SHARES
Despite what you think, dentistry isn’t just about teeth.
“I love building random things with my hands. As a kid, I enjoy building Lego cars, pyramids, and even planes with little motors in them. I’ve always been fascinated with creating and building,” said Dr Gerald Tan, Dental Surgeon, and founder of Elite Dental Group.
A smile is the best thing a person can wear; it makes you friendlier, happier, and more attractive. But let’s be real, a trip to the dentist sucks. You lie there hoping the dentist doesn’t talk to you, so you won’t have to awkwardly attempt a conversation while they fix your teeth.
One of the most crucial relationships in our lives is the personalized one we share with our dentist. As it should be everyone’s lifetime commitment to take excellent care of their teeth, choosing the right dentist for our dental needs is extremely critical. We all struggle with being judged. We need to be able to trust the person who sees the insides of our mouths.
Elite Dental Group Singapore, a cornerstone partner of Singaporean healthcare conglomerate Novena Global Lifecare was established in 2013. As the youngest and longest serving President of the Aesthetic Dentistry Society of Singapore (ADSS) and a fellow at the International Congress of Oral Implantologists (ICOI), dentistry is not just a job for Dr Gerald Tan. Through passion, resilience and servant leadership, Dr Tan developed his career with the mission of using smiles to change the world – crossing over into his charity and interfaith work as well.
Putting the patient first at the front of the equation, teeth second
Most people began successful careers by developing expertise in a technical, functional, or professional domain. Passion in dentistry is as much about the art of medicine as it is about talking to patients. “A big part of my job is to educate my patients, and in fact it is probably one of the most important and rewarding aspect of the overall patient encounter.” said Dr Tan.
For decades, leaders were expected to focus on one thing: financial results. However today, what succeeded in the past is no longer a guide to what will succeed in the future. The role of a leader, in short, is becoming that of a coach. It’s one thing to aspire to be a leader, but it’s another to make it happen as an everyday practice throughout the many layers of a business.
Embracing the many different hats as a Dental Surgeon, practice owner and leader, Dr Tan shares his story of the who, what, why and culture that had contributed significantly to Elite Dental Group’s remarkable run of dentistry.
We want to know you. Tell us about your early life.
I grew up in a conservative Christian family and was educated for 12 years in Anglo-Chinese School (ACS). I was heavily involved in the school debate and tennis team as well as the prefectorial board.
As a kid, I love building random things. I’ve built Lego cars, pyramids, circuit board, toy cars and planes with little motors in them so they can run. I was fascinated with creating and building. I’ve always been good with my hands, so I thought dentistry would be a good choice for me.
What career path would you have chosen, if not dentistry?
Medicine. I would’ve probably gone into surgery or plastic surgery. Like dentistry – I’m creating a sculpture of a tooth in your mouth – it has to do with symmetry – the science and art to it – the proportion, symmetry, the length and size – how it fits with your face.
Dentistry is not just about the science and evidence, it’s also about art. The keen eye for aesthetics. When you look at someone’s smile, you want to make sure it’s natural and beautiful. You don’t want to make a smile look artificial.
Describe yourself in one word.
Curious. I’m always naturally curious to find out about random things. I believe curiosity is good – it makes you want to learn more. I have taught my team to replace judgement with curiosity – when someone does something that is wrong against you, stop the judgement and be curious to find out why. Perhaps they’re having a bad day or going through a tough time.
What was your childhood dream growing up?
To be an astronaut!
What inspired you to pursue your specialty?
I wanted to get into medicine. However, I was offered dentistry and I took it with a leap of faith. As fate would have it, I grew to love dentistry.
What sacrifices have you had to make to succeed in this field?
Mostly time. Precious time for learning, training, and honing my craft – and repeating these 3 things until it becomes ingrained into my being.
One fun thing about your job.
I get to meet people from all walks of life! Everyone has dental issues, regardless of race, language, religion, or status. It’s so enjoyable and fulfilling to meet and help people from all walks of life.
What gets you up and motivated every day?
To learn and continuously improve myself gets me motivated. That sense of being a little bit better today than I was yesterday – that gives me the fulfillment I need in life.
Cats or dogs?
Both! I love all animals big and small.
What’s your favourite book? And, why?
I would say the Bible because it is the ultimate instruction manual on how to lead your life.
My favourite secular book is START WITH WHY by Simon Sinek because it really helps me think about how I approach my business and the people around me.
What is your biggest challenge as a business owner?
My main challenge would be keeping my team motivated – making sure they have the right tools and avenue in place to keep them engaged and productive. The entire team works together in harmony with mutual respect.
It all begins with culture. As I’m given the opportunity to lead, it is my duty to build a culture of ‘people first’, respect, open communication and a healthy clinic environment. And I’m continuously honing my leadership skills even today.
How would you describe the culture here in Elite Dental Group?
I would say it’s one of openness – where everyone can speak their mind freely and everyone’s opinions are heard. I highly encourage a positive feedback loop. Everyone has an equal stake in building up the business. This is the culture I’ve built over the years.
I often heard many stories of people working in organizations where the culture is that of fear. That’s something I’ve been working hard to avoid by building a culture that’s completely opposite. We’d have frequent meetings to touch base with every employee. As a practice owner and Dental Surgeon, it’s challenging for me to know completely every single detail of what’s happening in the clinic. Continuous and open communication helps me find out what their challenges are.
Patients return not just for me. We’ve received good reviews on the clinic service start to end – that we’re one huge synchronized orchestra. Our goal is to offer a seamless patient experience. Thus, it’s important for me to stay engage with my team so that everyone is able to do their job with pride and to the best of their ability. This is a quality that I feel every leader should adopt. Hand skills can be trained, but it takes a whole other investment to lead and coach a team. It’s our daily strive to improve better today than we were yesterday.
Dentistry is so unique. People fear going to the dentist, thus it’s imperative they find a clinic, dentist or service that makes them feel at ease.
What is your biggest challenge as a Dentist?
That’ll be to encourage patients to overcome their fear and anxiety by way of education. Many procedures can be done today through modern dentistry, painlessly or with little pain.
It’s nerve-wracking visiting the dentist. It makes a person vulnerable, lying down on the dental chair with your mouth wide open as the dentist does their work. By putting myself in the patient’s position, I try to take away the anxiety by educating them of my every step of the procedure and showing them high-resolution photos of their teeth. When patients understand what you’re doing, they tend to relax and trust.
Building rapport with patients
Culturally in Singapore and throughout Asia, many people neglect teeth care. Often, people’s mindset towards teeth care are “my teeth no pain what, see dentist for what?”. However, dentistry is different from medicine – we need to see the dentist for maintenance check-ups.
Henceforth, to re-educate the community begins from the first point of contact – our website. What’s preventing people from visiting the dentist? Here at EDG, we help to manage their questions and emotional distress by adopting a ‘patients first’ environment. From the front desk to the day of the appointment, we’re continuously building rapport through education.
Changing lives through smiles – What is the most memorable case/patient you’ve ever treated?
It was a case of domestic violence – a lady in her mid-twenties who was brutally beaten and assaulted by her boyfriend. As a result of her extensive bodily injury, she had to undergo many surgeries for liver transplant, ribs re-attachment, treatment for kidney and many fractures in the leg.
During the attack, she hit the floor and shattered her teeth beyond recognition. By the time she came to see me, she had lost her sense of self-worth and confidence. She wasn’t able to smile nor chew her food.
I used a picture of herself before the trauma as a sample to re-create porcelain teeth implants. I was determined to give her back her smile. It took me almost 6 months through many surgeries but eventually we did it. On the day of reveal, I prepared the picture of her prior self and had her blindfolded.
As I took off the blindfolds, she started bawling her eyes out – including the team and I. It was a very emotional journey – a moment of pride and fulfillment. It serves as a humble reminder that we can help people change lives through smiles.
Tell us something that will surprise us.
I have a pet Major Mitchells Cockatoo and she can do tricks and say hello.
Name one thing on your bucket list that you have not done.
To hike up to Everest Base Camp.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Only the paranoid survives.
What is one quote you live by, and why?
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
GetDoc Members
Book a Free Live Video Consultation (15 minutes) with Dr Gerald here
Book/Call your dental appointment with Elite Dental Group here
Alternatively, you may WhatsApp Elite Dental Group at: https://bit.ly/EDGwhatsapp
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Find a GP/Family Doctor in Singapore, on GetDoc
References:
- About Us – Elite Dental Group https://www.elitedental.com.sg/about-us/
- Meet the Team – Elite Dental Group https://www.elitedental.com.sg/meet-the-doctors/
- About Dr Gerald Tan – https://www.getdoc.com/en/practitioner/gerald-tan-8413
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by Amalia Suhaimi
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