Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dr. Leena Ponnapalli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Dr. Ponnapalli, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
So I have a twin sister and a brother who is 11 months younger than us. Our dad died when we were 7 years old and ever since then, it has been our mom parenting us. She was about 35 years old when he died. We are over 35 right now and I can’t imagine how difficult things must have been for her. Raising three kids, all almost the same age is a feat in of itself, and to have to do that on her own, she deserves all the accolades possible.
After our dad died my mom made the decision to move back to India for support from her family – we were all born here in the States. Most Indian families are traditional and abide by customs of their families. Children are typically raised with strict rules and there is an expectation of their behavior in society so societal pressures are quite high. Although we may not feel them today, they are very prevalent in generations prior to ours.
Our mom never allowed us to feel those pressures. She never expected us to get certain grades or pressure us to be a certain way because societal pressures. We were allowed to think as individuals and make decisions for ourselves. She would advise us if she thought our decisions were questionable, She would always steer us in the right direction.
Her parenting helped us be well rounded people. It taught us to be resilient, confident in our choices and considerate. At the end of the day, wherever life took us, she wanted us to be good, dependable people and I think she achieved that.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, our story is quite unique, to say the least. We were born here in the USA but grew up in India, which is a bit unconventional. Most people tend to follow the opposite path, but you know, life is more interesting with a touch of unpredictability! Our upbringing emphasized independent thinking and making independent decisions, a factor that greatly contributed to shaping us into the individuals we are today. Big shoutout to our mom for instilling that in us!
Leena: Dentistry wasn’t on my mind. One day, my mom was reading the newspaper (newspapers are still popular in India) and saw an advertisement for a dental school. Thats it! Dentistry became my career.
Meena: Most of my career was in the hospitality industry. I quickly realized me staying in India wasn’t going to help me so I left to come back to the States and ended up in Miami for grad school. Two graduate degrees later, I had a steady job where I made my way up the ranks and by the time I left I was responsible for the training and operations of a team of 18.
When we decided to open 214 Dental Arts, we knew we needed to set ourselves apart.
Typically, a dental practice is all about the dentist. 214 Dental Arts is not – it’s about family. We are a family run business – sisters (twins) – Dr. Leena Ponnapalli is the dentist, and Meena Ponnapalli manages all the operations. At our practice, every patient is taken care of on a personal level, from the time they call to make an appointment till they leave after treatment and a lot of the times, beyond! We are firm believers that every patient deserves a skilled and experienced dental team that can assist them in achieving their optimum dental health. We are committed to providing every patient with excellent dentistry by applying evidence-based principles in a safe and relaxing environment. We are truly patient-focused.
We try our best to cater to all our patients’ needs. We have noticed a lot of our patients come to us with high dental anxiety. It’s so rewarding to see each patient begin to relax while they are in the chair and realize that dental work doesn’t need to be scary or cause anxiety! We noticed this early on and have incorporated weighted blankets, noise-canceling headphones, plastic instruments, and an air polisher for those patients who don’t like the feel of metal on their teeth.
We also have our pet, Franklin, at our practice with us. He is our CEO – Canine Executive Officer!
He is a cream, non-shedding, standard Golden doodle. Franklin got his therapy dog certification through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs in 2021 and has been visiting Elementary schools, nursing homes, and clinics ever since. He LOVES people. His one and only job is to make sure our patients feel comfortable when they are visiting with us.
Another thing which sets us apart is Dr. Leena’s speciality – Biomimetic Dentistry.
Biomimetic means to mimic nature. The goal of biomimetic dentistry is to restore teeth with decay or cracks to their natural strength and structure. In clinical practice, over 10,000 biomimetic restorations have lasted 20 years and counting, and patients have experienced the highest quality of care resulting in long-lasting, symptom-free restorations.
“Get Bonded, Stay Bonded” is one of our favorite phrases – you’ll have to visit our website to learn more about that!
We want our patients to know whatever their financial situation may be; they can have the dental care they need and deserve in a manner they can afford. We accept most major dental PPO plans. We are here to help maximize our patients’ dental benefits. If they do not have dental insurance, we provide a great membership plan and flexible options for payment!
At 214 Dental Arts, we promise that whatever we do for you, we’ll do it the right way. You deserve long-term solutions that improve your life, and we aim to provide that.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
So, to take you back – I graduated from my dental residency towards the end of 2016. Like all new graduates, I was so excited to start practicing. Here’s what I didn’t know at the time – Traditional dentistry often covers up a problem or involves the removal of a lot of healthy tooth structure. It can often result in complications such as sensitive teeth after fillings, crowns and fillings that fall out, chronic leakage that result in the need for recurring intervention – root canals, extractions, implant etc.
How many of you have had complications after what should have been very routine treatment? The traditional approach never really made 100% sense to me – but who was I to question conventional wisdom? The techniques have been around for decades and have been successful for the most part. Here’s the lesson I had to unlearn – traditional dentistry does not always work and is not always predictable. What we are being taught in dental school is outdated. Working for someone else is difficult because there is so much you cannot control. But fear held me back from venturing out on my own. I was so frustrated for not having the answers and not being able to do the very best for my patients – so much so that I quit practicing for a year.
Fast forward to 2020 – and the pandemic. Like everyone else – I spent most of my free time during the shutdown on social media. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that Instagram would change my life. I have the pandemic to thank for my introduction to biomimetic dentistry. I learned about the Alleman center and immediately I was hooked. I signed up for a yearlong mastership program and the rest as they say, is history.
Biomimetic dentistry offers dentists a set of protocols to perform restorative dentistry from start to finish while providing alternatives to full coverage crowns and an end to sensitivity and recurring retreatment. It appeals to me because it allows me to provide predictable and minimally invasive treatment options for my patients. The approach is science and evidence based. It taught me how to correctly diagnose and identify teeth with structural compromises, a step-by-step workflow on how to rebuild teeth – and virtually eliminate post operative complications from my practice. It gave me the confidence to take a chance on myself and open my own practice. It helped me connect the dots. I will forever be grateful to the Alleman center, and Instagram, for changing my life.
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner is my twin sister Meena!
I think it’s pretty obvious how we met!
We never thought we would be working together. Dr. Leena’s clinical skills and Meena’s background in Operations and Human Resources, both of us coming together to open a practice just felt natural.The idea of both of us ending up in Dallas and launching our own business was far from our minds. It took us a while to get the courage to pull the trigger. During lockdown, we were able to really put our thoughts together and come up with a plan to start our own business.
In our practice, we have very distinct roles. Dr. Leena handles the clinical part of the job, and Meena handles the operational part of the job. Both of us understand we have to protect our relationship, and nothing can come in the way of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.214dentalarts.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/214dentalarts?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/214dentalarts
Image Credits
Peachy Perspective Photography Ollians Photography