I want to tell you a story. Not a polished, everything-went-perfectly story. The real one.
In November 2019, my business partner Dr. Stephanie Marvelli and I opened the doors to Mint Hill Smiles with exactly zero patients on the schedule. We had a brand new office, a small team, a lot of student loan debt, and an enormous amount of belief that we could build something different. Something that actually put patients first. Something that felt nothing like the dental offices most people grew up dreading.
We were two women, two dentists, two first-time business owners. Nobody handed us a roadmap.
Six years later, Mint Hill Smiles has grown from zero patients to thousands. We have a team of four doctors, a full hygiene team, treatment coordinators, a dedicated HR director, a remote insurance team, and a patient experience that has earned us over 800 five-star Google reviews. We are on track to open a brand new building right in Mint Hill and we have a goal to donate 5,000 free smiles to our community by 2030.
None of that happened by accident. And I want to share exactly how we got here because I think it matters for other women who want to build something of their own and for every patient who walks through our doors and wonders what kind of place they are actually choosing.
We Built This Practice Around One Idea
The idea was simple: dentistry does not have to be something people dread. It can be an experience people feel good about. It can be a place where you feel seen, cared for, and respected. It can be somewhere you actually want to bring your kids.
That sounds obvious, but the truth is that most dental offices are not built around the patient experience. We decided from day one that we were going to do it differently.
We built a comfort menu. We put Netflix on ceiling-mounted TVs so patients have something to watch during treatment. We created a new patient experience that includes a tour of the office and a welcome gift because we want people to feel like guests, not numbers. We trained our team to slow down, listen, and communicate clearly at every step.
And it worked. The patients kept coming. The reviews started rolling in. Word spread in Mint Hill that there was a dental office where people who were afraid of the dentist finally felt comfortable. That was the moment I knew we had something real.
What It Actually Takes to Build a Practice as a Woman
I am not going to pretend it was easy. Dr. Marvelli and I opened Mint Hill Smiles just three months before the world shut down for COVID. We had just hired our first team members and were building momentum when everything stopped. We had to figure out PPE, infection protocols, and how to keep our team employed while the industry was essentially on pause. We did it. We came back from that and grew faster than we ever expected.
I want to tell you a story. Not a polished, everything-went-perfectly story. The real one.
In November 2019, my business partner Dr. Stephanie Marvelli and I opened the doors to Mint Hill Smiles with exactly zero patients on the schedule. We had a brand new office, a small team, a lot of student loan debt, and an enormous amount of belief that we could build something different. Something that actually put patients first. Something that felt nothing like the dental offices most people grew up dreading.
We were two women, two dentists, two first-time business owners. Nobody handed us a roadmap.
Six years later, Mint Hill Smiles has grown from zero patients to thousands. We have a team of four doctors, a full hygiene team, treatment coordinators, a dedicated HR director, a remote insurance team, and a patient experience that has earned us over 800 five-star Google reviews. We are on track to open a brand new building right in Mint Hill and we have a goal to donate 5,000 free smiles to our community by 2030.
None of that happened by accident. And I want to share exactly how we got here because I think it matters for other women who want to build something of their own and for every patient who walks through our doors and wonders what kind of place they are actually choosing.
We Built This Practice Around One Idea
The idea was simple: dentistry does not have to be something people dread. It can be an experience people feel good about. It can be a place where you feel seen, cared for, and respected. It can be somewhere you actually want to bring your kids.
That sounds obvious, but the truth is that most dental offices are not built around the patient experience. We decided from day one that we were going to do it differently.
We built a comfort menu. We put Netflix on ceiling-mounted TVs so patients have something to watch during treatment. We created a new patient experience that includes a tour of the office and a welcome gift because we want people to feel like guests, not numbers. We trained our team to slow down, listen, and communicate clearly at every step.
And it worked. The patients kept coming. The reviews started rolling in. Word spread in Mint Hill that there was a dental office where people who were afraid of the dentist finally felt comfortable. That was the moment I knew we had something real.
What It Actually Takes to Build a Practice as a Woman
I am not going to pretend it was easy. Dr. Marvelli and I opened Mint Hill Smiles just three months before the world shut down for COVID. We had just hired our first team members and were building momentum when everything stopped. We had to figure out PPE, infection protocols, and how to keep our team employed while the industry was essentially on pause. We did it. We came back from that and grew faster than we ever expected.
Building a Business While Building a Family
Both Dr. Marvelli and I have gotten married and had two babies while running this business. We have both taken maternity leaves and handed the wheel to our team because we built systems strong enough to hold. I tell you that not to impress you but to give you an honest picture of what building something real looks like. It is hard. It is worth it.
There were moments where I questioned everything. Moments where the to-do list felt impossible, where the financial pressure was real, where I wondered if we had taken on more than two people could handle. What kept me going was the patients. Watching someone who had not been to the dentist in ten years because they were terrified finally leave our office with a smile. Seeing a child get their first cleaning without crying. Knowing that the work we do every single day is genuinely changing people’s health and their confidence.
Why We Are Building Something Bigger
Mint Hill Smiles is not just a dental practice. It is a platform for impact.
Giving Back Through 5,000 Free Smiles
We set a big, scary goal 2 years into our start-up to donate 5,000 free smiles to our community. We are at 1152 donated smiles right now. We have taken our team to the Dominican Republic for dental mission trips and we host an annual free dentistry day called Smiles from the Heart. We want Mint Hill Smiles to be known not just as the best dentist in Mint Hill, NC but also as a practice that actually gives back.
Expanding Our Future in Mint Hill
We are also building a new facility just down the road from our current location. We are so excited because this new building will allow us to serve significantly more patients every day but also donate more smiles to reach our goal of 5000.
What This Means for You as a Patient
When you choose Mint Hill Smiles, you are not just choosing a dentist in Mint Hill NC. You are choosing a practice that was built by two women who care deeply about what dentistry can be. You are choosing a team that shows up every day because they believe in the mission. You are choosing a place that measures success not just in revenue numbers but by the number of lives we have changed.
If you have been putting off going to the dentist because you are scared, because you do not have insurance, because you had a bad experience somewhere else, I want you to know that we built this place for you. We have seen thousands of patients come through our doors with all of those exact concerns and leave feeling like something shifted. Not just in their oral health but in how they feel about taking care of themselves.
Serving Mint Hill and Surrounding Communities
We are located at 11300 Cresthill Drive, Suite 105, Mint Hill, NC 28227, just off of I-485. We serve patients from Mint Hill, Matthews, Indian Trail, Stallings, Midland, southeast Charlotte, and beyond. We accept most major insurance plans including Delta Dental, Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and United Healthcare. And if you do not have insurance, we have a solution for that too. More on that in another post.
For now, I just want to say: we are so proud of what we have built. And we are just getting started.
To schedule your new patient appointment, call us at (704) 323-7577 or visit minthillsmiles.dentist. We would love to show you what dentistry can feel like when it is done right.
