Meet The Doctors And Mission

Speaker 3 0:30

my name is Dr. That Amalto. And I serve patients who are seeking to restore their complete mouth with implants. That's what we are helping patients who cannot eat our function.

Speaker 0:47

Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful.

Speaker 2 0:49

Yeah. And yes, thank you for having us here. Absolutely. My name is Dr. Diana Simpson Brenner, and we practice at Ridge Top Dental. Uh, we have our implant center and we. Thrive and really look forward to being able to help our patients who aren't able to eat and chew, just as Dr. Dota mentioned. But also we know that dentistry isn't something that people are excited to do oftentimes. So patients who are scared and have anxiety and worries, we look for making that as comfortable and experience as possible.

Their Paths Into Dentistry

Speaker 1:21

Wow, that's amazing. Well, I can't wait to learn more about just everything you guys do. So Dr. Dada and Dr. Diana, for listeners meeting you for the first time, can you share a little bit about your backgrounds and what inspired your journeys into dentistry?

Speaker 3 1:37

You want me to go?

Speaker 2 1:38

Sure. So, um, to go a little bit into my background, so just from a schooling perspective to get that outta the way, did my undergrad at Stanford focus on human biology there and health policy. So understanding kind of how to navigate through a lot of the challenges of access and all those things are definitely true to my heart. And then I went to dental school at University of the Pacific, which was a phenomenal program to get a lot of just. Hands-on training. So it's a, a really well known program for that. And then I did a residency in general dentistry out at Marquette and then found my way to Ridge Top. And I have to say, I feel so fortunate that the very first place that I came. Out of school has been my home. And for so many reasons, one of the, the biggest being this gentleman sitting right next to me, Dr. Do has been a fantastic, uh, mentor, but at this point he's a great partner to have to know that we're on the same mission to really, um, help in our patients out. But a little bit about how I got. To this point, I have to credit my grandmother as my greatest influence. Um, she was a dental tech, so she was the one who made the teeth and the dentures and worked on that side. And she always encouraged me to go into dentistry and I would. Pushed that off to the side. As a kid, my, my goal and dream was to be a cardiothoracic surgeon and after pursuing and shadowing a cardiologist when I was in college and being bored out of my mind, because all they would do is take blood pressures and write a prescription and. Be in and out in five minutes. And I knew that that wasn't what I wanted to be doing day to day. So I had to put that off to the side and really explore other options. And in following dentistry, I really saw that blend between being able to use technical skills and hands-on, working in that way while being able to build relationships with patients. And I think that's the one of the, the biggest things that we try to really keep pursuing.

Speaker 3:37

How cool. You really just found your passion. Yeah. It's funny how the things we do in life lead us to where we are and we wouldn't change it for a thing.

Speaker 2 3:44

Absolutely. Even when you try to push it off on the side and deny it, but it's right there in front of you and you just gotta go for it.

Speaker 3:49

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 3 3:52

My journey goes back in India and growing up, one of the most important elements of family was, uh, education. My parents, my family, all like, okay, you gotta study, you gotta do something. And for me, as a growing sports was so much into it and there was a pivotal moment very much when the family said, okay, why don't you become a doctor? And I think there was a calling in influence significantly from our family doctor who was an extreme into community service. And that's when I never look back and say, this is where I wanted to be. But also knew my skillset was a lot of hand skills was there, but what a way to get into dentistry. Getting my hands with science arts at the same time, helping to serve the community was the decision path. So I did not have much, uh, less time. I, my path was already, I had decided I'm going to be serving people. And I think getting into dentistry was how it all came down together. And, uh. Here you go. And coming to United States was another dream to learn from the best. And it happened.

Speaker 5:05

It was just meant to be. It was your calling. It

Speaker 3 5:07

was a calling. It was a calling. And today we are here and what we are building at UB Dental Implant Center. And now that part of Dr. Diana is, it's much more, I think we are looking at future of how to help patients.

Growing Ridgetop Without Losing Care

Speaker 5:22

For sure. For sure. And you know, going into that, you've been in clinical practice for over 30 years which is incredible. How has your journey from growing up in India to, building your practice here in Northern Virginia shaped your approach to patient care?

Speaker 3 5:39

Patient care was always there. Lets see, but building reached top dental in 2003 was only two things. Provide excellent care, a standard of treatments that can last longest, but at the same time. Experience what the patients can feel was the most foundation we had it. We never looked into any other way. We wanted excellent standards and at the same time, patients should feel they're cared. And I feel that that's what is the stepping stone of our organization today, of building that implant center and helping patients.

Speaker 6:19

Absolutely. Just getting that quality care. And you know, also with that, Ridgetop Dental has grown from one location to multiple offices and now a dental implant center. What has that growth journey been like for you guys?

Speaker 3 6:35

It's profound. Okay. Starting out as a clinician, I never had any experience to run a business. I was clinician at heart. At the same time when we outgrow our center and we had found a team that are willing to care for more patients, that's when we decided it was a time and calling that we can serve more patients. And that journey was not easy. When you are a doctor on floor, you're a clinician. I think it was very humbling to learn that. There is more to it. Building a business is not about money or anything. It was all organization, building the people, growing the people. That's where I think, uh, today we're making a big progress in our growth. What do you like to add?

Speaker 2 7:36

What I wanted to add as far as the growth part is that it's very intentional, like you said, for us to be able to access and, and serve more patients. But what has always been central to the growth is to make sure that we don't lose foundationally who we've been as a company and as our patient centered approach. As we're growing. We didn't want it to feel, you know. For lack of a better word, corporate. We don't want it to feel transactional. And really having that personal connection, even as we were growing and making sure that the teams that we have in each location, it didn't matter if you went to our Sterling location or Reston location or Alexandria location, you should feel like you're at Ridge Top Dental.

Speaker 8:14

Yeah. The quality of care is just so amazing and I, I honestly like, I just think it's so amazing what you guys are doing for the community and to just. Help people out with their smiles.

Speaker 2 8:26

Yeah, that's the fun part.

Trust Building And Sedation Options

Speaker 8:28

Yeah. And you know, with that, one thing that really stood out is your focus on making patients feel heard, comfortable, and part of a long-term journey. How do you create that kind of experience for your patients?

Speaker 2 8:42

Um, I'll start with saying that happens. It really happens with the first phone call to just understand. And for you to feel comfortable to share as much as you're comfortable with over the phone. You know there's gonna be a barrier there until you start meeting a person and connecting. But when you come in, it's really important to us that we meet you as a person first and foremost. When you come in and that connection starts from that very first meeting, you're, we're not putting you in a dental chair saying, all right, open up and let's see what we got. It's really about understanding. Hey, how, how are we, where we're at right now? What is important to you? What are your goals? And how can we create a roadmap to get you to that point? That journey and that comfort level really does start with an understanding of each other.

Speaker 9:28

Yeah. Kind of just meeting them where they're at. Yeah. And taking that time to listen.

Speaker 2 9:31

Yeah,

Speaker 3 9:32

of course. Uh, be approached with no judgment because patients have gone through significant fear. Of going to dentists. That's what even today we hear the most, speaking to our patients. What we learn is that what exactly made them stay away from treatments, dental, implant treatments. By the time they're coming to us, they have been already have multiple amounts of failed treatments are fear of going to dentist. So we want to undo that part by listening to them.

Speaker 10:05

Yeah, I was just gonna say, I mean, really just taking that time to listen, hear are their worries, be able to answer their questions. I think that that just brings so much reassurance and ease to the whole process.

Speaker 5 10:16

Definitely.

Speaker 10:17

And Dr. Diana, what has been one of the most just rewarding aspects of your work with patients over the years?

Speaker 2 10:24

So I, I kind of mentioned this a little bit earlier, saying, you know, we see a lot of patients who have fear and anxiety. We offer all different types of sedation, for example, for our patients. And that goes from being fully asleep through general anesthesia, where we have an anesthesiologist monitoring you after you've been cleared, making sure everything is done safely. Um, and we even have probably your more base level, um, sedation is like nitrous gas or more commonly known as laughing gas. It just kind of. It takes the edge off, makes you not care so much about what's going on, but you can still drive yourself to and from the appointments. And we've got some options in between as well. And when you have a patient who comes in just terrified based on previous experiences, what they expect things to be like and know right from the get go, I have to be asleep for this. And that's where your starting point is. Then you go through that journey and you build the connection and you build the trust and you get to a patient who's ready to go just to the nitrous gas or not use anything at all. And then on top of that, start referring their family and friends because they know they've had such a good experience. I mean it, to know that you've been able to help a person transition through that fear is, it's an awesome feeling.

3D Imaging And Virtual Planning

Speaker 11:42

A very full circle kind of magical feeling too. Yeah. To be a part of that.

Speaker 2 11:46

For sure.

Speaker 11:47

You shared a powerful story about catching a serious issue early in a young patient using advanced imaging. How have moments like that shaped the way you approach diagnostics and care today

Speaker 3 12:03

at one of the requirements for was building a technology driven practice to diagnosis for our patients is fundamental today. Every locations for us in the centers have advanced digital technology CD scans, so we don't miss any diagnosis. This has given us a proof that we can serve our patients better. Having technology helps us see things that we could never see before. So we can take the approach minimally today as well as if it needs complex treatments. We complete that fully planned. Less invasive way to our patients. And that's what one of the things about Ridgetop Implant Center was like ability to perform treatments in one single visit to replace all the teeth with implants. And we can accomplish that in less than one day or a few hours.

Speaker 12:59

That's incredible.

Speaker 3 13:00

Yeah.

Speaker 13:00

So incredible

Speaker 2 13:01

life changing.

Speaker 13:02

Absolutely.

Speaker 3 13:03

Think about patients who could not do this TR treatments for years together. Struggled with all their life and you are making it easy within a day for them to accomplish that goal.

Speaker 13:14

Yeah. And you know, going into that dentistry has evolved so much over the years, especially with technology. What are some of the most exciting advancements you guys are seeing right now that patients should know about

Speaker 2 13:29

3D ai? All of those things, play a role into it. Um, when you see your own. Teeth on a screen at first, it can be a little bit intimidating, right? You're not used to seeing that. But then when you use it as a hands-on tool to really start understanding how you get from where you're at now to the smile and the teeth that you've been thinking about, it really makes it real. From our perspective of using it, we like to say that we essentially do this surgery multiple times before it even happens. In person on you. Um, and that just helps minimize any room for error and, and making things seem streamlined. So using our 3D scanners to create 3D models of your teeth, using our CT software to see in 3D x-rays and underneath the surface that you just, you can't without the naked eye. And last thing you want is to be surprised in the middle of a surgery, say, oh, didn't know that was there. You know? So to be able to have that planning and forethought upfront definitely helps out.

Speaker 3 14:29

I totally agree with Dr. Diana because with implementing a issue of the technology today, we are doing the treatments virtually before even thinking about what is possible in the patient mouth. It's never an experiment at

14:43

all.

Speaker 14:43

Fascinating.

Speaker 3 14:44

So before we could do it in the models, but how does it work? In the mouth was a mark Today we do it virtually on 3D.

Speaker 14:52

Wow. What an incredible tool for just you guys, but also for the patient experience and keeping them informed of the process too.

Speaker 2 15:01

Yeah, fear of the unknown is one of those underlying factors that contributes to patient experience and just having the clarity and understanding, and I'll say this when the patients want it.

Speaker 3 15:11

Yeah.

Speaker 2 15:11

Because not everybody needs or wants all the details. We're here to share as much as you know, each patient is comfortable with and adapting that. Um, but just understanding some expectations I think really makes things a lot easier.

Speaker 15:23

Yeah. Everybody's different, right?

Speaker 2 15:26

Yeah. True. Absolutely. There's no cookie cutter.

Speaker 15:27

Yeah.

Speaker 3 15:28

And we tailor that to the patients because if they're allowed to go through the process, we want them to be as a partner in the journey to learn the entire steps and stay along with us.

Speaker 15:38

Yeah, for sure. And have, have that type of treatment and care that will last them a long time as well.

Speaker 2 15:45

Yeah.

One Roof Implant Center Experience

Speaker 15:46

And you also shared that, you know, you've recently opened a new dental implant center and are offering advanced solutions there. Can you walk us through what that experience looks like for patients and who it's best suited for?

Speaker 2 15:59

So our implant center obviously has, in the name we're, we're placing implants. And implants are there to serve many purposes from a functional aesthetic standpoint. But really that's where we get to when we're losing teeth and we need to be able to restore that function. Preserve existing teeth that are there to be able to offer that balance back or a full replacement solution. So it depends for each patient what's gonna be needed and appropriate there. Um, but this implant center has allowed us to really provide a tailored experience for this type of treatment where it's not diluted by other aspects of dentistry as a, as a distraction. Right. You know, you're there, this is what we're focusing on, and it helps us create a streamlined experience. So. We know from the starting point, this is our main goal. Let's see how we can get you to your desire at the easiest way possible.

Speaker 16:52

I love that it's just completely focused on implants and just the whole process with that.

Speaker 3 16:57

Yes. Especially for patients with terminal teeth or patients who are unable to function. This experience of one place where we complete all the surgeries, all the respiratory work with our team, it's more profound and it's clearly focused outcome. Wow.

Speaker 2 17:12

Yeah, traditionally, any dental implants were placed. It's kind of like a puzzle piece that you had to put together. You go to one person that tells you, okay, you need them. You go to another person who says, all right, we'll put the implants in, and you have to go somewhere else to put the crowns on. And by having all of this centered under one roof and same providers, so you don't have to, you know, keep building new relations. When you find your favorite restaurant, you wanna know that it's there. When you find your favorite doctors, we're gonna be there for you, start to finish.

Speaker 17:39

Yeah, absolutely. You can get it all done in the same place. And I think that that's so important. And it makes you guys unique in that way.

Speaker 2 17:45

Absolutely.

Speaker 3 17:46

Absolutely. Because, uh, we started doing the implants in 2003 and the last 23 years we have evolved with the technology and we see that what the patients can benefit from today.

Speaker 17:58

Yeah.

Speaker 3 17:58

Yeah.

Giving Back With Little Smiles

Speaker 17:59

Very cool. Very cool. Okay. And kind of a pivot, giving back to the community is such a meaningful part of what you guys do, especially with initiatives like Your Little Smiles Project. What does that program mean to you and your team?

Speaker 2 18:14

Um, it's such a driving force. I know you're laughing. This is so real for us. We were fortunate to be recognized by Loudoun County Public Schools yesterday morning. In fact. Um, in partnering with them and to be honest. This, we didn't even realize it was really meant with that intention, right? We just knew we were in a community and we have a skillset that we wanted to see. How can we bring this to people who really can't access it? And we had a natural partner with where we are at at Riverside Church there, and their connection with, um, the Loudoun County Public Schools to give us. Access to the patients who needed it and then help partner with them to give the patients access to us. So we've been running the program for about five or six years. Seven years now. Seven years at the time flies.

Speaker 3 19:06

Yeah.

Speaker 2 19:07

Um, at this point, and we're starting to see some of the same patients come back to us as well. So we're able to keep the relationship building aspect of dentistry that I, I love so much as part of it. And it's really just rewarding to. Not expect anything in return. Right. To just be able to give and trying to set these kids up for positive dental experiences from the get go because as we all know, that, that it's been a big challenge in dentistry for quite a long time.

Speaker 19:35

For sure. How beautiful. What you guys are doing. I can't say it enough that it's just, that's so wonderful.

Speaker 3 19:41

I think it's, uh, something I reflect to see that the team enjoy this community service. And we bring in the whole team. The team participates. They literally contributes to this one belief that we have that we still have to give back.

Speaker 5 19:59

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 20:00

And it's very happy to see those uh, moments. That's a great energy that day. Yeah, that's a great energy. It happens once, one day in a year, an entire team brings down their energy to and spirit still. Help those kids who need care.

Speaker 20:16

Yeah. Lots of little smiles going around, right? Oh yes. And you know, you've built something truly impactful here, not just a practice, but a place where patients feel cared for long-term. What do you hope every patient walks away feeling after visiting you guys

Speaker 2 20:35

from the beginning? I actually tell patients I wanna get you to a point where you truly don't think about your teeth, except for when you're coming in for your regular checkup. Your teeth should be there not as something to bring you down in any way. Whether it's'cause you're ashamed to smile or you, you know, you can't eat that dish that you want, and somehow it affects your life in that way. Um, it should be there just kind of as an assume positive for yourself. Right? You can smile without thinking. I don't want you to think about Can I smile? Should I smile? Just smile because you feel happy because you. That's your natural state, you know? Um, eat what you like because that's what you want to eat, and don't think about your teeth as part of the equation. They should just be there existing without you having to think about them.

Speaker 21:19

Yeah. Being able to have that confidence.

Speaker 2 21:21

Yeah,

Speaker 3 21:21

exactly. The world was confidence. I wanted to share with you. In our care, I want our patients to feel they're confident with their teeth, they're confident with their smile, and. We wanna stand behind that and help them to enjoy their life too, and whatever their smile would take to help them accomplish their goals.

Speaker 21:44

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's super, just empowering and inspiring. Everyone deserves to just love their smile and feel confident with it. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 21:51

Yep.

Speaker 21:53

And for anyone listening who may be interested in learning more or becoming a patient, where can they find you and connect with your team?

Speaker 2 22:01

We're available everywhere. Right on. Um, you've got Instagram, we've got Facebook we've got our website, rich Top dental.com. You can search us on Google. We are fortunate to have a patient base who has. Vocalized their, um, experiences through our reviews. Uh, I think they really speak volumes about the type of experience and connections we try to build with our patients. So we, we wanna make sure that we're accessible. Whatever way works best for you, give us a call and we're happy to help.

Speaker 22:32

Perfect. Lots of ways to reach out, right? Absolutely. Absolutely.

Speaker 3 22:35

Yeah.

Speaker 22:36

And as we wrap up, is there anything either of you would like to add that I haven't touched on today?

Speaker 2 22:42

We just appreciate the opportunity to be able to connect and find another way really to reach out to patients, potential patients, um, and, and find as many people as we can help and support. You know, while we're able to do this skill, we wanna share it and help create positive experiences. Great smiles along the way.

Speaker 23:01

Yeah, keep it up guys. You guys are doing such an amazing job.

Speaker 3 23:04

I think, uh, I would like to say that we are very fortunate to be in Northern Virginia and at the same time. Being here for the last 23 years, it has given me immense amount of support from the patients, the team, and where we are growing and building this organization. And that is where that gives that energy for me to grow, reach top dental, to much more ability to serve.

Speaker 23:34

Yeah. Just being able to see that impact for your patient patients. It makes all that hard work just so worth it,

Speaker 2 23:40

yeah, definitely.

Speaker 23:42

I wanna thank you so much, Dr. Dada and Dr. Diana for joining me on the podcast today and sharing your knowledge, passion, and just inspiring stories with us. I wish you both in the entire team at Ridgetop Dental, the very best in all that comes your way in the future.

Speaker 3 23:58

Thank you, Katie.

Speaker 2 23:58

Thank you.

Speaker 3 23:59

Nice to have be here and thanks for having us.