Last summer, three years out of dental school, Dr. Luz Martinez, 33, anticipated buying a dental practice in 10 or 12 years. Yet when her employer Dr. Rocky Salinas offered to sell her the Weslaco office of Smiles, she found the opportunity irresistible.
Getting from the October 2012 offer to the January 2013 opening of RGV Family Dentistry required an intense effort from Dr. Martinez and her husband Buddy Martinez, who became the practice’s administrator.
Born and raised in Brownsville, Luz Martinez graduated from UT Pan-Am and became a science teacher in Donna to pay off college loans. Lulled by a steady paycheck, she delayed her career plans to become a dentist until her future husband and fellow teacher convinced her to go for it. Dr. Martinez graduated from the University of Texas Health Science Center Dental School in 2010 and returned to the Valley.
“One of my biggest reasons to come back to Valley was because it had an underserviced population,” said Dr. Martinez. She became an associate with Dr. Salinas’ five-dentist Smiles practice, which had offices in Pharr, Weslaco and McAllen and saw Medicaid, private pay and insurance patients. Meanwhile, Buddy Martinez’s job as Idea School assistant principal and his working on a doctorate in education left the couple short of family time to enjoy their two children.
When Smiles decided not to renew their Medicaid contract, Dr. Salinas knew that Dr. Martinez wanted to continue with Medicaid patients and made his offer.
“We envisioned this, but we didn’t think it was going to happen so soon. We thought maybe when we were in our mid-40s,” Dr. Martinez said. “But this was the right patient mix. My patients are established. I like the area.”
“She asked me, ‘Are you ready? We’re doing this together,’” Buddy Martinez recalled.
Dr. Salinas recommended a broker who specialized in transitioning dental practices, because he had used that broker to acquire what became Smiles. The Martinezes flew to Chicago for a seminar by the expert and engaged him to guide them through the process.
To read more of this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the March edition of Valley Business Report, on news stands now, or visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Web site.