How social media can play a big role in finding a Filipino dentist with a “Great Smile”

By Moses Billacura

You’ve probably noticed that when a Kababayan is looking for a Filipino dentist on Facebook these days, those who are in the know will readily reply by typing the words, “Great Smile Family Dental”.

To your surprise, maybe, Great Smile Family Dental is actually the third clinic that opened in 2005, seven years after the first one, Thorncliffe Dental Clinic. The second clinic was Bright Smile Dental Clinic that opened its doors in 2000.

Doctor Rod Montano said that Great Smile was heavily promoted on social media and thanks to the 6,300 plus followers, prospective patients can easily reach out to them by just calling the number that can be easily memorized, (780) 444-1444.

It was around 1996 to 1998 that Doc Rod, while working for other clinics, thought of opening his own clinic. And his prayers were answered in 1998, when a dental clinic was up for sale and after negotiations with the owner, he was able to purchase the dental practice and set up his own professional corporation. The Thorncliffe and Great Smile clinics are conveniently located side by side on the West Side of Edmonton with Bright Smile on Hermitage Road NW, serving those on the North side of the city.

For the growing number of Filipinos in Edmonton, naturally, they would prefer to see a Filipino dentist simply because they can easily express their dental concerns in their own language. Doc Rod fortunately can speak three dialects, Tagalog, Ilonggo and Cebuano and with that, the language barrier is no longer a problem.

And thanks to TikTok, a growing number of Kababayans found out about the clinics because Doc Rod enjoys posting about his practice on the popular social media platform. He said it is a blessing to know that his patients come from outside of the Edmonton area, even as far as Vancouver, Peace River, Fort McMurray and Calgary.

“They all found out about us on TikTok,” said a laughing Doctor Rod. Social media can indeed greatly help in finding a Filipino dentist with a “great smile”.

(This is Part One of a three-part series, a special feature by the Alberta Filipino Journal, on the 25th year anniversary celebration of the Great Smile Family Dental Group this year)