Smile and the world smiles with you

by Carryn Dewing - Thursday, 1st May 2008 -

Sisters Haleh and Golnar Abivardi opened their first Swiss Smile clinic in Zurich in 2004. Today, Swiss Smile clinics are filling cavities and polishing teeth in St Moritz and London, and are set to take on the world over the next two years.

“We saw the Swiss Smile concept was working very well in Zurich. We always wanted to take our clinics to London, New York and Hong Kong because, nowadays, so many businesspeople spend their time in these cities,” says Haleh.

The sisters plan to become the first choice in private dental healthcare across major international cities. The sisters explain, “If you need to see a dentist anywhere in the world, you’ll look for a Swiss Smile clinic. There are international pizza, coffee and clothing chains, but nothing like that for dentistry.”

Swiss Smile has been fully established in London since September last year, and has already treated over 3,000 people. Haleh says London’s proved a good initiation into the ranks of international business: “We’ve had to learn many different work laws, and working out the price difference was difficult.”

“But the most important thing we found when we started doing business here is we really need employees who speak perfect English. In the beginning we had some great dentists and specialists, but their English wasn’t good and they found it really difficult in London.”

The Abivardis are looking to take the Swiss Smile brand even further a field over the next two years, having secured a clinic in Geneva, Dubai and Spain. “And we’re looking for premises in Tokyo and New York,” says Haleh.

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