Cairo-based all-rounder Dr Mohammed El Serafy relishes the prestige of being a dentist in Cairo and being able to transform the smiles and dental health of his patients.

“There isn’t a dental procedure we don’t offer”, says El Serafy of his self-titled dental office. In addition to his assistant and secretary, he employs an oral surgeon, an orthodontist, a female paediatric dentist and an office accountant. The only treatment not offered is extensive maxillofacial surgery, “and even then we know exactly where to refer any cases”.

When asked if he personally specialises in a particular branch of dentistry, El Serafy replies that he is “quite happy to treat anything related to the oral cavity’. Furthermore: “My clinic has its oral and dental surgery specialist for complete impactions, implant induction and removal of oral lesions, a paedodontist for children up to 13 years of age, and an orthodontist. Any other dental procedures are performed by me. I can safely say I’m a general dental practitioner”… in addition to his favourite hobby of course.

El Serafy, whose English is impeccable partly due to time spent at a British school in his younger years, comes from a long family line of medical doctors but decided to break the mould. Both of his parents, his grandmother, uncles, aunts and his brother became doctors, and El Serafy was expected to follow them into the medical profession. “I was also very good at biology at school”, points out El Serafy, who achieved straight “A” grades.

El Serafy liked the idea of being in the medical field but didn’t like the thought of being “just another” doctor in the family. He admits he was also dissuaded by the amount of hard work and sacrifice needed to become a doctor. “It was also becoming a stereotype for anyone with high grades in Egyptian secondary school to head to medical school”, explains El Serafy.

At that time there were not that many dentists in the country and only two dental schools in Cairo. El Serafy knew that dentistry was a prestigious profession and that the role of dentist was one that was treated with great respect by the community. He also liked the thought of running his own practice and not having to answer to a boss. “Here most of the decent dental care is found in well established private clinics and some of the major high-investment general hospitals”, says El Serafy. “I saw myself finishing dental school and immediately starting my career with my own dental office and gradually expanding over time”.

In Egypt, explains El Serafy, only the private sector provides decent dental care and free dental care can only be found in dental schools. These days many multinational companies and government corporations provide their employees with a dental plan, and most hospitals have dental clinics, but premium dentistry is still mainly found in private clinics. “Another reason I was inclined to become a dentist is my obsession with clean teeth. It is like a mission for me to try to fix as many of the population’s teeth as possible”.

El Serafy’s parents approved of his ambition and he studied for a degree in Dental Medicine and Surgery at Cairo University. “I really enjoyed studying to become a dentist”, says El Serafy. “The most challenging part was during the third year when we were expected to clinically apply what we had learnt in the previous two years. It’s one thing making a cavity and filling it on an acrylic tooth that you can hold in your hand and a completely different ordeal having to deal with blood, saliva, dim light, limited access and patient behaviour!” El Serafy continues: “However this is where the real enjoyment started for me. Interacting with patients, seeing their satisfied smiles and taking away their pain was really rewarding”.

Upon graduation El Serafy worked by day in a government hospital and by night as an assistant in a private clinic owned by a certain Dr Haggag, who had faith in El Serafy’s abilities. When Dr Haggag had to go to Switzerland for a few months, he left El Serafy in charge. “It was my opportunity to shine”, says El Serafy with characteristic confidence. “I became the main operator in the clinic and knew that I was ready to take the next step”.

When Dr Haggag returned from Switzerland he helped put El Serafy on the right track to setting up his own dental office. El Serafy recounts that starting a dental business involved numerous considerations: location, equipment, decorations, plumbing, electric installations, staff and then the management of running costs including maintenance, materials, bills and salaries. “A large sum of money was needed at first and a lot of physical effort was involved, touring the various dental suppliers to obtain the optimum standard of equipment possible for the budget”, explains El Serafy. His parents, who had always supported his career aspirations, provided him with the loan he needed to get started.

At first El Serafy alternated between Dr Haggag’s clinic and his own on a daily basis; then it was two days a week; until eventually his own dental office took up all of his time and effort. Luckily, attracting patients to the new dental business was a breeze for El Serafy with his many social connections. “Of course I started with my friends and relatives. Here in Egypt most people will only go to a dentist they know personally or who has been recommended by friends and relatives. I also offered special prices to members of the Heliopolis club and joined dental insurance networks at various major companies”.

El Serafy insists that “what really gives your dental practice the boost it needs is your actual work. If people come and they’re happy with the service, they automatically recommend you to family and friends, and your practice gradually grows. “People from all age groups visit the Mohammed El Serafy Dental Practice”, as El Serafy puts it, “from very small children to the very elderly”. He says they are attracted to the practice as all types of dental services are provided and adds that most are of “middle or high class’.

The most common dental treatment that El Serafy carries out, however, is treating an
exposed tooth.

“Unfortunately most of the Egyptian society lack the education of having periodic dental check ups. They only visit their dentist when there is intolerable pain, such as exposed pulp. This treatment includes root canal therapy, insertion of a post in the main canal, placing a strong core and then covering the tooth with a crown”. Most of El Serafy’s patients receiving this treatment are in their mid-thirties to mid-forties.

The second most common treatment El Serafy carries out is restoring extracted teeth either by bridgework or with dental implants. The modern possibilities of cosmetic dentistry are not lost on the affluent Heliopolis population and increasing numbers of patients, both men and women, seek “smile makeovers’. “My orthodontist and I produce a lot of satisfied cosmetic customers”, says El Serafy. “Like I said, it’s our hobby”.

Despite his laid-back attitude to dentistry and his business, El Serafy maintains that he runs a tight ship. Although the Egyptian dental industry is not overwhelmed with government-enforced regulations, El Serafy sets his own rules for infection control and complies with best practice for patients and staff in areas such as radiography.

El Serafy is also his own practice manager, ordering materials and accessories when his assistant informs him they are running low, and going shopping himself for specific items and gadgets.

El Serafy says that “in order for you to excel in private dental practice you’ve got to be talented and organised and socially skilful – if you know what I mean”. He is happy with the way his career is going but has his sights set higher, with plans already afoot to open another dental office in the Nasr City district of Cairo. “Eventually I would like to open a multi-purpose dental centre in a less privileged area, where I would provide the best dental care at the lowest of prices without taking any profit. It will be me giving something back to the community and my country.”

El Serafy is a big character with bigger ideas, yet when asked what he finds the most rewarding part of being a dentist, he swiftly replies that it is PAIN RELIEF. The second most rewarding element of his job is giving people satisfaction with their appearance; the third, he reiterates, is the social prestige of the job.

El Serafy’s parents are extremely proud of their son and the success he has made of his unconventional career route. “They are happy that I am running my own business and making a name for myself”, says El Serafy. He has even inspired a cousin and more recently his younger sister to follow in his footsteps and train as dentists. “Being a well known dentist really enriches your social status. That pleases my parents. Plus, they now have someone to fix their teeth”.

“My hobby, if I may call it that, is dental aesthetics”, says 31 year-old Egyptian dentist Mohammed El Serafy. Man-about-town El Serafy achieves an enviable work-life balance, seeing patients at his own dental office just four hours a day, five days a week. The rest of the time he can be found playing basketball semi-professionally, having a game of snooker or squash or dancing the tango at the Heliopolis Club – one of the most prestigious social clubs in Egypt.