‘DENTIST TO THE STARS’ NOW IN CEBU

One of Asia’s most advanced and world- class dental centers for dental implants, cosmetic dentistry and general dentistry procedures has just recently opened here in Cebu.

Gan Advanced Osseointegration Center (Gaoc) has opened its doors to the public in SM Seaside City Cebu making perfect and beautiful teeth for Cebuanos within reach. But behind all the sliding doors, the advanced technological innovation and dentists trained abroad, is a great man with an even greater story.

World-renowned oral surgeon and dental implantologist Dr. Steve Mark Gan is well-known as the “Dentist to the Stars” for having exhibited his works on famous celebrities like Boy Abunda, John Lloyd and Angel Aquino, among others.

The Filipino-Canadian dentist mainly focuses on implant dentistry but he also took up a specialization in advanced prosthodontics dentistry at the University of California in Los Angeles which led to a $12,000 monthly job offer in Los Angeles. However, Dr. Gan refused this offer to come back to the Philippines.

“I wanted to make a difference and change here in the country back in 1998. During that time, dentistry was a little on the backward end so I wanted to help contribute to the change in the industry,” said Dr. Gan.

Having been part of the early movements for medical tourism in the Philippines, Dr. Gan explained his and his group’s journey.

“We were the first ambulatory clinic to be accredited in the Department of Tourism. From there, we joined a lot of trade shows in Singapore in different countries promoting dentistry around the world like in Japan, Singapore, London and the United States, among many others. This was back in 2006 to 2008,” said Dr. Gan.

Before the climb to success, Dr. Gan began a clinic with materials bought from all his life savings using his late grandmother’s dental clinic in Binondo. Afterward, he decided to approach the trade in a different perspective and, together with some of his friends, he opened the first teeth laser whitening center in Glorietta Mall in Manila.

“Dentists promoted themselves with dental clinic signs. We started more of the free trade and entrepreneurship sign of dentistry as we noticed that the advertisement or the an- nouncement of dentistry is more of informative in nature. It’s not about false claims but it’s more of sharing to the public what kind of services we have for them. We were promoting not a dental clinic but more promoted to lifestyle fashion and having white teeth,” said Dr. Gan.

When asked why he decided to open Gaoc in Cebu, Dr. Gan explained that he loves the hospitality of Cebuanos and Cebu’s potential for business as compared to Manila.

“When the opportunity came up and SM Seaside City opened, Gaoc had the chance to create even something bigger and monumental here in the Philippines,” said Dr. Gan.