Speaker 1: 0:30

My name is Netta Kalantar. I'm a pediatric dentist in Reston. My practice is called Pediatric Dentistry Reston and it's actually a kid's safari practice.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Wow, how did you come up with that concept with?

Speaker 1: 0:43

safari. Well, I've always loved animals growing up and then when I decided to have a practice open my own pediatric practice, which was almost 20 years ago, which is crazy of my own pediatric practice, which was almost 20 years ago, which is crazy At the time there wasn't really that many pediatric offices and a lot of us that were opening up were either thinking about themes and I just was like, well, I love animals, I love safari, why not do a safari office? And when kids go to the dentist they feel like they're on a safari.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Yes, I love that. And now take us back into history, and what made you decide to be a pediatric dentist? Why kids, why not adults?

Speaker 1: 1:22

I feel like my journey is just. It's probably not very unique, but we all have our own journeys about how we decide to do things. I come from a family where both of my parents were in healthcare my dad was a physician, my mom a nurse and they just loved, you know, working with people and I saw the joy they got, especially with working with patients, and so I always knew I wanted to be in healthcare. Having said that, knew nobody in dentistry and but I definitely noticed how hard my dad worked and so I did love the idea of maybe finding a job in healthcare that had a better, you know, life balance. Um, and I got very involved in, uh, college when I went to the university of Virginia with an organization called operation smile, just kind of giving back and helping kids with, um, cleft, cleft lip and palate and I'll talk more about that later, it's like my little passion and met a pediatric dentist on this mission that I had been lucky enough to join, and I came home and I was like, wait, what about dentistry? And I get to work with kids.

Speaker 1: 2:28

So, and that was it, and I met a friend who was already thinking about going into dental school and she was great enough to invite me along to a pre-dental meeting, which you know. It just also shows how sometimes you need a friend there to just be like, yeah, I'm thinking about dentistry, let's go to this meeting together. And there it was. So it was just like a perfect opportunity as far as just like still working with people and thinking that I'm going to have a better lifestyle. And I think pediatric dentists, dentists in general, you know, do have a little bit more balance than maybe physicians. And then, of course, when I went to dental school, I decided to specialize in pediatric dentistry, which is another two or three years of residency training.

Speaker 2: 3:09

Wow, you put in that work. Huh, I guess it's your passion, so that's yes. And then your website mentions and you also mentioned it before that Operation Smile is somebody that you've worked with. Tell us a little bit more about that.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Yeah. So Operation Smile is a global nonprofit organization that helps children all over the world who are born with a cleft lip and palate and again, I got very lucky. I got exposed to it very early, even before I was in dental school, and I went to just being really involved and just wanting to give back, as most young people want to do, and just want to kind of figure out what they want to do. I had an opportunity to volunteer and I went to Nicaragua with this organization and it was life-changing for me. And basically, cleft lip and palate is one in 700 kids are born with a cleft lip and palate.

Speaker 1: 4:02

In the US we don't really see it that much because within 10 months of life it is generally taken care of. You have to be at least 10 pounds to even have the surgery, but in many, many countries access to care and access to this surgery is very limited. So you have children that are three, four, five years old walking around with a cleft lip which, as you can imagine, can also, you know, really affect how they're treated. In some cultures it's almost a stigma. Like you know, they get bullied. In some cultures it's like you know, you have done something in a past life, which is why you were born with this cleft lip, and so when I saw that in Nicaragua and it actually is a 45 minute surgery which is basically life-changing for these kids that's when I was just like, wow, I mean, this is, this was such, it just drew me in. And of course, um, plastic surgeons do the surgery, but on these missions they take, you know, pediatricians, anesthesiologists, and they also take a dentist, and so that's kind of where I met a dentist which was really inspiring And's also a hole in the palate, so teeth don't erupt or develop the way they should. So a dentist needs to sometimes prepare something called an obturator, which is almost like a retainer that they have to wear to help eat if some of those kids aren't able to get the surgery.

Speaker 1: 5:32

So I learned about that and then, moving forward, as you can imagine, I got very, very inspired and when I went to dental school, I started going to Vietnam with Operation Smile, me and a bunch of students, and we worked with students at the University of Maryland I was at VCU School of Dentistry at that point we all worked together and started going to Vietnam and after years of doing that, we started a dental mission that works with the CLEF mission. So we were not only doing, you know, helping on the medical team, we were also doing oral health education, because we think about dentistry and it, you know, definitely isn't, unfortunately, on the top of the list for many, many kids out there in the world who don't even have access to medical care. But, when it comes down to it, just basic education can really really change the life of a child as far as their dental health, because they may just need to know one or two things about their diet and that can change. You know how, how, you know how they, how they do things, and so so I'd love that part of actually oral health education and teaching abroad as well.

Speaker 1: 6:41

And then, obviously, moving forward, as I got more involved to answer your question, I I started to go to other missions and you know it took me to Africa, which kind of completed the cycle of my safari. I'm like, okay, this is perfect. I'm going to Africa where I can actually see animals and I can help wonderful children too. So I'm very, very lucky.

Speaker 2: 7:01

Wow, what an incredible journey of giving back and being able to have these unique experiences, not only for yourself but for these families that you get to touch and help and make an impact in their life, so they don't feel so insecure about it or their families feel, you know, just when it's your kid you feel really hurt. Oh, yes, so that is. Thank you so much for sharing that, oh, thank you.

Speaker 1: 7:24

I'm very lucky to be able to be a part of it.

Speaker 2: 7:26

Amazing. Now I want to go back to your practice. For parents who feel nervous just scheduling the first-timers visit, what's the first thing you want them to know about your practice?

Speaker 1: 7:37

So I mean, I'm sure a lot of offices and practice owners will tell you that so much of it is your team, you know, and how you pick the right people and you train your team.

Speaker 1: 7:50

And we're very lucky to I'm very lucky to say that you know, I've got some wonderful people up front who are picking up the phone when you call and I think that is probably number one is they will answer most of those questions, that especially one which is kind of crazy for a lot of parents and I understand that, but that's the recommendation from the AAPD, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.

Speaker 1: 8:27

But when you talk to someone on the phone that tells you how the experience is going to be, how you're going to come in, there's going to be, you know, a couple of waiting areas which are um kid centric. There is books and toys and our team brings them back and shows them what we're going to do. And then when I come in, you know I'm really able to kind of um do my best to make it fun and obviously it's. It's a very quick evaluation but a lot of it is just also getting the answer question. You know the questions that parents have are generally you want to make sure that they feel like they're heard and they you know, they're aware of, like you know what to expect at that appointment.

Speaker 2: 9:02

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. You've been voted a top pediatric dentist and volunteer around the globe. What does it feel like to know your work resonates with families and communities.

Speaker 1: 9:14

That just feels lovely.

Speaker 1: 9:15

You know, honestly, I think, now that I've been doing it for a while, you first do the things that you're doing just to keep yourself inspired and you're just trying to learn and you're on this journey and later on, I think, now that I've been doing this for a while, it's especially having teenage boys and seeing younger kids that I've been, you know, now are graduating from my practice because they've been with me and to know that I may have inspired them and maybe they're wanting to do medicine or dentistry or go on missions or um.

Speaker 1: 9:48

I love that. I mean, that is that is definitely a big part of what I love about what I do that I would not have thought that I would like I. If you had asked me this 20 years ago, I would not have known that. This is a really great part of what we do in healthcare is that we can not only be helping kids at the time of seeing them, but we're also inspiring them while we're in the journey of treating them, that maybe they might want to do this. They might want to go into dentistry or go into orthodontics or pediatric dentistry, which is so lovely, which is awesome.

Speaker 2: 10:20

Usually it's scary, but they're like this is awesome, you must be doing something right that looks fun in there, right, exactly I love it. Yeah, all right. And then your team focuses on educational prevention, using tooth bugs instead of cavities, and then sleepy spray instead of anesthesia. Where did that language play come from and why does it?

Speaker 1: 10:39

resonate. I definitely don't think I'm alone as a pediatric dentist, but I do really feel like how you present what is going to happen to a patient who's like four or five years old can 100% make a difference. If you tell a four-year-old that they're just gonna get a cavity filled and it's gonna be very you use the words that I do not like to say on even on this podcast but like you're going to get a shot, you know, obviously none, no pediatric dentist is going to say that, and we find that, if you you explain it in a way that they understand, like there is, you know, something unhealthy in your tooth. Think of it as like a tooth bug and we're going to clean it out and we're going to put something white, some a coating or and it feels like a shield. And they're just like what four-year-old doesn't want? A shield on their tooth? I mean, it's so cute. And then you know we have ways to describe how the numbing experience is going to be.

Speaker 1: 11:37

Yes, it's going to be a numbing gel, it's going to be a numbing spray, because they really don't feel it if we do it the right way and most of us are trained to do it the right way so and parents are always surprised at how well it goes because, you know, sometimes they accidentally will say, you know the words we don't want them to say in front of their child, and we're like, oh no, you didn't have to say that.

Speaker 1: 11:56

But you know, I think, as we've done this many, many times over, we do now tell the parents to don't worry, we're going to get them there. So, yes, I don't. I think that, and also the team loves it, because they also see how a four-year-old who may be very, very nervous suddenly sits in the chair excited to come back to get their tooth fixed or, you know, the bugs taken care of of their teeth, and you know they're going to have a white coating on their tooth or what have you. So you know, I mean, obviously at some point they, you know we're going to talk to them like a, like a grown person, but you, but in the beginning, I don't really see why we need to be so direct about what we have to do. I get that you want to teach your children about what's happening and prepare them, but you can prepare them also not to be surprised and be scared.

Speaker 2: 12:41

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more with that and I just I love it. That's so adorable. Why can't my dentist still call me you have tooth bugs girl? Okay, let me get that taken care of. My dentist still called me like you have tooth bugs girl. Okay, let me get that taken care of. I love it. So let's talk about your book. You have an upcoming children's book. Can you share what inspired it and what message you hope it will carry, even at this early stage? So it's.

Speaker 1: 13:03

I'm very excited about this book because I've been thinking about writing a children's book that would just kind of bring all the things I love together. You know, one is book Animals and Safari, and we have a wonderful little tiger. That's a part of our logo and we call him Cammy the tiger and he shows up at the office once in a while and he's pretty big and he's bigger than me and it's really funny when he shows up. But again, and a part of why we did this is not only obviously to bring laughter and joy to the kids, but it makes us all laugh. It as far as just team building so we call Cammy the tiger is a big part of it. So then, when I was thinking about this, I was like, well, cammy goes on this journey.

Speaker 1: 13:50

So the book is about Cami as a baby and how he was born with a cleft lip, and so he is born with a cleft lip which again, believe it or not, there are animals in the world that are also, who have cleft lips, if you think about it.

Speaker 1: 14:03

I mean, and actually I was recently in Rwanda on an Operation Smile mission and learned about a gorilla, that we were on a gorilla trek and noticed that there was a gorilla with a cleft lip.

Speaker 1: 14:18

One of the guides had told us there is a gorilla with a cleft lip and I was just like wow, I mean, I don't know. I got so like we're here to help the kids and of course we're not going to necessarily do a cleft lip surgery on a gorilla, but you know, but it happens and how great would it be to explain to children what a cleft lip is in a story where it involves an animal and the animal goes through the process and with friends and support, and it's a great little story and I hope that when it's finally done, with all the illustrations that you know, even if it just helps like five kids that are going through it, or maybe I can take it on the missions I go on or the programs I go on. Again, this is a little bit of it. It's my passion project. For me, that is so amazing.

Speaker 2: 15:04

Do you know like an expectation date of possibly when?

Speaker 1: 15:08

I'm hoping, like September, October um, like September, October, September.

Speaker 1: 15:12

Yes and if you guys, I mean, obviously, you know, I'll probably put some information about it on my Instagram, Um, but yes, it's. It's kind of in the process of being. You know, the illustrations are being done as we speak, so I never have done this before, so I have no idea. But I mean I'm very excited about it and I think, again, it's just um, something. I mean I'm very excited about it and I think, again, it's just something I've thought about for a while, and I think a year ago I actually was like I'm going to do this. This is why not, you know, and if it just again, if it makes a difference on a few kids, it's perfect. It's something that means a lot to me. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 15:45

I'm excited, thank you, and then, what's been the most surprising part of the creative process, whether it's writing or getting help with the illustrations or connecting with kids through the story? I think I really wanted, because I see through my own practice how much kids love animals, so I wanted the animals to have the personality where they can also talk about oral health. So and that is a part of the book where it's not only about a tiger, it's about a tiger who meets elephant, who meets a water buffalo, and all of them have teeth and they all have, you know, and they are teaching each other about how important their mouths are for their eating, because some animals don't eat meat, some animals are only eating meat, so they need the sharp canines. So the book also talks about these teeth and so, hoping that you know that is a way to connect with these children when they read the book.

Speaker 1: 16:44

You know I have obviously two teenage boys, but I have lots of little little nieces and nephews and I have two younger brothers and I was thinking how great would it be for me to even read this to my nieces, because they're learning about not only about their mouths and one's two years old, one's five years old, one's six years old, but it's really fun for kids to learn things when it pertains to animals, because all kids love animals and I just think that this would, in my mind, it's a great way to talk about health, oral health, teeth or cleft lip all on a journey on a safari, and so that's kind of if I'm answering your question correctly how I thought the creative side would come through.

Speaker 2: 17:26

Yeah, and I think that's awesome too, because not only all of that, but you can also find a sense of community, because it sounds like in the store you're not alone, whether it's a cleft lip or something else, like you always find, so to speak, your animal tribe or whatever, like you don't have to be alone in it and that you can go through things together. So I think that's awesome, exactly.

Speaker 1: 17:44

Right, you were going to like my book then.

Speaker 2: 17:45

Yeah, I'm going to read it. You then, yeah, I'm going to read it. You know what I love? Anything with color and animals. Girl, I'm sold. I am sold. I will be getting this book, all right, and I want to ask you about marketing and what you're doing to get the word out there, about what you're doing and the type of services that you provide what's working, what's not working.

Speaker 1: 18:02

So that's a great question. I have to say, since I've been in the community in Reston for almost 20 years, I haven't done much. I don't do any active marketing. I think a lot of the stuff that I do is, you know, I will support, like the local swim team or, um, the soccer, a soccer team that would love support and my logo will be on on their, on their like shirts or what have you, and I think that has been very I mean, I can't say if it actually helps or not, but it feels really good because you really do feel like you're part of the community and people have come through the practices that, oh my gosh, thank you for supporting our swim team. We love that because you just don't realize how many of the kids in your community are coming to you and are on the swim team and rested. So that probably helps.

Speaker 1: 18:51

But I do think for me being very connected to the practice as the owner I mean we have two other doctors that are with me that are amazing. So I take Fridays off and I try to have a little bit of a life balance, but I but at the end of the day, I'm there a lot. I'm very connected to my team. I'm very connected to the patients and I think that when the patients feel that and see that, I'm hoping that they go home and that's how they tell their neighbor and they tell their friend and I think really our number one source of people hearing about us is really through word of mouth.

Speaker 2: 19:27

Yeah, that's awesome. That's the best kind right.

Speaker 1: 19:29

Word of mouth yes, all, yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 19:30

That's the best kind, right Word of mouth. Yes, All right. And then you've integrated tech like laser dentistry and sedation options. How do you balance cutting edge tools with keeping the visit fun, comfortable and kid friendly?

Speaker 1: 19:45

That's great. The beauty of this is that most of the technology that we have introduced has made it easier for kids. So, for example, when we have incorporated laser dentistry, which again in pediatrics, has just been wonderful because when we use laser we are able to do less numbing. Sometimes no numbing when we do dental work generates the laser and water. The way it touches the tooth and does these micro little abrasions in the tooth where it removes the cavity somehow also does not hurt for many of these children. So when we use that instead of a drill we are able to do a lot of dentistry that way. So the technology with laser, for example, has helped me with many of my patients because I'm doing less local anesthesia which local anesthesia at the end of the day? Although the kid might have a wonderful experience in my office or at any pediatric dentist, when they leave they're numb and you worry about them accidentally biting their lip.

Speaker 2: 20:42

Yes.

Speaker 1: 20:43

You're worried about the post-op, and the post-op can sometimes be worse than the actual procedure in your office. So the parents are like whoa, my child did amazing. And then they call you an hour later like she is upset, she's biting her lip, you know, et cetera, et cetera. I mean that doesn't happen because we prepare the parents but ultimately so. So laser dentistry, and we also have another technology that we just brought into our practice called the Soan which Soan, which I love, and basically it is. It looks like a pen and it is an injection, but it's a little tiny, little pet. It looks needle, teeny, tiny piece that goes in and it's electronic numbing. So we're able to give such a little amount of numbing to a patient and they don't feel it because it's so little and it's tiny. It's an intraosseous technique, which means you kind of go into the bone a little bit. We don't want to get into the depth of that, but the point being, it wears off within 20 minutes. So then you have done a procedure and it wears off, where we're not worrying about a child walking around again biting, and we're able to give less numbing so the child's also receiving less local anesthesia. So again, we're all learning and it's still, you know, work in progress for many, many dentists about finding the right tools in their practices.

Speaker 1: 21:56

But that's one thing I do love about pediatric dentistry is that it has evolved tremendously, even in 20 years that I've been working, and you know as much as I the things we do work. You know we got to keep current, we got to try new things and I tell my team that all the time, like I, you know I got to kind of keep it going also because I want to keep excited, I want to keep inspired. You know we don't want to just kind of be like, okay, this is working, I'm going to do it. Why not try something different? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but we want to at least make sure that we're constantly learning and growing.

Speaker 2: 22:27

Yeah, that's, that's awesome. I hope the adults are getting that. I think they are that cool technology. Yeah, they are.

Speaker 1: 22:32

Laser dentistry is definitely out there in lots of different ways, like in root canals and the sorts of like, but in pediatrics I think it's helped a lot yeah.

Speaker 2: 22:41

Okay, good, amazing. And then what has been the biggest challenge in your journey of starting a practice from scratch in the past 20 years for you?

Speaker 1: 22:54

practice from scratch in the past 20 years. For you, I think that, for sure, like you want to open a practice, like you're an entrepreneur and I'm sure all entrepreneurs feel this way You're just excited and you think you know, you know what you want and ultimately you realize, as you get in it, more and more, that you can't do it alone and you have to really find the right team members. And I think the biggest challenge is also letting go and really empowering your team to do more and giving them space to grow and really having a growth mindset. I mean, I think I've always had a growth mindset, but now I'm really mindful of it, so that I'm constantly, you know, kind of better at receiving feedback or like also, just like, okay, yes, we can do this differently. Receiving feedback or like also just like, okay, yes, we can do this differently.

Speaker 1: 23:33

I've been doing this for a while, but I can still grow and change and, you know, learn, especially as the younger generation comes through the practice, and you suddenly realize, wow, you're not the young one anymore, you know, and like this is good to know, like how things are are maybe done, and I think also in most of us who are pediatric nests have a bigger team, so you're usually like 10, 12, 13 people, mostly women. You know learning how to work. So I think the biggest challenge is also always and for any I think, practice owner has been the management side. You know the management side of any business is always the hardest, but also you get the best satisfaction coming from the fact that you've seen that you've built an amazing team, or your team comes together and does an incredible thing or you know, and the friendships that they have made. But at the end of the day you know there are going to be hard. I would say that has been the biggest challenge. Always has been like the management side and growth with that.

Speaker 2: 24:24

How do you find the right people and, like, how do you know? Like got any advice or tips on that, I mean no, I don't know, I think it's hard.

Speaker 1: 24:36

I think, as I've been doing this longer, I think having I mean obviously sometimes we find people just like everyone else does, just like on an Indeed ad.

Speaker 1: 24:45

But we do have word of mouth where people will recommend a friend or a colleague or a dental assistant they've worked with and for sure.

Speaker 1: 24:53

That has been great, although sometimes then you have conflict between friends and that always can be challenging.

Speaker 1: 24:59

Having said that, that has been wonderful for us.

Speaker 1: 25:03

But I think having really good protocols set in your first year when you're training someone new so that you can touch base with them, and having a manager or a supervisor on your team as well, that kind of has this it's team culture like really believing in your team culture and what you want and what they also believe in your culture we're all on the same team, obviously, and so that if you feel early on that someone isn't really the right fit, they might also be better off somewhere else, and so you kind of catch it a little bit early, versus like dragging someone through for a long time knowing that they're not necessarily a good fit, or putting in all this energy and time and training.

Speaker 1: 25:42

So I think that would be something I'm constantly working on myself, but I think that would be a tip that I would say is really having good training protocols early on. Even if it's someone who has experience coming from another practice, they don't have experience in your practice, yes, and also your team culture could be very different than another team culture, so you could be coming and saying, oh my God, I know so much about pediatric dentistry, but they may be doing it completely differently. So that's probably the hardest part you know is this. That's that part, but it's worked here and there, I think. I think overall, we have a really good, good system, which I'm really proud of.

Speaker 2: 26:20

Yeah, that's great Thanks for sharing that. And then is there anything I have not touched on that perhaps you would like to share. Get out there or fun facts about yourself before we wrap up my gosh.

Speaker 1: 26:29

no, I think you touched on everything. Good gosh. No, I think you touched on everything.

Speaker 2: 26:36

Good yeah, no, you know, just yeah, I think you've done it all Beautiful, all right. Well, I'm going to ask you my final question. I promise I will let you go. Okay. Has there been a saying or a quote that has inspired you, or maybe a certain? Maybe you read something in a book that you like to live your life by.

Speaker 1: 26:53

Would you mind sharing that with us? Gosh, I have so many and you've kind of caught me off guard, but I think I feel like one of the ones I love is like behind every strong woman is another 15 strong women, like I feel in a way. It's it's basically as, as women who are entrepreneurs or business owners or just working hard as moms, you really need to have a good support network. So I really there's that quote really resonates with me where you know you can't do it on your own and I think we are a tribe and I think you know you have to find your tribe. And, um, that has always like I'm very, very proud of, like the people I spend time with my friends that have also do you know they're on their journey and I'm so excited about their journey and I'm always trying to support them. But I know that I couldn't do it without their support Obviously my husband and my children but there's nothing like another woman behind you, like holding you up and saying you got this girl. Yes, I love that.

Speaker 2: 27:48

Yeah, thank girl. Yes, I love that. Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that and thank you for coming here and being a guest with us. It was an absolute pleasure and I can't wait to meet Kami, the tiger, upstairs.

Speaker 1: 27:56

Thank you. Thank you, I really appreciate the opportunity and thank you for the invitation. You're so welcome.

Speaker 2: 28:02

Anytime, thank you.