonderful ladies of the @bapstoronto. It was my privilege to be invited to attend the Women’s Networking Event.

Pathways to Purpose: Connect. Inspire. Thrive.

Personally, for me, it was a life-changing day, spent making connections, being inspired and fuelled to thrive!

True to the theme, glancing inward and taking a deep dive within to find happiness, peace, and drive to serve our community.

#spirituality #service #community #connections #empowerment #bettertogether #professionalgrowth #personalgrowth #inspiration #leadership #friendships

Love my team!

Team meetings to assess what we are doing well and what we can do to improve our internal systems and organization are crucial!

Together, we come up with solutions so that both our team AND our patients continue to smile better.

#TeamFirstPriority #patientcare #funatwork #motivationmonday #ThrowbackThursday
Assess. Improve. Win. Repeat.

Another one in the books!

Boosting clinical confidence with Guided Implant Surgery!

Wine not? Thank you, @jackie_joachim_ and team @roicorp for hosting a very interactive and educational morning for the entire dental team. It was an honour to share the stage with @jenn_rdh of @hygieneheadquartersinc, @talabatarseh of @dentalaconsulting, and Natalia of @vitamindmarketing who are extremely knowledgeable and accomplished in our dental industry. Together, we helped teams overcome their barriers and implement dental implants in their practices to improve our patients’ health.

What an honour for Dr. Rina Raichada to collaborate with Dr. Aisling Whitaker of Dental Hive @dentalhive.ca to share our successful actions on Practice Growth and Personal Health to members of @ontariodentalimplantnetwork.

It was a full house with a lot of interaction and engagement with our colleagues on a very important topic.

The evening was very informative, and we had candid discussions with our ODA President Dr. Maneesh Jain, and our Registrar Dan Faulkner. They both did a great job giving us an update on the Canadian Dental Care Plan and our ongoing advocacy and dialogue with Health Canada and the government.

Times are uncertain for Ontarians with the upcoming election, however, be rest assured, our dental associations continue to engage with the government for fair and sustainable dental care programs for our patients.

Happy Diwali!

#streetsville #meadowale #mississauga

What an honour for Dr. Rina Raichada to share #Diwali greetings and celebrate our legacy with Honorable Nina Tangri.

#communitysupport #traditions #celebration.

Our team had a fabulous time at the annual #DentalFest hosted by team Henry Schein Canada. Good food and great company! We met with several vendors from our industry, watched the races and plenty of networking with colleagues, reps, and friends! #futureplans, #creativeideas #dentalsuppliesshopping #dentalequipment #ProfessionalGrowth #PatientCare #patientsfirst #teambuilding #purposedrivenlife #winningteam #MississaugaDentist

Shout out to PMG – Palmeri Media Group for putting up a great #spectrumday2024! Our team had an amazing day of learning, collaborating, and supporting our fellow colleagues in the dental industry.

On a personal note, time spent with my team outside the dental office always teaches me new things about them as a person, their values, and integrity! At the leadership level, we formed new action items on our agenda and team meeting on Monday to reflect and implement. Reinforce what works for us and tweak workflows to improve on efficiencies in patient care. #patientsfirst #teamfirst #learningneverstops #professionaldevelopment #becausewecare

The only thing that is more gratifying to me than treating my patients in my clinic is making a larger impact in my profession through advocacy and leadership!

Advocating with my fellow Political Contact Dentists of @ontariodentalassoc during advocacy days every year is one of my highlights of the year.

There have been many new developments over the last few years as we push for fair and sustainable government funded dental care programs for people of Ontario.

We had workshops, meetings and discussions with our MPPs, Ministers, and Premier throughout the day.

What a privilege to learn from our key note speaker Mr. Tim Hudak, former leader of Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, on how to become a high-impact advocate!

#ODAadvocacydays #Politicalcontactdentist #PurposeDrivenLife #CommunityImpact #oralhealthmatters

Dr. Rina Raichada received very positive feedback from all the attendees for her seminar on guided implant surgery last week! Our team was thrilled to support! Thank you team Hiossen Implant Canada for having us. We look forward to more projects together!

What an enlightening team meeting this week! Over home made yummy breakfast sandwiches (made by our Juvy Palaganas Dela Paz) and Timmy’s ofcourse, Dr. Rina Raichada and team discussed our individual “Why” we chose to be dental professionals. We had numerous “wow” moments, laughs, hugs and some tears as we shared our unique stories and career paths. However, the resounding common denominators were:

Helping people!
Improving their health.
Making a positive impact in our patients lives!
Helping our patients eat better, feel better and live longer!

I am so proud of each and every member of my team! Janet Okhayian, Gur, Noor, Sekinat, Juvy. It is a positive force to be reckoned with. We are pumped and on purpose, to help everyone who comes in to see us leave our clinic happier and healthier than when they came in!

#purposedrivenlife #whatisyourwhy #passion #health #boostingconfidence #WinningTeam #mississaugadentist.

Great evening of mentorship organized by the Women in Dentistry for the female dental students of University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry. Dr. Rina Raichada was one of the panelists as a general dentist in private practice, giving guidance on Career Paths after graduation for these dental students. A candid rounded table discussion by the panelists. An amazing turnout! Thank you to our sponsors and team Women in Dentistry! #mentorshipmatters #FutureIsFemale #givingback #leadership #motivation

Dr. Rina Raichada is honoured to be the Chair of Communications Committee for @haltonpeeldentalassociation and be a part of innovative and hardworking executives of our professional association.

Our component society delivers top-notch #continuingeducation to our dentists in #halton and #peel regions. It also supports #charities in our community, and provides excellent #mentorship and #networking opportunities in the dental industry. #volunteersmakeadifference #communitysupport

Dr. Rina Raichada is excited to be one of the panelists for the first ever health and wellness community event organized by the hardworking team of the Lohana Canada @lohanacf_toronto on Sunday July 28th from 3.30 to 6.30 pm. Bring your family and friends. Delicious refreshments will be served. Please register today on the link below and save the date

Crest Oral-B Pro???????? Products - Dentistry On 10

We love our @crestoralbpro_ca products, and the support we get from our reps! We learnt about the new #waterflosser and it’s benefits in maintaining strong and healthy gums! #patientexperience #crestoralbprocanada #healthygumsandteeth

Our team never stops learning and implementing patient centered care! Big shout out to our hardworking, amazing, kind, and dedicated #dentalassistant Sekinat and equally amazing @nsmangat10 for attending the @ontariodentalimplantnetwork ‘s final seminar on how to improve surgical efficiency to improve patient care. We are so motivated! A very big thank you to our favorite supporters.

Dr. Rina Raichada feels honored and privileged to contribute to and be a part of the @haltonpeeldentalassociation, a vibrant and dynamic component society of the Ontario Dental Association. Collaboration with colleagues for the betterment of patients and the profession. Kudos to all the volunteers! #volunteerappreciation #givingback #leadershipmindset #compassion #progressive.

It was an honour for Dr. Rina Raichada to moderate the evening seminar organized by Women in Dentistry team. Dr. Amelia Edmonds, a chiropractor at the The Jaw & Facial Pain Centre did an outstanding job reviewing the etiology, diagnosis and management of orofacial pain and temporomandibular joint disorders. It is absolutely essential for healthcare professionals to collaborate together to help our patients suffering from #HeadAndNeckPain. #WomenSupportingWomen #womeinhealthcare #leadershipmindset #patientsfirst

Our annual CPR and Medical Emergency Management training with amazing Paramedic David Goodman of Heaven Can Wait. We reviewed adult and infant CPR techniques, use of medications and management of common #medicalemergencies. Are you CPR certified? A great idea to have adult family members certified to help keep our families safe at home. #savinglivestogether. #Mississaugadentist. #asthma #stroke #diabetes #cardiacarrest #choking #naloxonesaveslives #anaphylaxis #epipen #cprtraining #CPRSavesLives #AED #difribrilator

A unique and fun Mix and Mingle of amazing dental professionals on a nice Sunday morning!

Dr. Rina Raichada and Juvy Palaganas Dela Paz are thrilled and proud of completing the 2-day intensive program on providing full mouth rehabilitation solutions that will positively impact the lives of our patients! #learningneverstops #dentalimplants #allon4 #nobelbiocare #teamwork. A job very well done by the team @genesis.dental.education @bongard_implantology

Food Banks Mississauga

When life throws you cookies, you smile and eat them! Our team enjoyed the #smilecookies from #timhortons and supported our favorite charity Food Banks Mississauga and Community Living Mississauga. Buy your smile cookies until May 5 as all proceeds go to local charities. #spreadloveandkindness #communitysupport #Mississauga.

The ultimate female #powerhouse under one roof! What an epic evening of great company, delicious food, drinks, and empowering discussions! Thank you @effiehabsha and team @nobelbiocarecanada for hosting us. #puttingourpinkon #womenindentistry. @womensdentistry @palmerimediagroup

Amazing full day of hands-on learning about digital workflow for guided dental implant surgery and temporization aka how to give our patients the best surgical care and teeth

thinkingoutsidethebox #smileinabox

As the year comes to a close, we bridge the gap between the present and the future! Honored to be in the same space with our current dynamic President of @ontariodentalassoc Dr. Brock Nicolucci and the future ODA President Dr. Maneesh Jain who are instrumental in the discussions of the recently announced Canadian Dental Care Plan. Dr. Rina Raichada recently participated in the Leadership Summit with the Dental professionals. #volunteering #leadership #teambuilding #passionforprofession #componentsociety @haltonpeeldentalassociation.

It is an honour for Dr. Rina Raichada to meet with our MP @iqrakhalidmp just before the launch of the federal dental program that will benefit millions of #ontarians. @dr.rinaraichada and @iqrakhalidmp discussed many important issues related to the program and how to best protect the patient-dentist relationships. We are grateful that our @ontariodentalassoc is collaborating diligently with the #federalgovernment and #healthcanada to work out the details of the Canadian Dental Care Plan #cdcp. Stay tuned for more exciting updates. #advocacy #passionforprofession #oralhealthmatters #community #leadership #historyinthemaking #ohcanada.

Healthy Wealthy and Wise! What a fabulous overnight retreat with like minded friends and professionals! Tons of laughs and learning! #WomenSupportingWomen #womenibusiness #womenindentistry.

Dr. Rina Raichada is passionate not only about her own practice but her #dentalprofession as well! A very productive and enlightening weekend at the #LeadershipSummit2023 organized by the Ontario Dental Association. It is a privilege to be the Executive Member of the @haltonpeeldentalassociation and represent our community dentists. #proudtovolunteer. #leadershipdevelopment #passion #community #mentorship #healthydentisthealthypatient. #TogetherWeServe

Dr. Rina Raichada was at Queen’s Park with fellow ontario dentists. It was an honour to meet with MPP Natalia Kusendova, John Jordan, MPP Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, MPP Ted Arnott and Sheref Sabawy, MPP to discuss how we can increase funding for government #dentalprograms and provide greater access to #dentalcare for all Ontarians. #odaadvocacydays.

Learning,mentoring,sharing! Dr. Rina Kotecha and her women dentist colleagues networking and learning about dental practice appraisals and marketing!

Learning, mentoring, sharing! Dr. Rina Raichada and her women dentist colleagues networking and learning about dental practice appraisals and marketing! Thank you ROI Corporation for hosting us, and Vitamin D Marketing & Design for the valuable tips!

My guru and a legend, father of oral surgery for general dentists, avid supporter, teacher and most caring human being, Dr. Larry Gaum cheering for the women dentists Rina Raichada to have worked with him

Outstanding patient experience is always our top priority! Kuddos to Noor Seerat Mangat and Karen for leading an awesome team training session! Dr. Rina Raichada is so proud! #teamworkmakesdreamswork

Dr.Rina Kotecha and her women dentist colleagues

The Dentistry On 10 team helping families affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Our team is so proud to be able to help with the humanitarian efforts to provide food, water, basic hygiene supplies and relocation support to the families affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. We are blessed to be in position to help not only in our local community but also globally! Every bit counts. #togetherwecanmakeadifference #globalhealthoutreach.

https://www.givesendgo.com/G9TJ1?utm_source=sharelink….

Dr. Rina Kotecha speaks at Ontario Dental Implant Network annual meeting

Dr. Rina Raichada was recently invited to speak to her fellow colleagues at the Ontario Dental Implant Network annual meeting on Business topics. Of note, Dr.Rina was the only female presenter and she’s very proud of it! #letsgetdowntobusiness #learninganddevelopment #supportsmallbusinessowners. #womeninbusiness

Child holding a bottle of Terra Pure shampoo.

Dr. Rina Raichada and team are so proud and honored to support Liam’s Mission in preparing 100 Christmas Stockings for children at #sickkidshospital. We donated 300 units of travel shampoos that were needed for the project. We love you Liam and we wish you all the best ????. You continue to be our inspiration ???? always full of smiles and positive energy! #cysticfibrosisawareness

Dr. Rina Kotecha at Ontario Dental Association LEAD Advocacy Days.

As a political contact dentist, Dr. Rina Raichada and several Ontario Dental Association dentists went to Queen’s Park today to meet with our MPPs to advocate for better funding for the public dental care programs. #odaadvocacydays because #OralHealthIsHealth and #oralhealthmatters especially for children and seniors of #ontario.

Dr. Rina M. Raichada and Dentistry On 10 are proud to support the following organizations:

The Period
Purse

Breast Cancer Soceity of Canada

Plum Tree Park Public School

Liam’s Mission

Mississauga Food Bank

Trillium Health Partners

Eden Food for Change

Diwali and Thanksgiving celebrations - Dr. Rina and the staff volunteered and contributed at Eden Food Bank

In the spirit of upcoming Diwali and Thanksgiving celebrations, our team volunteered and contributed at Eden Food Bank to prepare 250 healthy meals for their Meals on Wheels program that provides nutritious and tasty meals to seniors, made from scratch! We learnt so much from Chef Dave! So proud of our team, we had fun and laughed a lot while improving our culinary skills.

Dr. Rina Kotecha with other Amazing Dentists of Ontario Dental Implant Network

Dr. Rina Raichada was thrilled to share some of her #dentalimplants surgery cases with other amazing dentists of Ontario Dental Implant Network this week! These doctors care about their patients and are constantly learning and improving their skills to deliver quality dental care. #learningneverstops. #buildinghealthycommunities.

Informative and entertaining seminar on "Your Dental Health Matters" by Dr. Rina Kotecha

Informative and entertaining seminar on “Your Dental Health Matters” by Dr.Rina Raichada, organized by the Christian Medical Paramedical Dental Society. #sundayservice #communitysupport #dentalhealthmatters.

Dr. Rina Kotecha with Wealth Management Team at CIBC

Last week, Dr. Rina Raichada had coordinated with wealth management team at CIBC and leading dental brokerage firm ROI Corporation to host a seminar for the women dentists of the Ontario Dental Implant Network . It was a great success, lots of fun and we learnt a lot! #bossladiesmindset #womensupportingwomen #womeninbusiness. Energy and collaboration amongst our colleagues and big thanks to Dr. Pravir Patel for hosting the event!

Dr. Rina was recently invited to give a presentation on ” Your Dental Health Matters!” at the Church of Christ. A lot of families benefited by joining online and attending in person.

Dentistry On 10 team successfully completed training on communication and team coordination.

Our team successfully completed training on communication and team coordination to enhance our patient care to improve their health. So proud of my team’s dedication and commitment! Thank you to the amazingly fun and inspiring line of speakers at MGE for motivating us, we learnt a lot and can’t wait for Monday morning

Did you know we offer co-op placements to aspiring high school students? We are so proud of Malika, Dr. Rina’s daughter who is working hard this summer getting trained in our dental office!

April is OralHealthMonth and Dr. Rina Raichada teams up with fellow dentists from Halton Peel Dental Association to volunteer for smileday. Free dental care was provided by the fantastic team of dentists and staff members to the needy. Loved the energy and collaboration amongst our colleagues and big thanks to Dr. Pravir Patel for hosting the event!

Annual Mentorship Event organized by Women In Dentistry

Happy 100th Birthday to our “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion!

Winner of our #Backtoschool2020 Contest: Ralph J, who won a $50 Gift certificate to a local restaurant of his own choice!

Appreciating teachers in the community with back-to-school care packages

How we are contributing to their fall blitz – donating 100 reusable pads to The Period Purse!

We are thrilled to donate 65 Faceshields to the choir worship group of Church of Christ, Iglesia Ni Cristo of Mississauga!

65 Faceshields donation - Dr. Rina Kotecha

Women Supporting Women

We are excited to announce a new partnership with Startup Dojo (www.MyStartupDojo.com), an online academy that is training kids to become future CEOs. Founded by Anjalee Narenthiren, a social-entrepreneur who built her first successful venture at 15-years-old, this online school is a great opportunity that we are excited to offer to DentistryOn10 families!

For More Details

Birthdays at Dentistry on 10

Amazing Symposium And Memories With HiOssen Team

Wishing Our Ever Giggling Rockstar Juvy A Very Happy Birthday!!

National Dental Hygienists Week – A Huge Vote Of Appreciation!!

Our Star Dental Hygienist Janet Okhayian celebrated 20 years as a Dental Hygienist recently

Boxes of Crayons donated to Plum Tree Public School in Mississauga

Ice Cream Social

Yoga Experience

Ongoing Raptor Fever

https://www.facebook.com/dentistryon10/videos/445675125989088/?allowfullscreen=0

Completion of the Dental Implants Training Program – AIC Master Course

Amazing Team Bonding Over Mani-pedi, Pizza and Coffee!

Mother’s Day Walk 2019 – Fund Raiser for Breast Cancer Society of Canada

Thanking all the patients and well wishers from far and near who have supported us and contributed!

We beat our goal and raised $1700 for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. We were the top fundraising team and want to thank everyone for their support.

Oral Health Presentation at Elite Montessori School

Valentine’s Day 2019

Fun Time with the Team

Diwali 2018

Halloween 2018

Dr. Rina Raichada at the Implant Training Session with Hiossen Implant System

Dr. Rina Raichada is always busy taking clinical courses and upgrading her dental skills so that she can deliver the best dental care that she can to her patients. She is part of the Ontario Dental Implant Network and is currently working on placing dental implants. She is very excited to bring this service to her patients!

Diwali 2017

Halloween 2017

Open House 2017

Holiday Team Lunch 2016

Halloween 2016

Team Lunch September 2016

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Campaign

In October, Dr. Rina Raichada and her team at Dentistry on 10 sponsored a month-long Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and surpassed their fundraising goal by donating over $1000 just in funds raised in their office. These funds will be forwarded to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada and used for life saving breast cancer research.

Mother’s Day Contest

Sharing is Caring Fundraising Campaign for Mississauga Food Bank

Fighting hunger in community is important to the team members at Dentistry on 10. Their annual drive to raise money for the Mississauga, Ontario food bank resulted in 360 meals for hungry neighbors as a result of the $120 in donations raised by the team.

Sponsoring Gujarati Garba and Oral Health Awareness

Promoting Oral Hygiene in Schools

Bridal Show Booths

Senior Centers: Dental Health Concerns for Seniors

Patient Appreciation Day

Guest Speaker and Territory Manager Tara Gibson explaining on “Benefits of Invisalign Clear Braces!

Meet Dr. Rina – Author, Speaker, Mentor

Professional Leadership & Contributions

Dr. Raichada’s commitment to dentistry extends beyond patient care into leadership, mentorship, and professional development.

Her professional contributions include:

Clinical Speaker for Hiossen Implant Canada, presenting on Guided Implant Surgery and Guided Sinus Lift techniques.
Executive Member of the Ontario Dental Implant Network.
Political Contact Dentist with the Ontario Dental Association, advocating for both patients and dental professionals.
Founding Member and current President of the South Asian Dental Association.
Advisory Board Member and Mentor for Women in Dentistry at the University of Toronto, supporting dental students as they transition into professional practice.
Contributing co-author of Canada Mindful Nation, including the chapter Mindful Leadership: Cultivating Compassion and Culture at Work.
Panelist and speaker on leadership, resilience, mentorship, and personal growth.

Through these roles, Dr. Raichada continues to support the advancement of dentistry while helping shape future generations of dental professionals.

Community Involvement

Giving back to the community has always been an important part of Dr. Raichada’s career. Throughout the years, she has participated in numerous educational, charitable, and community outreach initiatives throughout Mississauga and beyond.

Her community involvement includes:

Guest speaker on oral health for community organizations, schools, senior groups, and cultural centers.
Children’s oral health presentations at local daycares, elementary schools, and Ontario Early Years Centres.
Oral health education workshops for families and seniors.
Sponsorship and participation in community health awareness events.
Organization of food drives supporting the Mississauga Food Bank.
Volunteer work promoting oral health awareness both locally and during outreach efforts in Africa.

Helping individuals improve their oral health and confidence remains one of the most rewarding aspects of her profession.

Family Life

Born in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Dr. Rina Raichada later lived in Boston while completing her dental education before making Mississauga her home in 2003.

Outside of dentistry, she enjoys spending time with her two children, Malika and Armaan, who are the center of her world. Her hobbies include reading inspirational literature, listening to music, meditation, reiki practice, gardening, practicing yoga, watching movies, shopping, and spending quality time with family and friends.

In The News

Interview with the Harvard-trained Dentist – Dr. Rina Raichada

Featured In Atin Ito

Featured in Snapd Mississauga (North and South)

Community News and Clinic Updates

Food Banks Mississauga

Dr. Rina M. Raichada and Dentistry On 10 are proud to support the following organizations:

Annual Mentorship Event organized by Women In Dentistry

Happy 100th Birthday to our “Hurricane” Hazel McCallion!

Winner of our #Backtoschool2020 Contest: Ralph J, who won a $50 Gift certificate to a local restaurant of his own choice!

Appreciating teachers in the community with back-to-school care packages

How we are contributing to their fall blitz – donating 100 reusable pads to The Period Purse!

We are thrilled to donate 65 Faceshields to the choir worship group of Church of Christ, Iglesia Ni Cristo of Mississauga!

Women Supporting Women

Birthdays at Dentistry on 10

Amazing Symposium And Memories With HiOssen Team

Wishing Our Ever Giggling Rockstar Juvy A Very Happy Birthday!!

National Dental Hygienists Week – A Huge Vote Of Appreciation!!

Our Star Dental Hygienist Janet Okhayian celebrated 20 years as a Dental Hygienist recently

Boxes of Crayons donated to Plum Tree Public School in Mississauga

Ice Cream Social

Yoga Experience

Ongoing Raptor Fever

Completion of the Dental Implants Training Program – AIC Master Course

Amazing Team Bonding Over Mani-pedi, Pizza and Coffee!

Mother’s Day Walk 2019 – Fund Raiser for Breast Cancer Society of Canada

Thanking all the patients and well wishers from far and near who have supported us and contributed!

We beat our goal and raised $1700 for the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. We were the top fundraising team and want to thank everyone for their support.

Oral Health Presentation at Elite Montessori School

Valentine’s Day 2019

Fun Time with the Team

Fun Time with the Team

Diwali 2018

Halloween 2018

Dr. Rina Raichada at the Implant Training Session with Hiossen Implant System

Diwali 2017

Halloween 2017

Open House 2017

Holiday Team Lunch 2016

Halloween 2016

Team Lunch September 2016

Breast Cancer Awareness Month Campaign

Mother’s Day Contest

Sharing is Caring Fundraising Campaign for Mississauga Food Bank

Sponsoring Gujarati Garba and Oral Health Awareness

Promoting Oral Hygiene in Schools

Bridal Show Booths

Senior Centers: Dental Health Concerns for Seniors

Patient Appreciation Day

Meet Dr. Rina – Author, Speaker, Mentor

Professional Leadership & Contributions

Community Involvement

Family Life

SUCCESS STORIES What Our Patients Are Saying