By Becky O’Guin, CDA Director of Communications
From the Autumn 2023 Journal of the Colorado Dental Association
Many of us in this industry have both a “work family” and a family at home.
From left: Dr. Megan Iritani, Dr. Patra Watana, Dr. Meg Dinkel, Dr. Matt Iritani, Dr. Mark Iritani
In some cases, siblings or generations practice together. In rare cases, work and home families are one in the same. Meet the Watana/Iritani family and their unique dental practice in Greenwood Village, CO.
For this family, relationships form the foundation of their success. Dr. Patra Watana’s and Dr. Mark Iritani’s practice includes their son Dr. Matt Iritani, their daughter Dr. Megan Iritani, and sometimes their daughter-in-law Dr. Meg Dinkel, who has her own practice nearby. (And there are even more dentists in the extended family!) Dr. Patra and Dr. Megan run the pediatric side of the dental practice and Dr. Mark and Dr. Matt run the orthodontic side of the practice.
Their practice is across the street from the high school, and close to the middle school and elementary school where Dr. Megan and Dr. Matt attended before heading off to college and then to the CU School of Dental Medicine.
Family is the soul of their practice. “We have lived and practiced in the Greenwood Village community our whole careers and our patients and their families are part of our ‘practice family.’” Many of their patients have been coming to them for 10-to-20 years; some even come in annually from places as far away as Egypt or the UK for dental treatment.
“It is also rewarding to see Dr. Matt’s and Dr. Megan’s friends from elementary school now bringing their own kids to our office,” said Dr. Patra.
They attribute the foundation of their success to being in a single location that is 100% family owned. Their tag line appropriately is, “Dentistry for Your Family, From Our Family.”
There are priceless benefits to working in family dentistry. When the children were in school, Dr. Mark and Dr. Patra worked two days a week and one Friday a month, giving them perfect work-life balance. “We always took vacation as a family. Dr. Mark coached most of their sports teams and I chaperoned many field trips and school dances. Together we were around for pretty much every milestone in their lives,” said Dr. Patra.
Following in Family Footsteps
“As with most parents, you never really think about your children following in your footsteps; you just want them to be happy and successful in whatever they decide to do. We were aware early on that our son, Dr. Matt, might be interested in dentistry,” Dr. Patra said. “In kindergarten he drew a picture stating he wanted to become a dentist and work with mom and dad. To then have our daughter, Dr. Megan, and our daughter-in-law, Dr. Meg Dinkel, also in dentistry has been a blessing. In the past year working in the practice together as a family has been a very surreal experience for us as parents.”
As young school-aged children Dr. Matt and Dr. Megan helped their parents by doing numerous small tasks in the office. Dr. Matt spent many a weekend mounting and sanding orthodontic models and Dr. Megan would make felt tooth-fairy pouches with her mom. Through the years they would be in the office on patient treatment days and would see the positive influence Dr. Patra and Dr. Mark could have on their patients’ lives while still maintaining a good work-life balance.
Making it Work
When asked how they make this unique dynamic successful, Dr. Patra said, “working with family, we must respect one another and see each other as partners in the practice. It is important to remember that business is business and that sometimes we might have different opinions, but at the end of the day we are always family. It is reassuring having such strong ties to fall back on when times are less than ideal.”
Dr. Matt and Dr. Megan bring a lot of new technology to the practice. They have implemented intraoral scanning, 3D printing, in-office clear aligners, and laser dentistry.
“The biggest change to our office has been the opportunity to work together as business partners and the amount of time necessary for management of the office,” said Dr. Patra. Dr. Mark and Dr. Matt treatment plan every case together, and Dr. Patra and Dr. Megan constantly collaborate on cases in the office and those that require hospitalization. A unique feature to the office is that there are some patients who might see all four doctors on a given day if they are scheduled for both pediatric dentistry and orthodontics.
“The young people bring energy,” Dr. Mark said. “it’s palpable they are excited to do everything.” Dr. Mark says that he sees the younger doctors as the practice’s future. “We can’t be the only decision makers for the practice,” said Dr. Mark. “How they are going to run the practice is how they are going to run the practice. They are the future.”
Dr. Patra reflected that even though it is tougher to be a solo practice, they can rely on each other. Her daughter, Dr. Megan, agrees that there will always be a place for family dentistry, especially for children. “We build rapport and trust with the kids,” said Dr. Megan, they appreciate that.”
The CDA Family – Why We Are Members
When we started our practices over 30 years ago, we did not have online resources like we do now. We were not able to Google everything. You learned new things from reading journals or going to meetings, and joining the CDA allowed us access to those educational resources. Our staff have really enjoyed going to the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention (RMDC) every year to continue our commitment to learning.
We also enjoy being members of the ADA/CDA/MDDS for the social aspect. We have met many wonderful colleagues through organized dentistry events like the CDA Annual Session, RMDC, Ladies in the Loupe events, and the CDA Foundation Golf Tournament. Those friendships and camaraderie have lasted throughout our careers and are invaluable.
We believe in organized dentistry. Dr. Mark is a former president of the Colorado Orthodontic Association, and both of us as well as our son have taught or are currently teaching at the CU School of Dental Medicine.
The CDA has been supporting us through many aspects of our careers for more than 30 years. Dr. Patra has used the malpractice insurance through the Dentists Professional Liability Trust of Colorado for her whole career and appreciates the relationships she has developed with the wonderful staff who work there. As an office, we were one of the first few customers that used the CDA’s endorsed credit card processing company, Best Card – a company started by the CDA.
We also appreciate the many opportunities to give back to the community through CDA-supported volunteer opportunities like Give Kids a Smile Day and the Colorado Mission of Mercy.
Being part of an organization that supports our profession has helped shape us into humble practitioners and we are thankful for the wonderful patients, parents, colleagues, and staff that we have encountered over the many years.