By Joy Doss, Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Miller Dental Health sees over 100 patients A DAY. Let that number marinate in your spirit.
At xx, Dr. Rod Miller is relatively young to have two pediatric dentistry offices in Memphis and a general dentistry office in Oakland. He did not come from means or have the benefit of investors. And – get this – he has zero debt.
NICE!
Over the weekend, Miller and his associates hosted The Snow Ball, which he does for kids. We talked about that during a visit last week, but there’s so much more to his story. It’s way bigger than a “Jeffersons” tale of rags to riches.
This guy moves with intention when it comes to his work in the office and the community. He opened practices in Whitehaven and Raleigh to be accessible to the families that had the most need. He twice moved back home to Memphis with offers in his pocket from hospitals and practices across the country.
“I chose to come back to my neighborhood. People ask why Whitehaven? What’s up with Raleigh? This is where the children have the most need – physical needs, clothing, skincare THEN dental problems, mental problems, health problems…high cavity rates.”
The work and the issues are so complex, oftentimes unlike middle class issues, he says.
But let’s rewind:
Miller’s leadership abilities began to form at age five. That’s when his grandmother designated him the leader of the younger members of his family. Later, a very astute teacher nurtured those emerging abilities.
Raised in a home with one other sibling and four cousins close in age, he recalls his grandmother giving him the big-boy responsibilities of knowing phone numbers and everyone’s Social Security number while being in charge of making sure school registration went smoothly. The seeds had been planted.
His mother is a nurse, so his move into healthcare felt natural. At Tennessee State University, he initially planned to major in physical therapy before an intervening force – he would say it was divine – led him down a different path. Unable to land the internships he wanted in his area of study, a conversation with his college counselor opened the door to a summer internship with a friend of the counselor. Within wo days of being there, he knew that dentistry was suited for him.
Miller hasn’t looked back one time. He is forever grateful for that eye-opening experience and continues to pay it forward.
“What Dr. Lattimer did for me… the confidence he gave me… is what I try to do for other young doctors,” he says.
After finishing his studies at the University of Tennessee-Memphis School of Dentistry and completing a residency in the Bronx, N.Y., Miller came home – with intention – and began work within a practice that in some ways served as a model for his own. He started to become even more aware of the serious issues faced by families. Kids came in with no coats, no shoes and empty stomachs.
“You can’t sit back and let the media tell you what to do and what the problem is,” he says. “You just have to go on and do it. You may not get the glitter.”
Unspoken in this instance is this: the greater good is the priority.
He took that attitude of community spirit with him 13 years ago as he hung his own shingle – in English and Spanish mind you – in Raleigh. It was vintage Miller answering the , call to address the service vacuum within the Spanish-speaking community, eventually dedicating himself to pediatric dentistry. The practice started with one and a half chairs, one bilingual staff member and half of the building they currently occupy. Now the whole building is theirs, along with another across the parking lot.
Blessed!
As the demand for a dedicated pediatric practice grew, along with the demand for more extensive services, he was prompted to pick up the specialty. So back to the Bronx he went to train for two years, hiring other doctors and his office manager to run the practice in his absence.
Yet, he came home once again. He arrived highly skilled and ready to pick up where he left off.
Trust me when I tell you, you have got to love your city to move back home twice from New York! GOT TO. Cause WHY?
Nonetheless, his loyalty has paid off. (Check the number of patients in the opening sentence.)
Moral of this story: Follow your own path. No one has to understand it but you. It’s not enough to give; you also have to do.
Props to you Dr. Miller for being the change – on purpose.
