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Midnight in Hong Kong: A Meeting of the (Impassioned) Minds

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It was a dark and humid night on Victoria Harbour. The choppy water lapped against the hull of the alluring Aqua Luna junk boat as four top dental industry CEOs watched the Symphony of Lights laser show illuminate buildings on Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula. After the harbor cruise, the four disembarked the Aqua Luna and sauntered over to Hullett House, an English Colonial building on Canton Road, for a traditional Cantonese feast. There, Dr. Howard Farran, John Christensen, Dr. Rhonda Savage and Patrick Tessier assembled around a table for a spirited evening.

The gathering conjured themes of Woody Allen’s recent hit, Midnight in Paris, where a group of high-profile writers rendezvoused in an enchanting place and time. What brought literary leaders like Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Stein, Porter, Dali and Picasso to Paris in the 1920s? The same thing that brought these four dental thought leaders together nearly a century later on this particular night in Hong Kong: a passion for creating meaningful lives and professions; the thrill of collaborating and vetting ideas with like-minded people.

In a quest for continuous improvement of the dental profession, each traveled from the U.S. to Hong Kong for the World Dental Forum, an international dental event where more than 500 participants from seven countries gather to share innovative approaches to dentistry from around the world. As the evening progressed, and the brainstorming between the four garnered momentum, a fundamental link between the four became evident: passion.

WHAT IS PASSION?
In the opening scene of the movie Heights, Glenn Close’s character lectures her university students on passion. “That is the problem with us today,” she warns, “we can’t remember what it’s like to be consumed with desire. We have forgotten passion! … for Christ sake, take a risk sometime this weekend!”

For these leaders in dentistry, this kind of deep, risk-taking zeal permeates all aspects of their lives. It’s a character trait. The line between their personal life and their professional life blurs because their jobs aren’t just jobs; they are purposes, they are life-long quests for improving the world around them – they are passions. And passion doesn’t have a pause button.

But what is passion, exactly? Psychologist Robert Vallerand defined passion as “a strong inclination or desire towards a self-defining activity that one likes (or even loves), finds important, and in which one invests time and energy… these activities come to be so self-defining that they represent central features of one’s identity,” (Dr. Robert J. Vallerand, 2007).

Vallerand’s progressive research posits that passion improves performance in all aspects of life. Dr. Farran, Dr. Savage, Mr. Tessier and Mr. Christensen can all attest to this. All four were invited to discuss their passions at this impromptu roundtable, and how each were driven to create organizations that make important contributions to the world of dentistry.

DR. HOWARD FARRAN: PASSION TO BUILD A DENTAL COMMUNITY
“Early on in my life, my goal was to become a dentist,” said Dr. Farran. “I aggressively achieved that goal, but once I did, I yearned for something more. It didn’t take long for me to experience the isolation common to many practicing dentists. I felt like I was on my own island doing my own dentistry with nobody to bounce ideas off of until I could go on a fishing trip with the friends I’d made in dental school. I was driven to find a way to communicate with my peers all the time instead of when it was convenient for a handful of us to get together. Thank God for the Internet!

“I created Dentaltown so no dentist would ever have to practice solo again. I realized that if dentists could collaborate easily and effectively, then ideas for improvement could be shared by all and could have a dramatic result for the participants. With more than 150,000 Dentaltown members worldwide today, we’ve become the largest dental community in the world! I insist that passion was, is and always will be a fundamental tenet to my success, so much so that I made ‘be passionate, enthusiastic and determined to make a difference’ one of the core values expected from every employee of my company.”

DR. RHONDA SAVAGE: PASSION TO ELEVATE PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
“Today my area of expertise focuses on dental practice management,” said Dr. Savage. “But even before purchasing Linda Miles and Associates (now Miles Global), dentistry was my true calling. My passion for this profession was so strong that it led me to be an active duty dental officer in the U.S. Navy. After that, like Dr. Farran, I also started my own practice.

“In dental school, they teach us enough to succeed clinically, but when it comes to the business side of the dental practice, we all could use some help. I may have been passionate about improving the smiles of my patients, but my quest soon turned into becoming a resource for dentists who needed help with systems, accountability and communication. When we give aid to a dental practice to help its bottom line, the staff and doctor(s) can treat all of their patients to the best of their ability.

“I am currently the CEO of Miles Global and I focus on helping dental offices become more successful. My goal is to encourage and empower other dentists. I’m very attentive and make great recommendations, while making the whole team feel extremely inspired. My passion is to do all I can to ensure their growth and trigger them to be even more successful.”

PATRICK TESSIER: PASSION TO AID THE DENTAL PROFESSION
“I joined the dental laboratory business a dozen years ago,” said Tessier. “As a mechanical engineer with an MBA, I immediately fell in love with the dental profession. All of my education and experience have been fully utilized, but the most impressive aspect of the dental business is the fundamental fact that dentistry helps people; there is a real-time direct connection with doctors and patients.

“When I was introduced to Modern Dental Laboratory a decade ago, I knew almost immediately that importing the high-quality work from Modern could improve the lives of our clients and their patients. My fundamental business model separating manufacturing from customer service allows MDL USA to offer world-class quality products with white glove service and great pricing.

“As my import business grew, the quality difference became very clear. Doctors loved the work. Comments like ‘after 25 years, I now enjoy restorative’ became common. I began to realize we were actually helping improve dentistry by allowing the doctor to focus on treating the patient, not fussing with the lab work.

“It makes me very proud to think we are helping dentists deliver the very best dental health care they possibly can. Every day I get to count my blessings: that I was fortunate to be introduced to this business by Mr. George Obst of DSG; that I was lucky to meet Mr. Godfrey Ngai of Modern Dental; that every day I get to work with my friends at MDL USA to serve our dentist clients and help them deliver great health care. I think it is our human duty to do the very best with skills and abilities we have. It is my passion to make the most of my blessings and try to make a positive difference in the world. JOHN CHRISTENSEN: PASSION TO SPREAD THE WORD
“When I graduated from Northwestern University’s Advertising/ Marketing Graduate School in 1980 and started my agency, chrisad, I accepted any type of client who would pay the bills,” said Christensen. “Almost immediately, dentists began contacting me and we began conducting fairly extensive patient-consumer research by testing various advertising approaches.

“The first couple dental clients did not do well. I later understood the reason for this was not the marketing but rather the aspects of practice management that no amount (nor quality) of marketing could overcome. The third dental client’s practice was optimally configured, their early marketing sparked a yet unheard of growth, and before I knew it, I had dozens of dentist clients in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“I had no idea that no other marketing firm had ever specialized in dentistry. What excited me the most was that with every marketing step my company took, and every bit of data we uncovered, we knew we were pioneers. Every day revealed a new breakthrough – even today, after 32 years of exclusively working with dentists, with the largest database in the world of in-practice patient-consumer behavior, working in four nations and with 100-million mail marketing pieces out each year, we are still experiencing similar exciting breakthroughs.

“I never view my job as work, but as a fun game because I know the outcome is 100 percent certain, I will never give up on any client and will passionately stand by their side until they attain it. It’s a great deal of fun!”

WHAT IS YOUR PASSION?
Does your work “consume you with desire”? Do you take risks to attain those desires? Great leaders answer “yes” to both of these questions. Passion is a type of energy that is manifested from inside; a force to be tapped into, accessible to all. When someone is truly passionate about what they do, like these dental giants, others are drawn to you. Your passion, whether it is to build a dental community, to permeate into a practice, to help the dental community or to spread the word, attracts the attention of your patients and employees. It inspires and enlivens them. The excitement that your passion generates will keep your patients retuning again and again and will keep your staff around for years on end.

Deep down, we all have passion for what we do. We’d like for you to share your passion with the Dentaltown community. Please share your story here: www.dentaltown.com/whatisyourpassion.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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