Today we’d like to introduce you to Minaxi Mirkal.
Minaxi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started my career as a Dentist back home in India, practiced there for five years before moving to United States, just to realize my dental degree won’t work and I need to go back to dental school here. So I started dental school at University of Michigan in 2010. Year 2012 has been a very important year for me, I was graduating from Dental school here at University of Michigan and expecting my first baby just before my Graduation. Soon after Graduation and being a new mom, I was faced with many challenges on the health front both for me and my little one. She would get recurrent ear infections and I had trouble recuperating from childbirth, with back pain inability to sit for long hours which is pretty much what dentist do 🙂 . I followed every instruction given by the doctors somehow something was amiss and I was still in lot of pain. It was just around that time I stumbled on a book which spoke about body pH…..
How acidic pH tends to harbor inflammation and alkaline pH is healthy. It made sense to me, I changed my diet worked on getting more alkaline food, which is also healthy stuff like your dark greens, etc. I started eating clean, started juicing and my health got LOT better, I do not remember when was the last time I have taken a pain medication since this small lifestyle change. Just around that time 2014, I had the opportunity to work for a biological dental office and that pretty much changed my perspective towards dentistry. It made total sense to me as my lifestyle was changing it was time to make those changes in my profession as well. I was highly impressed with the philosophy of Biological Dentistry as it was taking the whole health into consideration and not just looking at teeth.
This started my new journey of learning and seeking information. The next few years I spent in getting my Board Certification to be a Biological Dentist. As I started learning, I realized that it was not possible for me to treat the mouth if I do not understand the body well and went on to study Naturopathic Medicine and how it relates to Dentistry.
When I was ready to be practice owner, I explored the option of buying existing dental practice, it was hard to find a practice that suited my unique vision of whole health-focused Biological Dentistry. As much as hard it was I knew I had to do a startup practice from scratch with my vision.
We started the process looked at spaces scouting location getting bids for the project etc. When I look back, I think one of the things that I did was very successful for building my practice was had my website designed early on with its content even before my office was up and running. We started getting people seeking for biological dentistry calls right off the bat. Our phone lines were ringing and we had to get staff even before the office was completely open for Business. Some enthusiastic client did make a couple of trips to make sure we were going to open. It was a sign I was on my life’s mission and purpose. Sometimes taking some decisions are extremely difficult but if it has been in your heart and mind for long enough you know you got to do something about it 🙂
We have people seeking holistic dental care all over the metroplex and beyond calling us. The average distance our clients travel to see us is 1 to 1.5 hours. We absolutely love what we do and feel it’s our life’s calling.
Check out our website to see what we offer for our clients: www.texasholisticdentist.com
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
One of the hurdles for me was getting a bank loan for my startup project because there were some changes in the approval system and getting loan while our US citizenship was still in the process was not easy despite of impeccable credit score and working capital for the project. We had to approach several banks who wanted to know how would a new dental practice thrive when there were so many in the neighborhood already! There were some extrmemely difficult days and you doubt if you will ever see light at the end. But one thing my kids taught me early on was how easily they forget what they were disaapointed about yesterday! So one day at a time kept me going.
Getting the project completed in a timely manner with all the permits and usual delays with city.
Training staff as they have never seen a lot of the stuff we do at our office in any other offices. It can get overwhelming.
Managing working an associate in another practice while fueling my startup dream and taking care of my kids all at once 🙂
Prime Integrative Dentistry – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our Company vision starts with:
“First do no harm” This is so understated especially in Dentistry because we need to look at Dentistry with fresh eyes and realize we have such a powerful impact on influencing people’s life with what we do.
We specialize in Biological Dentistry we use bio-compatible material, offer testing, emphasize on prevention and get to the root cause of a problem.
We are the ONLY Biological dental office here in far north Texas and we are so proud we have been able to serve this and neighboring community so far.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
To me, success would mean making Biological Dentistry mainstream and not a niche practices that it is. I run three facebook groups, the goal of which is having more dentist view and learn their role in the whole health-focused dentistry. And bring the paradigm shift in their practices. Which is a total game changer!
Also, in an effort to do my part for my clients, I offer a membership program which can help them get Biological Dentistry at a fair price.
Pricing:
- Prime membership annual plan – $300/adult
Contact Info:
- Website: www.texasholisticdentist.com
- Phone: 9728859191
- Email: frontoffice@texasaholisticdentist.com, primeintegrativedentistrytx@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Primeintegrativedentistry/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
- Other: https://www.google.com/search?q=prime+integrative+dentistry&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS843US843&oq=prime&aqs=chrome.5.69i57j69i61j69i60j0j69i61j69i59.4496j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Image Credit:
John Prabhakaran-sureshot photography
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